13 Winning Facebook Ad Strategies to Drive Kickass ROAS

Are you feeling underwhelmed by your Facebook ad results? Or maybe you want to start running Facebook ads on the right foot?

I’ve compiled a list of the best FB ad strategies to boost sales.

A surefire way to waste money is to advertise on Facebook without a strategy. You end up chasing your tail around in circles, spending time and money on reactive marketing. 

By the end of this article, you’ll have pro Facebook advertising tips up your sleeve and will know what to do next when advertising your business on Facebook. 

Let’s jump in.

1. Define your target audience and ICP

You absolutely and positively need to define who you are marketing to before you start. 

Otherwise, you won’t be spending money on the right people.

Defining your audience is usually a process of asking a few questions, some of which are easier than others, and research.

Some questions to start you off are:

1. Who are they?
2. How old are they?
3. Where do they live?
4. Where do they work?
5. How much money do they make?
6. What does their home life look like? 
7. How do they spend their time?
8. What are their interests?
9. How do they see themselves?
10. What keeps them up at night?

You’ll likely discover several different customer profiles that could match your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

A tip to help identify your ideal customer is to look at your existing customers as a starting point. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what their day is like. Find out what they love and what they struggle with in your niche.

Even better, talk to them if you can. Ask them questions that will help you better understand their priorities and problems. 

For example, Millennials make up over half of Facebook’s audience. 51.1% of Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 44. If this is your target age group, great! Meta ads are for you.

You’ve got to create a sales funnel. 

Pro tips:

• Snoop on your competitors to learn about your target audience.
• Add your closest competitors to the “Businesses to watch” section of your Insights in Meta Business Manager.
• Search community groups relating to your offering to see what your audience says.

2. Build a solid sales funnel

First, we must acknowledge that not all customers are at the same point in the funnel. 

A sales funnel is the marketing structure you build to facilitate your customer journey.

The four funnel stages we use are:

1. Acquisition prospecting
2. Acquisition re-engagement 
3. Retargeting
4. Retention

The acquisition prospecting stage is at the top of your sales funnel. This stage is for finding new potential customers, the people experiencing their first touch with your brand. You are appealing to their interests here. 

The acquisition re-engagement stage is the next stage of your marketing funnel. It’s for people who have interacted with your brand pages and ads from the marketing you did for the first stage. They’ve shown an interest in your offering. 

The retargeting stage is for people who have expressed purchase intent. They’ve visited your website, chatted with you, or subscribed to your mailing list. 

The retention stage is for the existing customers you want to return to your website to make another purchase. 

The people in each stage will need different messaging. You can’t show them the same ads; the campaign objectives will also differ. 

Since each funnel stage represents a different stage of the buying journey, the audience size will vary. The top of your marketing funnel will contain much broader audiences than those at the bottom, so your budget and targeting methods will vary.

This structure means you must create separate campaigns for each funnel stage and structure your ad account this way. We’ve found that the funnel-stage targeting method has proven successful many times. 

It’s crucial to manage audience exclusions this way, as these also differ by funnel stage.

So, why should you cover the whole funnel? To maximize your revenue by making more sales.

If you miss out on any of these audiences, you may only reach some of the prospects you could. You also risk losing people by not marketing to them in a way that meets them where they are in your funnel.

Audience examples by funnel stage

In the Acquisition Prospecting stage, you should target broad audiences of people who don’t know your brand. These may include:

• Interest-based audiences relevant to your business
• Lookalike audiences to widen the pool of potential customers

For the Acquisition Re-Engagement stage, you should target people who have interacted with your brand pages or website visitors. These can include:

• Fans of your Facebook Page
• Your Instagram followers

For the Retargeting stage, you should target people who have shown purchase intent but need help moving to the finish line. These are usually custom audiences and could include:

• Your website visitors if you’ve set up the Meta Pixel to track this activity
• Your app users
• Hot leads: People who have viewed a product on your website in the last three days
• Warm leads: People who have abandoned their carts, added items to their carts, or viewed a product in the previous 30 days. 
• Your email subscribers, event attendees, or people who’ve messaged you by uploading customer lists as custom audiences.

