You may have found yourself wondering if you are doing something wrong when trying to run conversion ads. You have tried everything and just can’t seem to get the conversions to take place. You are not alone. Conversion ads on Facebook are tricky.
Let’s start with defining what a conversion ad is: a conversion ad is an ad that measures the action a person takes on your website such as adding an item to a shopping cart, viewing a particular product or even signing up for an email list. Any page on your website can represent a conversion. It is important to note that you will need to have your Facebook pixel code installed on your website in order for Facebook to track your conversions.
With over 1.6 billion active users on Facebook we at SocialNicole know that running Facebook ads is an effective way to grow your business. Conversion ads are one marketing objective that can yield results, but you need to figure out what works and what does not in order for this strategy to be effective.
Facebook needs high-quality data to properly optimize your ads for conversions. If you have a new product or service or only a few people have converted Facebook may no not have enough data to properly optimize your ad to yield results. However, the question still remains how do you provide Facebook with enough high quality data so you can start running Facebook conversion ads that get results?
How do I optimize my Facebook Ads for Conversions?
A great way to help Facebook gather more data is to optimize your conversion ads for link clicks. Follow the steps outlined below to set up a conversion ad that is optimized for link clicks. By doing this you first focus on link clicks and once Facebook has enough date you can switch to the conversion focus. It’s really quite easy just follow our guide below.
Step 1: Create your campaign.
Go to Ads Manager and create your campaign. Be sure to select the Conversion Ad marketing objective. 
Step 2: Name your Facebook Ad Campaign.
We recommend adding more details so you can recognize the ad when checking ad performance. It’s a good idea to adopt a naming system so you can keep your ads organized based on their goals and objectives. An example Title (Something that tells you what the ad is)_Marketing Objective_Audience_Date Rang or additional info.
Step 3. Complete your ad set.
The first thing you will do is select your conversion event. A conversion event can be any action that is taken on your website such as: adding a product to your shopping cart, signing up for an email list or viewing a particular page. After you select your conversion event you will define your audience, edit placements or use automatic placements, and set your budget and schedule. If you are unsure how to set up your Facebook ad set, you can use our guide to setting up a Facebook ad here. 
Step 4 Optimize your conversion ad for link clicks.
After you have scrolled through and defined your audience and set your budget and ad schedule, you will see the section titled “Optimization for Ad Delivery.” You will click on the drop down “Conversions” menu and select link clicks and hit continue. 
Step 5. Create your ad.
Select your ad format, upload any images or video you would like your ad to contain, draft the ad text, input the link, set your “call to action” button, preview the ad on the right-hand side and place your order.
You have now set a Conversion ad that is optimized for link clicks. Once your campaign has gotten enough link clicks, Facebook recommends at least 1,000 link clicks, you can follow the steps above and optimize your ad for conversions. By the time your campaign has gotten 1,000 link clicks Facebook should have a higher amount of data to optimize your conversion ad and yield greater results.
This method is a little messy because it does require you to review your ad results and manually edit the campaign you are running, but if you are willing to do it you may maximize your ad results. There has been some talk about Facebook automating the optimization process. Stay tuned, we will update you when Facebook has rolled this out to business pages.
Managing Facebook ads for optimal results require expert focus to make sure you are getting the best results. At SocialNicole we help businesses everyday find success with their Facebook ads campaigns. If you would like help optimizing and managing your Facebook ads contact us today!
