Top 5 Mistakes Local Businesses Make with Facebook Ads

I wanted to make a quick post for you about the 5 mistakes local businesses make with Facebook ads. When I first start working with clients one of the first things they bring up is how they’ve never had success with Facebook ads.

Let’s jump into the top 5 Facebook marketing mistakes and why Facebook Ads aren’t working for your local business.

Give Your Ads Time To Run

The first issue is not letting the ad run at least 5 to 7 days. Nobody really knows precisely how Facebook’s algorithm works but I do know from experience that somewhere in the 3 to 7 day mark is really where your ad gets in its rhythm.

That;s when Facebook gets enough information to start it maximizing what it should be doing. I know that from experience and what I see a lot with people is they hit the boost button for ten dollars and after a day they’re not getting the results they want so they shut it off.

Or you’ve got this really aggressive overeager person who jumps right in and sets up five different ads sets and then they start letting it go and then after a day or two they’re like huh none of these are working and then they shut it down.

Listen, you got to have some patience and you got to let Facebook do its thing. I say let it set up for five to seven days, don’t touch it. You’ll find out after five to seven days if it’s working.

If you’re just running stuff for one or two or three days you’re not even letting it find its rhythm or get in a stride. Let it stay a little longer, collect a little bit more data and the data will tell you if you’re doing something wrong.

If it’s not working it’ll start pointing you in the right direction so you got to let it run at least five to seven days.

Understand The Boost Button

The second point is what I just said about using the boost button. Now the boost button is getting better than it was a year or 2 ago, they keep adding more features and what you can do inside of boosting your posts.

You still need to go into the ads manager or the business page power editor and run your ads from there but there is so much more you can do with targeting and everything else back there.

If you don’t know what you’re doing back there you probably need to get somebody that does understand it or can help you with it because using the boost button alone is probably not gonna do what you’re looking to really accomplish.

Those two together are probably the biggest mistakes I see with local business owners. They hit the boost button, they throw 10, 20, 50 bucks at it and they let it run for 1-2 days then say Facebook ads don’t work and following those steps it’s not gonna work.

You’ve got to use the power editor ads manager and let it go five to seven days and this goes to the point of staying in your lane. You’re not staying in your lane if you don’t know how to use the power editor.

Learn more about: This Is Better Than Boosting Your Post On Facebook

Stay In Your Lane

Do you really want to learn, do you really want to spend the hours it takes to learn it and then the moment you get it figured out they’re gonna change it. I promise you they’re gonna update the software or they’re gonna give it a new look but they’re gonna change it.

If you’re a salon owner, you’re a hairstylist, you’re an attorney or you’re a restaurant manager, stay in your lane. Do what you love to do, do what you’re good at, do what you’re paid at and outsource your Facebook ads.

I was just reading a business plan the other day where they had the restaurant managers putting in something like 8 hours a week or more into their Facebook marketing.

I don’t understand that. Why would you take these managers that you’re paying big dollars to, pull them off managing a restaurant and the staff and all the other stuff and try to have them work in marketing when they have no training and marketing skills.

It’s so much cheaper to be able to pick up a freelancer or a marketing agency or someone else that can handle that stuff and let your manager manage.

You cut hair, you do what you’re great at, you do tattoos or whatever, stay in your lane and delegate marketing out if you can afford to. I know everybody can’t afford to when you’re starting out.

You know you’re the janitor, you’re the graphic designer, you’re the marketer, you’re the stylist, you’re the cook, you do everything. I understand that but if you’re in a position quit being so close fisted and narrow minded and delegate it out.

Listen, I can do Photoshop okay but I delegate all my photoshop out to the people on my team who are graphic designers and the reason why is because what it takes them 15 minutes to do it takes me 3 hours to do.

Time is money and I’d rather have that time and just pay for it and not get frustrated trying to figure it out when it’s just so smooth and easy for them. It’s just easier to delegate it out and stay in my lane.

