Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your Facebook ad situation. I've seen this pattern quite a few times and there are usually a couple of possible reasons for it. It's really common for ad performance to drop off after a few days, so don't panic. It happens.
Let's dive into a few things you can investigate, and then I'll summarise my suggestions in a table.
We'll need to look at traffic quality and your website...
The main thing I would look at is your website and traffic quality. It sounds like people initially bought something when they first landed on your page, but they didn't after a few days. This could be a few things:
1. Ad Fatigue
Ad fatigue is a real thing. Basically, the same people keep seeing your ad over and over. At first, they might be interested, but after the 10th time, they're just tuning it out. This isn't necessarily a bad thing to happen after two days; you just need a way to fix it.
How to fix it:
You'll probably want to test out some new ads. If you are advertising the same offer, people get bored quickly and stop converting. I would also test new audiences to show the ad to. Try a different angle in your ad, or a different product entirely. For example, one eCommerce client who sell cleaning products saw a 633% return and a 190% increase in revenue when we changed their ad creative and landing page.
2. Audience Saturation
The initial burst of sales might be because you tapped into the most responsive segment of your audience first. As Facebook's algorithm exhausts that segment, it starts showing your ad to people less likely to convert, leading to a drop in performance.
How to fix it:
Refine your targeting. Dig deeper into Facebook's audience insights to identify new segments that align with your ideal customer profile. Experiment with lookalike audiences based on your existing customers or website visitors.
3. Website Conversion Issues
Your ad might be good at getting people to your site, but your site might be letting you down after a few days.
How to fix it:
Sometimes, it's just a case of fixing the little things. First, have a look at your website loading times on both desktop and mobile. Are people getting bored waiting and bouncing off before they even see your products? Also, is the website easy to navigate? Have a look at some competitor websites to get an idea of what an easy-to-use site looks like. For example, the website of a luxury brand we worked with was slow to load and had a poor user experience, so even though the ads had over 10 million views, people weren't sticking around to make a purchase.
I'd say you need to give it more time...
Sometimes, it's easy to panic after the first few days. However, it usually takes more than 2 days to get a good idea of how well ads will perform. I'd say you need to give it more time to see if there are any results. I'd recommend about a week to see if anything happens. It might be that the algorithm needs a bit more time to find the right audience. For example, one software client saw a £100 → £7 CPA on a medical job matching SaaS campaign when we gave the ads more time to optimise.
Let's dive into campaign structure
Your campaign structure might be the issue. What campaign objective did you use? Often, people use traffic when they actually want conversions. If you are trying to get sales, always select the "sales" objective. The algorithm then knows to look for sales and will prioritise that.
Also, are you running more than one ad in the same ad set? If not, I'd always recommend testing more than one ad in the same ad set so that you can see which ads perform the best. Facebook will then prioritise the best-performing ads.
Here's a breakdown in a handy table...
To make this easier to digest, here's a table summarising my recommendations:
| Problem | Possible Solution |
|---|---|
| Ad Fatigue | Test new ad creative. Try different angles, products, or offers. |
| Audience Saturation | Refine audience targeting. Experiment with lookalike audiences. |
| Website Conversion Issues | Improve website loading times and navigation. Consider a website refresh. |
| Lack of Time | Allow the ads to run for at least a week to see if the algorithm can optimise. |
| Poor Campaign Structure | Ensure you are using the correct campaign objective (e.g., "Sales" for sales). Test multiple ads in the same ad set. |
What results can you expect?
It really depends on the product, but I've seen some clients get amazing results. For example, a course seller saw $115k revenue in 1.5 months from their sales. However, a lot of this depends on how good the offer is and what the website is like. I always recommend testing lots of different things and seeing what works best.
Why consider expert help?
Navigating the world of Facebook ads can be tricky, and it's easy to get lost in the data. If you're feeling overwhelmed or you'd like a second pair of eyes on your campaigns, it might be worth considering some expert help.
We've helped loads of businesses scale their Facebook ad campaigns, from small startups to larger enterprises. We've seen it all, and we know what works (and what doesn't). Plus, it can often be cost effective to get someone in who knows what they are doing to save you time and money in the long run!
If you'd like to chat more about your specific situation and how we could help, feel free to book in a free consultation. We can go through your campaigns in detail and give you some actionable recommendations.
Regards, Team @ Lukas Holschuh
