Solved: Facebook Ads Getting Link Clicks But No Add-To-Carts

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I had a look over the situation with your dropshipping store and your Facebook ads. It's a really common problem to see traffic coming in but not converting, especially in the early days, so don't be too disheartened. It’s usually a sign that one or two things in the chain are broken, rather than the whole idea being wrong.

I’m happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've described and from my own experience running these kinds of campaigns. Hopefully this'll give you a clearer path forward.

We'll need to look at why people are dropping off...

The first thing to do is to think like a detective. You've got a trail of clues: people are clicking your ad, landing on your site, but then disappearing before they even add a product to their cart. This tells us the problem isn't necessarily the ad itself attracting attention, but what happens *after* the click. It's a classic funnel problem.

Let's break down the journey your potential customer takes:

1. Sees the Ad -> Clicks the Ad. You're getting this far, which is a good start. It means your ad creative (the image/video) and maybe the initial headline are interesting enough to get a click. However, if your Click-Through Rate (CTR) is really low and your Cost Per Click (CPC) is sky high, it could still suggest the ad isn't quite resonating with the audience you're targeting. But for now, let's assume this part is working okayish.

2. Lands on your Website -> Views a Product. People are getting to your site. The question is, are they exploring? Or are they landing on the homepage, getting confused or put off, and leaving straight away? If you get lots of landing page views but very few *product page* views, it points to a problem with your store's homepage, navigation, or the overall first impression. Maybe it's slow to load, looks cluttered, or doesn't immediately show them what they clicked the ad for.

3. Views a Product Page -> Adds to Cart. This seems to be your exact sticking point. You're getting link clicks, which I assume means people are at least hitting your product pages, but the journey stops dead there. This is a massive red flag that the issue lies squarely with the product page itself, or the overall trustworthyness of your store. When a customer is on a product page, they are making a final decision: "Do I want this enough to add it to my basket, and do I trust this store enough to buy from it?". Right now, for every single visitor, the answer has been 'no'.

So, we need to figure out why. Is it the product photos? The lack of a compelling description? The price? Or a general feeling that the site isn't legitimate? Based on a quick look at your store, I'd say it's probably a combination of all these things. This isn't a time to be more patient with the ads; it's a time to be brutally honest about the store itself. Sending more traffic to a 'leaky bucket' will just drain your budget faster.

I'd say you need to sort your website out first...

Right, let's be blunt because it's the only way to be helpful. Your website needs a lot of work before you spend another euro on ads. It currently feels very much like a generic, quickly assembled dropshipping store, and customers can spot that from a mile away. It doesn't inspire confidence, and without confidence, you get no sales.

I've worked on a lot of eCommerce campaigns. One campaign we ran generated a 1000% ROAS for a subscription box and another delivered a 691% return for a women's apparel brand. The one thing they all have in common is a website that works hard to convert every visitor. Yours isn't doing that yet. Let's fix it.

1. Build Unshakeable Trust

This is your number one job. A new visitor knows nothing about 'Uplano'. They've clicked an ad and landed on an unfamiliar site. They are on high alert for scams. You have to go overboard to make them feel safe.

• -> About Us & Contact Pages: You need these. An 'About Us' page tells a story and humanises your brand. A 'Contact Us' page with a physical address (even a virtual office address), an email, and maybe a phone number makes you seem real and accountable. Right now, it's hard to see who is behind the store.
• -> Professional Design: The current theme is very basic. The colour scheme, fonts, and layout don't scream 'professional brand'. You don't need a custom £20k design, but investing in a premium Shopify theme (they cost about $200-$350) can make a world of difference. It's an investment in your foundation.
• -> Reviews and Testimonials: This is social proof and it's massive. Since you're new, you don't have any. You can use apps like Loox or Judge.me to import reviews from AliExpress for the products you're selling. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. As soon as you get a real order, hound that customer for a real review with a photo.
• -> Trust Badges: Show the logos of the payment providers you accept (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal). Add a security seal icon. These are small visual cues that reassure people their payment is secure.
• -> Get Rid of Clutter: Your homepage has a lot going on. Simplify it. Have a clear hero image with a single, compelling message. Then feature your best-selling products or categories. Make it clean and easy to navigate. A slow, cluttered site feels unprofessional and frustrates users.

2. Create Product Pages That Actually Sell

This is where the 'Add to Cart' click happens. Your product pages are currently just a title, a price, and some supplier photos. That's not a sales pitch; it's a catalogue entry. It's not enough.

• -> Propper Photography & Videography: The single biggest change you could make. The default, white-background supplier images are soulless and used by a hundred other dropshippers. If you can, order the product yourself. Take your own photos of it. Make a short video of you using it, showing its features. Even simple phone photos in a nice setting are better than the generic stuff. For example, I remember working on a campaign for a client selling maps, and a big part of generating over $71k in revenue was using beautiful, engaging lifestyle shots of their product in real homes. People need to *visualise* owning the product.
• -> Compelling Product Descriptions: A lack of descriptions is a conversion killer. You need to write copy that sells. Don't just list features; explain the *benefits*. How does this product make your customer's life better, easier, or more fun?

Let's take one of your products, the "Portable Blender". Here's a quick example of how you could approach the copy:

See the difference? One is just a product, the other is a solution to a problem. This is what writing copy is all about. It takes effort, but it's what seperates successful stores from failed ones.

You probably should rethink your ad strategy...