Lastly, for the Retention stage, you should target your existing customers to make repeat purchases. These audiences could be:

• Custom audiences of your existing customers, which you can extract from your CRM or POS software
• A customer list you’ve created manually and uploaded as a custom audience
• People who have purchased from you in the past 180 days, which you can target using the Meta Pixel

Budget allocation for each funnel stage

Due to the different sizes of the audiences you’ll target in your sales funnel, you must adjust your ad spend budget accordingly.

You should allocate 60% of your ad budget to the Acquisition Prospecting stage for a steady stream of new potential customers from your largest audiences. 

Then, for those who expressed interest and engaged with your ads in the Acquisition Re-Engagement stage, you should allocate 20% of your ad budget.

In the Retargeting stage, you should allocate 15% of your ad spend budget to warm leads who haven’t yet completed a transaction on your store. 

For the retention stage, allocate 5% of your budget to customers who have already purchased something. This audience may only need a little prompting to buy again if they’ve bought from you already.

Pro tip: You can use Madgicx’s Audience Launcher to launch these audiences in a few clicks. Our pre-built audiences are aligned to each funnel stage and will have you ready to kickstart your campaign in record time.

The pre-built Madgicx audiences are correctly structured with a master campaign for each funnel stage. They include any necessary exclusions, so you spend money on the right audience segments. Give it a try for free.

3. Tailor ads to audience segments

By now, you will have identified the customer profiles that define your ICP and know how to structure your sales funnel.

It's time to dig even deeper and discover the different audience segments you can market to.

Now, you can’t use the same creative for all these segments. You need to pay attention to the funnel stage they’re in and the audience segment they fall under. 

People ignore ads that don’t fit quite right or fit too loosely. Relevance is everything.

For example, a 35-year-old married mother living in the suburbs has very different pain points or world views compared to a city-dwelling 27-year-old man who is a single professional. 

Both may fit your ideal customer profile, but the same copy, images, and videos will not likely close the sale. You want to deliver a personalized marketing message to them.

You should create an ad set for each audience segment and personalize their ads to help you make more sales. 

Analyzing your ad results can help you identify your best-performing audience segments. Pay attention to demographics, behaviors, and interests to spot the winning ones.

You can do this in your campaign Insights tab in the Meta Ads Manager. Yet, I prefer using Madgicx (yes, I’m biased. But because it’s better). 

The Madgicx Geo & Demo Insights tab in the 360° Meta Audit presents your ad account data much more understandably.

If you scroll down, you’ll find the “Age & Gender” section. In this example, you can see that both men and women in this age group have a better ROAS. 

Both audience segments are worth advertising to, so you need to figure out how you’re going to create ads that appeal to both genders.

4. Set up tracking with the Facebook Pixel

The Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) is a tool that tracks user activity on your website. It sends this information back to Facebook so you can market to these people. These might be prospects who have clicked on an ad or visited your website.

Using the Meta Pixel is powerful because it unlocks vital information about your Meta ad results. You could be throwing your money out the window if you don’t know your ROAS, sales, clicks, add-to-cart data, etc.

You can create audiences based on the Pixel’s tracking: custom audiences (for retargeting and retention) and lookalikes (for acquisition).

Warm audiences (website visitors, people who added items to their carts, or customers) are likelier to convert, so reaching these people should form part of your Facebook ad strategy. 

Lookalike audiences are a great way to get prospects who are likely to become customers.

We have a great article to guide you through installing the Meta Pixel if you haven’t set yours up yet.

While this sounds amazing, which it is, it isn’t enough. 

We have had privacy restrictions since the iOS14 update in 2021. Apple users can opt out of all tracking, which makes your Pixel data less accurate.

It’s no longer an accurate reflection because of the activity that isn’t reported.

Enter Madgicx Cloud Tracking 🧙

Madgicx Cloud Tracking closes the gap on inaccurate Facebook Pixel data. It sends this vital data directly to Meta using the Conversions API over a secure server-to-server connection. With no third parties involved, you get more accurate data.

Our Madgicxians set up Madgicx Cloud Tracking for you within two days (not months). There is no need for expensive developers.

