Facebook Ads: Are You Paying Attention to the Numbers?

Let's talk about Facebook ads for a minute.

I see a lot of quilt shops put some money behind a Facebook post, get a bunch of likes and comments, and decide, “Well, I guess that worked!” Maybe it did. But likes aren't really what we're trying to buy with an ad. If you're spending money on Facebook advertising, you should be paying attention to what the numbers are telling you.

Start With Your Goal

Before you run an ad, decide what you want it to do. Are you trying to sell a quilt kit? Fill a class? Get people to your website? Promote an event? That's important because a successful ad doesn't look the same for every goal.

If you're trying to sell something, I want to know how many people clicked and how many actually bought.

If you're filling a class, I want to know how many people clicked through to the class information and how many registered.

The Numbers I Watch

You don't need to understand every number Facebook gives you. Start with a few basics.

• Reach: How many people saw your ad?
• Clicks: How many people actually did something with it?
• Cost per click: How much did each of those clicks cost you?
• And then the big one... Sales.

If you spent $50 on an ad and made $300 in sales, that's useful information. If you spent $50 and made $20 in sales, that's useful information too. It just tells you something different.

And remember, sales aren't the same thing as profit. If you're spending $50 to generate $100 in sales, you need to know whether there's enough margin there to make it worthwhile.

Don't Get Distracted by the Likes

This is probably the biggest thing I want quilt shops to remember. A post can get tons of likes because someone thinks your quilt is pretty. That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to buy it. On the other hand, an ad might not get a ton of likes but send 100 people to your website and sell 15 kits.

I'll take the second one.

Compare Your Ads

You don't have to know what the “perfect” Facebook ad should look like. Just start paying attention to your own numbers. Run an ad for a new fabric collection. Then run one for a quilt kit. Then maybe an ad for a class.

After you've done a few, compare them. Which one got the most clicks? Which one cost the least per click? Which one actually resulted in sales?

You may start to notice that the things you thought would work aren't necessarily the things that do. And that's really the point of looking at your numbers. You're not trying to become a Facebook advertising expert. You're just trying to figure out where your advertising dollars are actually doing some work.

Keep It Simple

You don't need a giant spreadsheet or a marketing degree. For each ad, jot down:

• What did I spend?
• How many people did I reach?
• How many clicked?
• How much did each click cost?
• How many sales did I get?

Do that consistently, and you're going to learn a lot about what works for your shop.

Next time you're tempted to say, “That Facebook ad did really well! It got 300 likes!” Take one more look. Did it sell anything? That's the number I'd be watching.