8 Reasons Why Your Ads Don’t Work & How to Fix Them
Look, if you’re advertising on any of the platforms, chances are you’re not getting the return you hope for. So what are you to do?
If you’re feeling frustrated with your advertising efforts and feel like you’ve tried everything, but your ads just aren’t converting, well, there are tons of reasons for that, and I’ll talk about 8 of them in just a minute.
The truth is, even though there are several reasons why your ads may not be working, fortunately, there are also solutions to get back on track.
Whether you’re big time or a small mom-and-pop figuring out these “interweb things” as a business owner or marketer, you know the importance of advertising.
It can be a powerful tool to attract new customers and grow your business.
However, not all ads are created equal.
If your ads aren’t working, and you’re asking yourself why don’t my ads work, it’s time to look closely at what’s not working and fix it.
One of the main reasons why your Facebook, Google, or YouTube ads don’t work for your eCommerce businesses is that they require a lot of resources and time to set up, customize, and maintain.
You need to understand your target audience before optimizing an ad campaign on Facebook.
Then, you have to think about which budget will be right for your business and how many customers you want to acquire with your ad spend, all of this while ensuring that your messages are correctly crafted and engaging.
Another issue is deciphering where to accredit the conversion if the customer actually made their purchase due to seeing the ad or from another source.
To determine this, measuring customer acquisition cost (CAC) compared to lifetime value (LTV) is essential when tracking ROI from paid ads for conversions.
That being said, effectively utilizing retargeting through precise placement and creative messaging can go a long way in encouraging conversion from visitors who may still need to be converted initially from seeing the original ads.
Ok, so let’s look at the top 8 reasons your ads aren’t working and what you can do to fix them.
Top 8 Reasons Ads Don’t Work And What To Do About It
The advertising world is constantly evolving, and what worked a few years ago may not work today.
With so many factors at play, making critical mistakes can quickly kill your ads.
I bet you’re here because you’re struggling to see a return on your advertising investment. If that’s the case, it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate your strategy.
There are some common reasons why ads don’t work that I see repeatedly, so let’s look at these so that you don’t repeat these same mistakes and kill your ads. Instead, you can turn your advertising efforts into a success by identifying and addressing these issues.
Ok, drum roll, please!
Let’s now explore the top 8 reasons why ads don’t work and offer practical solutions to help you overcome them.
- Targeting: Getting it to the right people
- Missing the target: The right message to the wrong people
- Rotten keywords: Not low-hanging fruit
- Wrong bid: You have too little or too much money being spent
- Terrible copy: You need to optimize your ads
- Mis-landing page: Your landing page doesn’t stick
- Boring ads: Your ads are boring, so your targets are bored
- Not converting: Your ads aren’t optimized for conversions
And I’ve included one bonus section for you, making 8 problems and answers and one extra bonus for you to help launch your ads and scale them more effectively.
You Aren’t Targeting The Right Audience
The first reason you may ask, “Why don’t my ads work” is your targeting.
Simply put, your targeting is off. Make sure you are reaching the right audience for your product or service.
Do your research: Before reaching the point that you’re asking why don’t my ads work, take some time to research your target audience.
What interests you? What are their pain points? The more you know about your target audience, the better you’ll be able to target your ads.
Mistargeting To The Right People With The Wrong Messaging
The second problem is that most advertisers will market to the right people but get the messaging all screwed up. Mistargeting the right people with the wrong messaging can lead to negative results, such as decreased engagement and conversion rates.
If you target older individuals with ads for trendy products, they may not resonate with the audience and result in wasted ad spend. If you market Boomer-retiree products, you will fail every time. You need to understand your audience and target your products to those who want to spend their money on what you offer.
Your Keywords Are Not Low Hanging Fruit
When it comes to your ads, finding and choosing the right keywords is crucial.
If you choose keywords that are too general or too broad, you may attract a lot of traffic that won’t convert into customers. And conversions are the key to your advertising if you want to succeed.