Combined with your Pixel data, you get just about all the customer data you can lay your hands on. 

Say yes to more accurate data 🤓 Try Madgicx Cloud Tracking free for 7 days. Get it now.

5. Leverage Facebook mobile ads

84.5% of users use the mobile app exclusively, and 14.3% use the mobile app and desktop to access Facebook. Make sure you're factoring this into your ad creation strategy. 

You can do this by creating mobile-friendly ads.

These could be stories, reels, videos, carousels, Messenger ads, and collection ads primed for shopping. 

You can also create Instant Experiences to tack onto any of these ads. They give mobile users a seamless brand experience without leaving the app.

You want to create an excellent experience for your potential customers in a way that makes the most sense. Make sure to create Facebook ads optimized for mobile phones, as this is where they will most likely see them. 

Pro tips:

• People want lo-fi, mobile-shot videos because they’re tired of perfection. Keep it real.
• Keep text short, clear, and concise to get your message across quickly on a mobile device.
• Use CTA buttons to prompt mobile engagement.

6. Make video ads your best friend

While this may not be news, I’m here to reinforce the message.

People love videos. They’re immersive and engaging. 

Reels and video posts lead the pack when it comes to engagement rates. And 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.

Videos let users see products clearly and learn how to use them properly. They’re entertaining, often inspirational, and explanatory. Videos go a long way in helping your potential customers move down your funnel so they buy. They let you show off your products creatively and tell your story. 

You can create many different types of ads with videos, including reels, stories, square or horizontal in-feed videos, carousels, and slideshows. 

We also have an article you should read with video ad examples to inspire your next video ad design. 

Pro tips:

• Add captions to your videos for accessibility and people who watch with the sound off.
• Get to the point early and keep the video brief - between 30 and 60 seconds.
• Stick to one clear message.
• Adjust your video canvas size for each placement.
• Encourage your customers to share user-generated video content for added social proof.
• Create slideshow video ads to repurpose your images.

7. Use carousel ads to promote multiple eCommerce products

It’s all about the real estate. 

If you’re paying for an ad unit, you want to ensure you can tell as much of your story as possible. It’s hard to get that across in a single-image ad. With a carousel ad, you have ten slides to fill with images, videos, and text. 

Carousel ads suit all industries and business types, from travel, property, and professional services to events and the obvious e-commerce. They let you explain a process or highlight features that people may miss in only one image. 

More creative canvas = higher chance of conversion.

You can show several products in one post, each with a custom link for each slide. Doing it this way gives customers more options and drives purchases. Plus, you pay the same ad unit price as a single image post.

Pro tips:

• Use Advantage+ catalog ads to target people who have visited product pages on your website.
• Keep video aspect ratio square (1:1) and sized at 1080x1080px. Heeding this ensures a seamless experience for your audience.
• Use multiple links—a carousel ad can promote external links, Facebook Pages, events, and offers.
• Try the available carousel optimizations. You can tick “Automatically show the best performing cards first” and “Display carousel cards as a video” to create a slideshow or “Add a card at the end with your Page profile picture” for brand awareness. You can also “Add music” or “Add a map card showing your nearest stores.”

8. Discover new prospects with interest targeting

One of Meta’s strengths is the ability to identify people’s interests.

This is extremely helpful for advertisers who are just starting out or don’t have a lot of customer data. 

One of the easiest and fastest ways to expand your audience is to find new interests you can target. These interests should align with your business. 

Targeting new interests lets you test whether they’re profitable against existing audiences.

But how do you choose them? On Facebook, you can search manually through the list when you launch your campaign. You define your audience at the ad-set level of your campaign. 

Pro tip: 

• Use Madgicx’s Audience Studio to find new interests to target. Our AI analyzes your ad account and makes recommendations of new interests you can choose to use. I’ve found this to be the quickest and easiest way. Try it for yourself. 

In the Audience Studio, click on the “Discover new interests” tab to see the suggestions. Here, you can include and exclude interests and behaviors at will.

The selection summary below allows you to add other existing audiences or interests to the mix. Who knows, it could be your next super audience!