Once your website is in a much better state, we can look at the ads. Your current approach has a few issues.

1. "Should I give the pixel more time to optimize?"

Yes and no. The Meta pixel is a learning algorithm. It needs data to get smarter. However, it learns best from *positive* outcomes. You want it to learn what a 'buyer' looks like. To do that, it needs to see people buying things. If you send 10,000 people to a site where no one buys anything, the pixel just learns what 10,000 'non-buyers' look like. It's garbage in, garbage out.

So, you need to fix the store *first*. Once the store is capable of converting, *then* you need to be patient and feed the pixel data. You should always be optimising your campaigns for Conversions (specifically 'Purchase'), not Link Clicks. This tells Meta your goal is to find buyers, not just people who click on things. The algorithm will then work much harder to find those people for you.

2. Your Testing Method

A €50/day CBO budget is a decent starting point. However, killing an ad set after just €20 spend with zero ATCs is far too hasty, *especially* in a CBO campaign. Campaign Budget Optimisation works by allocating the budget to the ad set it thinks will perform best. Sometimes, it might spend very little on a new ad set for the first day or two while it gathers initial data. It needs at least 3-4 days to stabilise and show you its true potential.

A better rule of thumb is to let an ad set spend at least 1-2 times your target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) before making a decision. If you're selling a €40 product, you might be willing to pay €15-€20 for a sale. In that case, you'd let an ad set spend at least €20-€40 before you kill it. But again, this only applies when your website is actually working. Right now, your CPA is infinite because you have no conversions.

3. Your Targeting

You haven't mentioned your targeting, but this is absolutly fundemental. For a new account, you should be starting with detailed targeting based on interests, behaviours, and demographics. The key is to be specific.

Who is the ideal customer for your "Portable Blender"? It's not just 'everyone'. It might be:

• -> People interested in fitness and wellness (Interests: Gymshark, Myprotein, 'physical fitness', 'yoga').
• -> Busy professionals (Interests: LinkedIn, 'entrepreneurship', combined with age demographics).
• -> Students (Targeting university towns, interests in 'student life', etc).

Think deeply about who would actually buy your product and what else they are interested in on Facebook and Instagram. Avoid hyper-broad interests like 'Shopping'. Your goal is to find pockets of people who are much more likely than the general population to want what you're selling. One mistake I see a lot is people targeting an interest like "Amazon" to sell eCommerce goods. But that interest includes millions of consumers who just shop there, not the specific niche you want. It's too broad. You need to find interests that your target audience likes, but the average person does not.

You'll need a better campaign structure going forward...

When you're ready to start advertising again on your revamped site, don't just throw single product tests into one campaign. You need a more methodical structure. For eCommerce, a funnel-based approach works best, even on a small budget.

Here's a simplified structure I'd recomend:

Campaign 1: Top-of-Funnel (ToFu) - Prospecting

• -> Objective: Conversions (Purchase).
• -> Budget: CBO, start with your €50/day here. This is for finding new customers.
• -> Ad Sets: Create a seperate ad set for each distinct audience you want to test. For example:
  • Ad Set 1: Fitness Interest Group (Interests: Gym, workout, etc.)
  • Ad Set 2: Healthy Eating Interest Group (Interests: Smoothie, organic food, etc.)
  • Ad Set 3: Busy Professionals Interest Group (Layering job-related interests/behaviours)
• -> Ads: Put your best 2-3 ads in each ad set. Use your new, high-quality photos and videos.

Campaign 2: Middle/Bottom-of-Funnel (MoFu/BoFu) - Retargeting

• -> Objective: Conversions (Purchase).
• -> Budget: ABO (Ad Set Budget Optimization), start small, maybe €5-€10/day. This is for bringing back people who've already shown interest.
• -> Ad Sets: Create one ad set that combines several warm audiences. As you grow, you can seperate them.
  • Ad Set 1: All Website Visitors (Last 30 Days) - EXCLUDE Purchasers.
  • This audience will also include people who have Viewed Content and Added to Cart.
• -> Ads: The ads here should be different. They could offer a small discount ("Still thinking? Here's 10% off to help you decide!"), show customer testimonials, or remind them of the product they looked at (using Dynamic Product Ads). This is hugely powerful for recovering lost sales.

This two-campaign structure ensures you are constantly filling the top of your funnel with new people while also working to convert the people who are already aware of you. This is how you build momentum. It might seem complex, but it's the professional way to do it and what we implement for our clients. We once reduced the cost per lead by 84% for a client selling environmental controls using a similar structure.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take in, I know. So here is a table summarising the main advice I have for you. This is your action plan.

Getting paid advertising right, especially for eCommerce, is more than just setting up an ad and hoping for the best. It's a methodical process of building a solid foundation (your website), understanding your audience deeply, creating compelling ads, optimising your targeting, and fine-tuning your entire funnel. It's about making dozens of small things work together perfectly.

That's where professional experience can make a huge difference. An expert can quickly diagnose the bottlenecks in your funnel, provide insights you might not have thought of, and take over the complex implementation and optimisation process for you, ensuring that every euro you spend is working as hard as possible to grow your business.

If you get your store into better shape based on the advice above and are interested in having a professional team manage this process for you, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We could have a proper look at your account and strategy together and give you a more detailed plan.

Either way, I hope this detailed breakdown has been genuinely helpful and gives you a much clearer sense of direction.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh