On this week’s Dear Katie, I received a question that I think a lot of you have: “Why aren’t my Meta ads working?”
Running profitable Meta (or commonly known as Facebook and Instagram) ads takes work.
I was at an in-person event where a firm owner said that they’ve tried Meta ads in the past, but they just didn’t work.
“Katie, they just aren’t working. Can you give me some insights into why?”
They booked a consultation with me and I dug in to find key faults in their ads and setup that led to the ads “just not working.”
I’ll share my findings below, and the three keys to profitable Meta ads that make all of the difference.
You’re working on attracting the right clients, and Meta offers advanced targeting to help you achieve this goal. But Meta is always evolving, and that’s where this advice is going to go against what many others are saying.
We’re finding that it’s better to go broader with your ads.
In the past, you might go niche and target, say, “lawyers,” and then target law firms that are making 7 figures.
But what we’re seeing work is just targeting 7-figure business owners to make sure they’re qualified.
In other words: Ditch the idea of niching your ads down.
It’s a massive change from what we’ve seen in the past when niching down was highly profitable.
Of course, you might fall into the few niches where niching down still works, and these will be ones that are very active and broad on Facebook
In general, try to avoid niching down and choose the right offer.
The second thing you need to succeed with paid ads is an irresistible offer.
An irresistible offer has four key components:
You need all four of these components if you want your audience to take action.
If your offer is lacking even one of these components, go back to the drawing board and make adjustments until it meets all of them.
For example, telling prospects that you “help with taxes” or “do bookkeeping” isn’t compelling enough to drive them to take action, nor does it have a specific outcome.
Sure, it may resonate with people who need support, but it lacks social proof and urgency.
Another example: offering a DIY-focused lead magnet, like “10 ways to save on taxes.”
Sure, this guide may be compelling to some prospects, but let’s be real: If you’re targeting business owners doing $1M-$10M in revenue, they don’t want DIY tax tips. They want someone to step in, find savings for them, and handle it for them.
An offer like this falls short in terms of resonance.
Now that we’ve covered what isn’t an irresistible offer, let’s look at what is.
Your exact offer will depend on your business and what you do.
But here’s an example framework that works well:
Let’s say that you offer tax planning. A strong video ad may look something like this:
An offer like this hits on all four components of an irresistible offer:
Ultimately, you need the right offer to compel prospects to take action ASAP. Your offer must have all four of the above components, or your results will likely suffer.
To leverage the power of your offer, you need one final thing: a system.
To succeed with Facebook Ads, you need the right system.
What does that look like?
Stay tuned until the next episode to get that!
Oh, and for my clients? They were missing the mark on all three of these points. We fixed all of these areas, and guess what?
Their ads are now rocking and rolling. They’re booking prospects on autopilot.
And, that’s a wrap on this Dear Katie question.
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Now I want to hear from you. Do you have a question?
Until next time, cheers to your success!
Katie
Instead of narrowing your audience too much, try targeting broader categories, like 7-figure business owners, to attract qualified clients.
An irresistible offer should be compelling, resonate with your audience, create urgency, and include social proof to encourage action.
Review your offer to ensure it has a specific outcome, speaks to your audience’s needs, includes social proof, and creates a sense of urgency.
A proper system helps you manage your ads effectively, ensuring that your targeting, offers, and overall strategy work together to drive results.
Track metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend to evaluate how well your ads are performing.
Avoid overly niche targeting, weak offers, and neglecting to create a structured system for managing your ads.