Facebook ads can drive sales when done right, but a poorly performing campaign can quickly burn through your budget. Knowing when to pause your ads can save you money while you rework your strategy. This article outlines 6 clear signs that indicate it's time to turn off your Facebook ads, like low engagement and conversion rates or rapidly increasing costs per result. Drawing on expert advice, we explain what to look for in your campaign analytics and how to troubleshoot issues so you can optimize your ads and achieve your marketing goals. With tips for spotting problems early and improving underperforming campaigns, you’ll learn how to gauge when to call it quits or persist with your Facebook ads.
1. When Your Ads Have Reached Audience Saturation
When the same people see your ads over and over, it's called saturation. Kind of like when your favorite song plays on the radio too much and you get sick of it. The more times someone sees your ad without clicking, the less likely they are to ever click or buy. Facebook shows how many times your ad reached each person. Typically more than 3 views per person means saturation.
What happens then? Your clicks and sales go down while the amount you pay per click goes up. You're wasting money showing it to the same bored people. Before turning the ad off completely, try showing it to new people, or create a fresh, funny new version. Test different looks. Keeping it new and interesting fights saturation so you can get more curious clicks and sales. It's all about balance - reach lots of people, but don't let it get stale.
2. When Your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) Becomes Too High
So you set up this Facebook ad to get more people to buy your awesome product or sign up for your service. But then you check how much you spend to get each new customer or signup (called cost per acquisition or CPA), and YIKES. That number keeps going up up up while your allowance stays the same. Not cool!
This means your ad isn't working as well anymore. The people Facebook is showing it to just aren't that into it. When your CPA gets bigger than what you can make from each new customer over time (called lifetime value or LTV), you have to pull the plug! Otherwise you'll just keep losing more money.
Here's what to do:
- Check if your ad is still in the "learning phase." Facebook needs some time to figure out the best audience for your ad. Costs can be weird at first.
- If not, try narrowing down the target group. Too broad and Facebook might be showing it to people who don't want what you're selling.
- Change up the images and wording in your ad. Something about it could be turning people off.
- Check that your website or landing page looks good too. Fix anything that seems boring or confusing.
If none of that makes your CPA drop, it's time to stop the campaign for now. You can always try again later with a fresh new approach! Just don't break the bank chasing after an audience that isn't receptive. Time to move on.
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3. When Ad Fatigue Starts to Impact Engagement
You created this super eye-catching Facebook ad that was getting tons of attention at first. But then you notice fewer and fewer people are reacting to it or clicking on it lately. Uh oh, they're getting ad fatigue!
It's like when your math teacher keeps repeating the same lame joke every class. The first few times you might have laughed to be nice. But after the 20th time, you probably just roll your eyes, right? That's exactly what happens with overexposed ads too.
How can you tell people are getting bored of your ad? Check if engagement (likes, comments, etc) is dropping a lot while the amount you pay per click is going up. Not a good combo! Running burned out ads will just bum people out and waste your cash.
Here's how to refresh things:
- Rotate in new photos, headlines, and call-to-action buttons occasionally
- Test out different formats like video or carousel
- Set limits on how often the ad is shown to each person
Putting some effort into keeping your ads novel and intriguing will make people perk back up! If you let it get stale though, don't be surprised when folks tune you out. Freshen up your approach before you bore everyone to death!
4. When Your Click-Through Rates (CTR) Drop Dramatically
Click-through rate (CTR) is one of the most important indicators of ad performance. It reflects how many people clicked on your ad after seeing it. If you notice a sharp decline in your CTR, it’s time to reassess the effectiveness of your campaign.
Low CTR typically means your ad just isn't interesting or relevant to the audience. It's like trying to sell violin lessons to a bunch of soccer players - bad match! If the CTR drops way below average for your type of business, continuing that campaign is pretty pointless.
Facebook will also start charging you more per click for underperforming ads, since not many people are chomping at the bait. Next thing you know, you've wasted a chunk of change on an audience that clearly isn't feelin' it.
Before you ditch the ad completely, try out some fixes:
- Test out different headlines and images
- Make sure your message speaks directly to what potential customers want or need
- Check that the call-to-action button has a compelling message
If you still can't get those click numbers up after some tinkering, go back to the drawing board! Find a hook that really grabs their attention or aim your ad toward a crowd that's a better fit. Don't keep fishing with bad bait!