You Must Add Your Facebook Pixel

The next mistake I see is not using the Facebook pixel on your website. I see people doing great things online. Great things on their Facebook, great things on their website, they spend money on Facebook ads, AdWords, everything else and there’s no tracking pixel.

There’s nothing that pops up a capture page to collect an email and there’s no Facebook pixel. Why are you driving traffic to your website and you’re not capturing this information?

Okay, imagine somebody walks into your restaurant, your hair salon or your retail store and nobody greets them. No one says hi how are you, can I help you, what brings you in today or are you looking for a haircut, how many are here to eat.

Whatever your business is if no one greets them, no one ask them any questions, no one gets their information, you wouldn’t do that in your brick-and-mortar business. That’s insane, no one would do that but you do it on your website.

You let thousands of people a month come to your website without capturing an email and without putting a Facebook pixel so that you can record their visit, track them and run ads to them again, follow them around the internet and keep showing them your ads.

They’re on your website not by accident but because they’re looking for something. Because they have an interest it’s the same as they walk into your hair salon not by accident or for an oil change but they’re thinking about your service or product.

You have to be able to speak to these people. You can’t just let them visit the website and not gather any information and the Facebook pixel is the easiest way to do that.

I just saw a salon about two weeks ago that spent 500 hours plus on Google AdWords to drive people to their Facebook page or to their website and there was no Facebook pixel.

Even though their Facebook page and website was awesome with no Facebook pixel and no email capture they’re wasting that ad spend money by not collecting data.

Learn more about: 6 Tips For Effective Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads Are Not Magic

The last mistake that people make are thinking that Facebook ads are a magic formula with immediate results. They’re not a magic formula they’re just another form of advertising.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, you need data. Once you have that data you can analyze and can make sales quicker. You can build a huge facebook following and you can get engagement.

But you’re not going to understand the true immense power of Facebook Ads until you’re 90 to 120 days into it. You’re building ideas, buying data and getting better at it.

It takes a little bit of time but the thing that amazes me is people will drop two thousand dollars a month on a billboard on the side of a road that they have no idea how it’s impacting their business. There’s no way to measure that.

They will run ads in print magazines, they’ll run radio spots and tell them DJ so-and-so sent you. How many people walk into your place and say hey I’m here to get that special DJ so-and-so told me about?

That’s money spent well on branding but you can’t measure anything really from those. It’s very difficult and and you can measure everything you do on Facebook. It’s super super powerful so not only can you target but you can measure it.

You can run these ads and you can see females 25 to 36 years old in Dallas Texas are really responding to this ad. You can switch it up or change it around but you’re gathering information so there’s no wasted money.

When you run a Facebook ad or some type of campaign you’re buying data. You’re gathering data, you’re learning more about your customer and potential customers.

Every time you spend that money you’re getting more and more information and it should be honing in what you’re doing and then BAM you’ll figure it out. Sometimes it takes a little while but it’s not wasted.

You’ve got to spend the money, you’ve gotta be patient, you’ve got to look at the data, you’ve got to keep tweaking it and then you get the results.

It’s not a magic formula so don’t bring in a freelancer or a marketing agency and expect that in two weeks or the first month you’re rich. Now you should hold them accountable, they should be able to show you what they’re doing and what the numbers look like.

But don’t expect it to turn around overnight. This isn’t magic it’s still marketing it’s just cheaper and more powerful marketing than any other venue that’s really going on nowadays.

If you’re serious about learning how to run successful Facebook ads you need to check out John Crestani’s free training.

Top 5 Mistakes Local Businesses Make with Facebook Ads – Conclusion

So those are the top 5 mistakes local businesses make with Facebook ads. I know it can be overwhelming especially if you’re just starting out but I’m here to help.

If there’s something you want to learn about leave a comment below and make sure you share with your friends. I will try to answer any questions you have in a upcoming article. I want to help you in your small businesses so let me know your thoughts.