Every single business owner who runs ads hopes for one thing: sales.They’re ready to watch the orders pile up and money rolling in.
But for most, reality paints a very different picture.
Ads flop.
Budgets disappear.
Sales? Nada.
And after a few failed attempts, many business owners throw up their hands, declare, “Ads don’t work,” and go back to square one.
So, what’s going wrong?
In today’s article, I’ll break down three common mistakes that are sabotaging your ads—and, more importantly, how you can avoid them. Let’s dive in.
1. Giving Up on Your Ads Too Early
Here’s how Meta’s advertising platform works in a nutshell:
You launch an ad on Facebook or Instagram. The platform collects data. Then, over time, it optimizes the ad based on that data.
So, at the start, Meta’s flying blind. It doesn’t have enough data to work with, so your ads are bound to deliver underwhelming results at first.
Sadly, many business owners don’t know this. They panic after a few days of subpar results. And end up pausing their campaigns, pulling the plug on their ad accounts, and declaring it a lost cause.
Big mistake.
By giving up too early, you’re cutting short the learning phase and throwing away all potential progress. It’s like spending months at the gym building muscle, only to stop working out and lose it all.
The fix?
Patience. Expect a slow start, and give Meta the time it needs to optimize. Stick with your campaigns for a few weeks, making small adjustments along the way.
And the results will eventually come.
2. Not A/B Testing
Many business owners only create one ad. A disaster waiting to happen.
But that’s not even the worst part.
The real disaster?
They let that single ad run for weeks…
<dramatic pause>
...without optimizing a thing.
Not the headline. Not the copy. Not the visuals. Nothing.
Fast forward two weeks, and surprise, surprise—no sales.
The fix? A/B testing. It essentially means testing out different headlines, images, and calls to action.
And this shows you:
What works well with your audience
What doesn’t work with your audience
And that’s all you need to create winning ads.
By the way, if you want a step-by-step guide on how to correctly A/B test your ads, read this article: https://www.jhmarketingresults.com/en/post/the-4-step-process-to-create-high-converting-ads.
Let’s move on:
3. Falling Victim to Ad Fatigue
Ad fatigue is every marketer’s worst nightmare.
Here’s how it works: when users see the same ad too many times, they stop engaging with it. Meta picks up on that, and your ad’s performance drops off a cliff.
And this is especially painful for business owners.
They might have an ad that’s working. They’re getting money in. And then a couple of weeks in, ‘out of nowhere,‘ that all stops.
And they can’t figure out why because they don’t know ad fatigue is a thing.
Luckily, that’s not going to be you.
Here’s how you stay ahead of this nasty ad fatigue:
Refresh your ads every 2-3 weeks.
Try a new visual.
Tweak the headline.
Come up with a fresh offer.
This way, you’ll keep your audience engaged. And avoid ad fatigue. And if you avoid the other 2 mistakes as well, you’ll make a lot of money from ads.
Talk soon,
Jack
P.S. If you realize you’re making one of these three mistakes, and you’re looking for someone to help you fix it, you can fill out the form here:
I’ll take a look at your ads and fix them instantly - for free.
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