Solved: Optimizing Facebook Ad Strategy for Custom Print Shop

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your advertising approach based on what you described.

Running a small shop where you design and produce everything yourself is a massive undertaking, and trying to juggle that with advertising is a real challenge. It sounds like you've found a pattern that fits your production schedule, which is understandable when you're doing it all solo. However, I think you're right to question if that pattern is helping or hindering your ad performance on Facebook.

Understanding the Facebook Learning Phase and Your Advertising Pattern...

You hit on something really important there with the learning algorithm. Facebook's ad system, like most digital ad platforms, uses machine learning to get better at finding the right people for your ads over time. When you launch a new campaign or make significant changes, the algorithm goes into a 'learning phase'. During this time, it's experimenting with different audiences, placements, and times of day to figure out who is most likely to take the action you've set as your goal (like making a purchase).

This learning phase needs consistent data to work effectively. The algorithm needs to see a certain number of results (like purchases) to understand the patterns and characteristics of the people who are converting. If you keep stopping and starting your campaigns, or if you don't give it enough consistent results, it struggles to get out of that learning phase or it has to start learning all over again each time.

Imagine trying to learn a new skill, like pottery (maybe relevant to your creative work!). If you practice intensely for a week, then take a week off, then practice again for a week, you'll likely spend a good chunk of time each week just getting back up to speed and remembering what you learned the previous time. It's much more effective to practice a little bit each day or consistently throughout the week to build muscle memory and improve steadily. The Facebook algorithm is a bit like that – it needs consistent 'practice' (running ads, getting data) to get truly good at finding your ideal customers.

So, your pattern of running ads for one week, then stopping for a week for production, and then restarting, is definitely disrupting that crucial learning process. Each time you restart, the algorithm is likely losing some of the insights it gained during the previous run, making it harder for it to optimise effectively and potentially keeping your costs higher than they need to be.

Boosting Posts vs. Proper Campaigns in Ads Manager...

You mentioned you're running ads "via the page not adsmanager or meta". This usually means you're using the 'Boost Post' button or similar promotional options directly on your Facebook page. While these are easy to use, they are very limited in terms of targeting and, crucially, optimisation. They are typically optimised for engagement (likes, comments, shares) or sometimes just reach (showing the ad to as many people as possible).

While getting likes and shares is nice, your ultimate goal is likely sales, right? The basic boosting tools on the page are not designed to find people who are likely to *buy* your custom prints. They find people who are likely to *interact* with your post. These are often very different groups of people.

To effectively drive sales, you need to use Facebook Ads Manager (or Meta Business Suite, which includes Ads Manager). This is the professional tool for running Facebook and Instagram ads. In Ads Manager, you can select specific campaign objectives, and for an e-commerce shop like yours, the 'Conversions' objective is almost always the one you want. This tells Facebook that your primary goal is to get people to complete a specific action on your website – in your case, making a purchase.

When you run a Conversions campaign, the algorithm actively looks for users who have a history of making purchases on websites after clicking Facebook or Instagram ads. This is a far more powerful way to spend your ad budget if you want to generate sales directly.

Setting Up for Sales: The Conversions Objective...

To run a Conversions campaign, you'll need to make sure you have the Facebook Pixel installed correctly on your website. The Pixel is a small piece of code that tracks what visitors do on your site after clicking your ad. Crucially, you need to set up 'standard events' with the Pixel, especially the 'Purchase' event. This tells Facebook when someone buys something.

Once the Pixel and Purchase event are set up and firing correctly, you can create a new campaign in Ads Manager, select 'Conversions' as the objective, and tell Facebook to optimise for the 'Purchase' event. Then you build your ad sets (choosing targeting, budget, schedule) and your ads (creative and copy) just like you would for other campaigns, but now the whole system is geared towards finding buyers.

Running a Conversions campaign consistently gives the algorithm the data it needs (specifically, Purchase data) to learn who your customers are. Over time, it will get better at showing your ads to people similar to those who have already bought from you, leading to lower costs per purchase and hopefully more sales.

Finding a Balance: Running Ads While Managing Production...

Now, I understand the challenge. You're doing everything, and running ads continuously might generate more orders than you can physically produce in a given week. Completely fair point!

Instead of stopping and starting teh campaigns completely, which, as we've discussed, harms the learning, you could consider a few alternatives:

• Keep the campaign running continuously, but manage your daily budget very carefully. You could perhaps run it at a slightly lower budget during your 'production' week compared to your 'advertising' week. This keeps the data flowing for the algorithm without overwhelming you with orders.
• Use features like Ad Scheduling (available in Ads Manager, not usually with boosting) to only run your ads during specific times of the day or on certain days of the week when you know you can handle incoming orders or leads.
• Focus on building a small backlog. Maybe aim for slightly more orders than you can fulfil in week one, then use week two to catch up, while the ads continue at a managed pace.
• As you grow, look into streamlining your production process or perhaps outsourcing parts of it so you can handle a more consistent flow of orders generated by continuous advertising.

The key is to avoid completely pausing the campaign if possible. Consistent, even if lower, activity is much better for the algorithm's learning than intermittent bursts.

Actionable Steps Overview: Your Recommended Approach...

Here's a quick summary of what I'd suggest you look into:

Thinking About Scaling and Getting Expert Help...

Getting advertising to work effectively, especially for a physical product like custom prints where production capacity is a factor, involves balancing quite a few things – the ad platform's requirements, your production limits, creative, targeting, website experience, and more. As you look to potentially scale your business, navigating the complexities of Ads Manager, optimising for sales, and finding that consistent workflow can become quite involved.

Someone with experience in running e-commerce campaigns on Meta and understanding how to work with the algorithm while respecting business constraints might be able to help you set up a strategy and campaign structure that works consistently without overwhelming your production. They could also help identify opportunities to improve your ads and targeting as the campaigns run.

If you feel like you'd benefit from a more in-depth look at your specific setup and goals, sometimes just walking through everything with an expert can highlight areas for improvement and help you build a sustainable advertising approach that supports your business growth. We offer a free consultation where we can chat through your situation, take a look at your current approach if you like, and give you some tailored recommendations on the best path forward.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh