Top 10 Most Common Mistakes on META ADS (Facebook+Instagram)

Advertising on Meta, with its promises of large audiences and rapid conversions, attracts many companies ready to invest heavily. However, just because you inject millions into an advertising campaign does not guarantee success. After spending more than 15 million euros in 17 months on Meta, here is an unfiltered feedback on the ten most common mistakes that can ruin a campaign and how to avoid them.

1. Promoting new products without preparation

Advertising, far from being a magic wand, does not transform a mediocre product into a best-seller. If your product does not sell naturally, advertising on Meta will not change the game. Companies often tend to think that simply promoting a new product will be enough to boost sales, but this is not the case.

Tip: Start by promoting your bestsellers, those that have already proven their appeal in the market. Once you have established these products, you can test new products. The opposite would be risky and ineffective.

2. Dilute your advertising budget

Making informed decisions requires reliable data. If your budgets are spread too thinly across multiple campaigns, your results will be spread too thin, making it difficult to identify which strategies are actually working. Imagine you have a cost per acquisition (CPA) of €30 and you allocate a budget of €100 per day to 4 ad sets and 5 creatives. It would take you 60 days to get 10 conversions with a single creative. That’s an eternity in digital advertising terms.

Tip: Simplify your advertising structure. Focus your efforts on fewer campaigns, but optimize them to get results faster and more efficiently.

3. Neglecting to test your creatives

On Meta, 70% of your results are directly linked to the quality of your creatives. Many advertisers wrongly focus on audience optimization when the real lever is in the creativity of the ads. Going from a CTR (Click Through Rate) of 1% to 2% doubles your traffic for the same budget. Why bother scraping a few percent of improvement on the audience when a good visual can change everything?

Tip: Systematically test your creatives. Identify the ones that perform best and work to improve them continuously. The visual and the message are your best allies.

4. Forgetting to optimize your conversion rate

Traffic is important, but it’s only valuable if your site converts effectively. A poorly optimized site is a drain on ad spend. If you’re sending thousands of visitors to a site that doesn’t convert, you’re just throwing money out the window.

Tip: Before you spend a dime on advertising, make sure your site is conversion optimized (CRO). Simplify the checkout process, create responsive landing pages, and only then invest in advertising.

5. Neglecting to increase the average basket

On a well-optimized account, it is the average basket that makes all the difference on the ROAS (Return On Ad Spend). At equal CPA, an average basket of €90 will give you a ROAS of 3, while an average basket of €150 will give you a ROAS of 5. Increasing the average basket is therefore an essential lever to maximize your profits.

Tip: Use techniques like free shipping thresholds, bundles, group offers, cross-selling, or a progress bar to encourage customers to increase their cart value from the first purchase.

6. Don't encourage repeat purchases

Acquiring a customer is just the first step. If every sale requires a new advertising investment, your model is not sustainable. A satisfied customer must come back, without you having to convince them each time with a new campaign.

Tip: Set up automated email sequences and a loyalty program. The goal is to turn each customer into a repeat buyer, thus reducing the cost of acquisition in the long term.

7. Go all in on Meta

Meta is a powerful tool, but it’s not enough on its own to ensure sustainable success. The more your acquisition relies on a single channel, the more vulnerable you are to algorithm changes or fluctuations in that channel’s performance.

Tip: Diversify your paid traffic sources (TikTok, Pinterest, Google, Snap) and complement them with organic strategies (SEO, social networks). A multi-channel approach is essential for sustainable growth.

8. Track your conversions poorly

Poor conversion measurement can lead to disastrous decisions. If you rely on partial or erroneous data, your analyses will be biased and you risk misdirecting your investments.

Tip: Implement robust tracking: Use tracking pixels, server-side tracking, and post-purchase surveys together to get a clear and comprehensive view of your performance.

9. Think micro instead of macro

Meta attribution is far from reliable. Just send an email campaign and your Meta CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) drops. Focusing on the platform's internal metrics can be misleading.

Tip: Drive your growth with a macro approach by monitoring overall ROAS. Don’t be blinded by one-off variations on a single platform.

10. Focusing only on ROAS

Beyond a certain threshold, the pool of immediate buyers is exhausted. If you want to grow, you will have to look for customers further afield, which will naturally impact your ROAS. This does not mean that you are not growing, but simply that you are reaching a larger, and therefore less qualified, audience.

Tip: To scale, stop focusing only on the ROAS of the first purchase. Instead, focus on the CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and the LTV (Lifetime Value). These are the indicators that will give you a real vision of long-term profitability.

Meta advertising can be a great lever for growth, but it can also turn into a money pit if mismanaged. These mistakes are common, but by avoiding them, you can not only optimize your campaigns, but also sustain your business. It's not just about injecting money into a platform, but doing it intelligently, keeping an overview and ensuring that each euro spent generates real added value for your business. So, take a step back, analyze your strategies, and above all, never stop testing, learning, and optimizing.