Overcoming Common Challenges in Facebook Ads Manager: Insights from an Experienced Marketer
Facebook Ads Manager offers a powerful platform for businesses but comes with its fair share of challenges.
Drawing from my extensive experience as the owner of Jolly Media Marketing, specialising in solar panel installations, Eco 4 lead generation, EV charger installations, and ASHP installs, this blog will explore these challenges.
We will not only identify these hurdles but also delve into what they mean for your campaigns and provide detailed solutions to conquer them effectively.
Payment Processing Problems: Unpacking Financial Roadblocks
Payment processing problems can disrupt your campaign flow. These issues may arise from expired credit cards, insufficient funds, or even errors in billing information.
Typically, Facebook will advise one of the above being the central issue. Most of the time, the problem results from errors within the Facebook payments system itself. This can be hugely frustrating for business owners, but if you do get affected, try one of these solutions below:
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- Start by ensuring your payment methods are up-to-date. Regularly check your billing information for accuracy.
- If the above is OK, then contact your bank to ask them to authorise Facebook payments.
- Manually request the amount to be processed in your ad account after you get your bank.
- If that fails, then request business verification from your business manager before retrying – Verify Your Business.
- If problems persist, the last resort is to try another card or PayPal.
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If you have followed these steps and the payment still fails. At this point, your only option is to speak directly with the Meta Ads Support team to work through an alternative solution – Facebook Business Help Centre
Mysterious Ad Declines: Deciphering the Puzzle
Receiving ad disapproval with vague explanations can be perplexing. These issues may stem from violations of Facebook’s advertising policies, such as using restricted content or misleading claims.
I have also seen decline reasons that need to be clarified regarding your ads. For example, I have had solar panel install ads being declined for being a financial services promotion and requiring FCA approval.
Another example was an Eco4 Ad that was declined for being political!
While at first, it’s easy to give up and automatically go through the appeal process, in my experience, requesting an appeal without changing anything rarely results in success.
Try these two methods to trigger another review of your Facebook ad and improve its chances of being approved:
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- Start by changing one word in your ad copy before republishing. If it’s declined as a financial promotion, start by removing the mention of finance and replacing it, spreading the cost as an example. This will retrigger the review process.
- Review your headlines and change one word from those, replacing it with something similar. For example, getting a free heating upgrade in an Eco4 Ad Headline could be altered to Get a Fully funded heating upgrade. I have tested this before, resulting in a previously declined ad being approved.
The majority of the time, these minor tweaks, with a little trial and error, should overcome these types of declines. On the odd occasion they don’t, that’s where the appeal process can be helpful.
You can lodge a maximum of three appeals with the same ad before they prevent any more, so if you hit that maximum, make some changes like the above and submit for approval again.
Patience is the key here. Although getting frustrated is easy, further refinement and appeals will get you over the line and get your Facebook ad up and running!
Personal Ad Accounts vs. Business Accounts: A Strategic Choice
Most Facebook marketing newbies will start by boosting a post from their personal ad account. It’s the easiest way to get going and, on occasion, can bring some good results.
Despite some initial success, if you are serious about optimising your campaigns and maximising your return on investment, having a proper set-up and full access to Facebook’s suite of marketing tools is necessary!
You are restricted to what kind of campaigns you can run from a personal ad account and will need help to create proper conversion tracking or retargeting using its powerful Facebook pixel.
The best way around this is to set up a business manager account to house your Facebook page, which in turn will let you create your business ad account – How to Create a Facebook Business Manager.
We commonly utilise the following features of a business manager and business ad account to scale our ad campaigns and improve our lead cost and return on investment for our renewables clients.
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- Facebook Pixel Tracking – installing this on your website and landing pages tracks user behaviour and conversions.
- Custom Audiences – another powerful way to retarget people who engage with your business online. We commonly target people based on website visits, opting in via a form, the length of time they watch your videos and the length of time they spend on your landing page.
- Lookalike audiences – a great tool within meta is the ability to increase your audience size by targeting people that show similar traits to your custom audiences.
Limited Ad Spend Due to Unverified Accounts: Breaking Free from Restrictions
When you start advertising on Facebook, it is expected that they may replace a £40 a day spending cap on your account. While sometimes they notify you of this, other times it’s hidden and not well communicated.
If you see that your budget isn’t being spent and instead is stopping around the £40 a day marker, verifying your business manager account is the quickest way to get this lifted.
In connection with the limitations of using a personal ad account, you need to set up your account correctly and have a business manager to verify it and retain this spend; another reason to get your business set up correctly.
Follow the guidance here to submit your request for verification – Verify Your Business
Occasionally, it will advise that your page needs to be eligible for verification. Plan B to lift this daily spend is slower and involves making timely ad payments. You are at the mercy of Facebook here, but you can speed this along by manually putting through amounts in your ad account billing section.
Ad Accounts Disabled Prematurely: Avoiding Disruption
Having your ad account disabled before launching any campaigns can be frustrating. Facebook may deactivate accounts for various reasons, such as a perceived violation of their policies.
Ensure your ad content and landing pages comply with Facebook’s advertising policies to prevent premature account disablement. If your account is disabled, follow Facebook’s appeal process and provide all necessary information to support your case.
You can follow the verification process by accessing your Facebook ad account quality screen – About Meta Account Quality.
Conclusion: Expert Guidance for Seamless Facebook Advertising
Facebook Ads Manager can be a valuable asset for your renewables business. However, successfully navigating these campaigns requires addressing common challenges effectively.
Armed with a deeper understanding of these challenges and comprehensive solutions, you can optimise your Facebook ad campaigns and ensure a smoother journey in the digital marketing realm.
I have sometimes felt like banging my head against a wall troubleshooting these errors, but with time and experience, you become well-equipped to tackle meta ads managers’ managers ‘ managers’ issues. The investment in time to get your set up and strategy nailed down reaps its rewards when your campaigns get firing!
By implementing these insights and solutions, you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the challenges of Facebook Ads Manager confidently. Remember, knowledge is your greatest ally in digital marketing, and proactive problem-solving is your campaign’s success blueprint.