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5. When You’ve Achieved Your Campaign Goals
You started running Facebook ads to get more people to buy your crazy cool products or sign up for your awesome service. You picked a rockstar goal ahead of time, like selling 100 widgets or getting 50 new subscribers. After watching your numbers roll in for a while - success! You hit your target!
It might be tempting to keep those ads going since they're working well. But it's smart to quit while you're ahead once you've achieved what you originally wanted. No point in wasting money telling people about a sale that's already over or advertising a product you no longer have in stock!
What can happen if you don't stop your winning campaign?
- You'll annoy viewers by showing them ads for stuff you can't actually provide
- You'll waste money without getting any extra benefit
- People may stop trusting your biz if you can't deliver
The best plan? Pause or end your ads on a high note right after crushing your goals! Celebrate those sweet, sweet metrics! Then later when you launch something new or want to promote your next big sale, set a fresh target and start a new campaign.
Tracking your numbers from the start helps you know when you've totally knocked it out of the park. Pay attention so you can pull your ads when the clock runs out and declare victory!
6. When Seasonal or Time-Sensitive Campaigns End
Some Facebook ad campaigns are designed around seasons, special events, or time-sensitive offers. Once the promotion, sale, or season ends, it's crucial to turn off the corresponding Facebook ads right away to avoid wasting ad spend or confusing customers.
For example, holiday sales ads should be paused on January 1st when the deals are no longer valid. Allowing Christmas promotion ads to continue running in January will only frustrate potential customers. Similarly, back-to-school ads in September need to be turned off promptly on the first day of Fall.
The best practice is to set automatic end dates for any seasonal or time-limited ad campaigns in Facebook Ads Manager. This ensures your ads stop running as soon as the promotion expires. It also creates a sense of urgency and scarcity for shoppers.
In addition to setting end dates, you can use Facebook's ad scheduling tools to only run certain ads during peak traffic times. For example, cyber week deals can be scheduled to run heavy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, then taper off naturally by building in fewer ad impressions later in the week. Using scheduling and end dates together guarantees time-sensitive campaigns start and stop appropriately.
How to Pause a Facebook Ad Campaign
Pausing is easy to do through Ads Manager, and you can start your ads again with a single click.
Steps to Pause Your Facebook Ad Campaign:
- Log into your Facebook Ads Manager account and go to the Campaigns tab.
- Locate the campaign you want to pause. Click the three dots next to the campaign name and select "Pause".
- A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm. Click "Pause Campaign".
- The status for that campaign will now change to "Paused". The delivery and cost will be paused until you resume the campaign.
- To start delivery again, go back to that campaign in Ads Manager and click the toggle button next to "Paused" to switch it to active status.
Key Notes
- You can pause at the campaign, ad set, or ad level based on how granular you want to be.
- Pausing preserves all the targeting, creatives, and budget you had set up so you can easily resume.
- If needed, you can duplicate paused campaigns to make adjustments while preserving the originals.
Conclusion: Timing Is Everything in Facebook Ads Management
Running Facebook ads is kind of like riding a bike - it takes practice to keep your balance and ride smoothly! And just like you wouldn't keep riding with a flat tire, it's important to know when to stop a Facebook ad that's not working.
Paying attention to important numbers like cost per click and engagement rate helps you spot when an ad is underperforming. If you notice these metrics tanking, take it as a sign to pause the ad and make adjustments. Wasting money on poorly performing ads helps no one!
It's tempting to let ads run indefinitely if they do even moderately well. But all good things must come to an end! If you've reached your campaign goals for leads or sales, turning off those ads preserves your precious marketing budget for the next cycle.
Timing is everything when managing Facebook ads. Launching a great campaign is just the first step. Being strategic about when you pause, tweak, or stop ads completely helps ensure your efforts and money are well spent. With some practice at closely monitoring performance, you'll get better at pulling the plug at just the right moments.
Mohamed Fouad is a full-stack web developer and an entrepreneur who's really into advertising. He is the CEO of Rent Ads Agency, a company that helps businesses reach more customers through advertising. He graduated from Stanford University in 2018 and has over 4 years of experience in the tech industry.