On the other hand, if you are here wondering why my ads don’t work, you’re probably making the mistake of choosing keywords that are too specific. As a result, your ad may not get shown to enough people to make a difference.
This is where the concept of low-hanging fruit comes in. Low-hanging fruit refers to keywords that are easy to target and have low competition.
So the key here is that it’s essential to strike a balance between keywords that are too competitive and those that are too easy to target.
And once you’ve identified the right keywords to target, it’s time to craft your ad. So make sure that your ad reflects the message and tone of your brand.
You Have The Wrong Bid Amount
Look, most people need to put an ad together, get some results, and scale it, only for the ad to underperform and not get the ROI they want.
Why don’t my ads work is one of the most common questions advertisers ask, and one of the main reasons ads can fail is if you need to set the right bid amount.
For example, if your bid is too low, your ad won’t even appear in the first few listings, so it is unlikely to generate clicks or impressions. On the other hand, if you set your bid too high, you may get many clicks, but you will pay an exorbitant amount for each click.
Your budget needs to be higher, but don’t just throw money at the ad. Instead, track the ad performance and scale the ones that are doing better, and the only tracking I trust to scale my ads with is Hyros.
The Ad Copy Is Terrible–Optimize It Better
Look, if your ads are good, but you are not getting results, and you believe your keywords and targeting are on point, the problem is your ad copy. In other words, your ad copy could be better.
The most common reason for an ad to fail is that the ad copy needs to be better written, clearer, more interesting, and targeted to the right audience will not capture their attention or motivate them to take action.
Without compelling ad copy, the ad itself will not be successful, and you will not see the ROI for your ad spend.
Focus on speaking directly to your target audience using words and terms that resonate with them. For example, talking to Boomers is different than talking to Gen Z, so get your messaging right.
The Landing Page Doesn’t Land
So you’ve found the best keywords, optimized your targeting, selected an outstanding bid amount, and still, your ads don’t convert.
Well, if you test a couple of different ads and they all perform, but people are getting to your landing page and not converting, the problem isn’t the ad; it’s the landing page.
In the Navy, one of the hardest things to do is to land a plane on a moving Aircraft Carrier, which is why most pilots are commercial or in the Air Force or Army. So don’t make your ads work like a Naval Aviator, instead, make sure your landing page will stick when a person gets there from your ads.
The key is to have a very simple page and a direct call to action. Without a clear call to action or a user-friendly layout, potential customers may quickly lose interest and navigate away from your site, resulting in a failed advertising campaign.
Your Ads Are Boring–What To Do Instead
Don’t make boring ads.
It’s that simple.
People are bombarded with ads, so to stand out, you want to be as simple as possible. To get better results, work towards creating simple, more engaging, and effective ads that resonate with your target audience and drive the results you’re after.
Ads Aren’t Optimized For Conversions
Your call to action is weak.
One of the main reasons why your ads may have failed is that they needed to be optimized for conversions. This means that the ads were not designed and structured to encourage users to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
Without proper conversion optimization, your ads may have attracted many clicks or views but failed to produce tangible results or revenue.
Instead, use clear and compelling language to encourage your audience to take action. And track what ads are performing and which ones aren’t. Unfortunately, people analyze the wrong data.
They look at ad performance as how many people came to their landing page or what had brought them.
The problem with this is that you may have had a person in your long funnel for a year or so who just now decided to convert. There could be many reasons for this, but if all you do is track the most recent touch point, you’re going to scale the wrong ads and waste a bunch of money.
A Bonus: You Aren’t Tracking Your Ads Correctly
Finally, I see this problem with advertisers all the time who come to me because they think that they are tracking their ads and optimizing based on the data they have.
The problem is that they’re tracking incorrectly, so they scale their ads or kill off others that may be performing.
So don’t do that, ok? Instead, track your ads with Hyros, which allows you to fully customize your reports and follow a target from the beginning to when they book the sales call.
It’s simply the best tool out there to give you the data you need to optimize your ads and get the ROI you’re expecting and then some.
If you’re ready to track your ads and get better performance immediately, book a free call with Hyros today.