9. Build email marketing lists with Facebook lead ads

I'll never understand why more business owners don’t focus on email marketing.

A new subscriber is someone saying, “Hi! Here are my details. Please market to me!”

These people are worth their weight in gold to a business. They’ve already decided that you’re worth it.

Facebook can help you grow your email list using lead ads. You can create an instant form to gather their information and market to them. Lead ads are a great way to grow your customer base.

When selecting the lead objective, set your lead method to “Instant forms.” You can create your form on the ad level of your campaign under “Destinations.”

You have many configuration options available when it comes to customizing your form.

You can download the data directly from your Business Manager or connect to a CRM system like MailChimp or Salesforce. This way, the leads are imported automatically.

Pro tips:

• Put a signup form on your Facebook Page.
• Instant form: Ask for the bare minimum you need from the customer so they are more likely to complete the form.
• MailChimp users can integrate their mailing list with their Facebook Page via MailChimp. You can create a custom audience in the Meta Ads Manager, choose “Import from MailChimp,” and then select the list you want to add.

• Keep your customer lists up-to-date to ensure you’re remarketing to ALL your subscribers.
• Build an automated welcome email series for new subscribers.
• Offer a free eBook or another item of value to create a lead magnet where people get the free download once they’ve subscribed.

10. Combine Facebook ads with Google Ads

‍“What? This lady wants me to spend more money?”

Yes, it seems that way. However, you must understand the fundamental difference between Facebook advertising and Google Ads. 

With Facebook ads, your ad bids are interest-based. You’re dangling a carrot and showing people what they don’t know they need yet. In contrast, Google Ads are keyword-based and work best for user intent. This is where the user is already searching for what you offer.

It’s a big psychological difference.

You want to appeal to both. You want to find your Facebook tribe and show them how you can help them. Plus, you want to nab the sales of the people looking for your product or service on Google. These are two very different things.

Google Ads offers Search ads, Shopping ads, and Display ads. It’s best to start with one at a time. Google Search ads often receive better click-through rates than Display ads. With this in mind, you must ensure you know what you want to achieve before you start.

You can learn more about Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads in our article, which goes into more detail.

‍Pro tips:

• Google Ads bills average over 30 days and aren’t restricted to a transaction cap like Facebook is. The charges may be pretty inconsistent daily but will tally to your budget at the end of the month. Ensure you understand how Google bills your account before you start to avoid any surprises or interruptions to your ads.
• Do your keyword research thoroughly so you can spot cheaper opportunities.
• Focus on keywords most relevant to the search intent for your offer, e.g., vintage silver jewelry UK versus jewelry.
• Use both short and long-tail keywords in your strategy.
• Exclude negative keywords or any terms that may bring the wrong audience.
• Turn off the function that automatically adds more keywords to your account unless you check every keyword suggestion. Leaving it on is the fastest way to blow your budget.

11. Integrate your Facebook ad strategy with content marketing

It’s expensive to rely solely on Facebook advertising. You should use it in addition to content marketing on your social media and other platforms. 

Paid advertising and organic content should form part of your Facebook marketing strategy. Implementing an organic content strategy can help lower your customer acquisition cost (CAC).

While creating blog content may cost you if you need to outsource this to a pro, it may still be cheaper in the long run. This is because you don’t have to pay for your articles to appear in  Google search results. One article can bring in many leads if you do it properly.

Remember our marketing funnel we went over earlier? 

You can use this to help inform your content strategy, where your ads and organic content connect to form part of your digital ecosystem. 

A great way to approach this is to focus on your blog content first and use Facebook as an auxiliary way to expand your reach. You can create Facebook content from the blog content you created.

Pro tips:

• Plan your content in an editorial calendar that includes blog articles, social media posts, and Facebook ads.
• Hire an SEO to optimize your blog posts to improve visibility.
• Do keyword research to find the best topics to write about
• Use the content repurposing method to make the most of the content you create

12. Test, test, and test again

If you only use one version of your creative, how will you learn what works and what doesn’t? 

You may think you know what works and what doesn’t, but the proof is in the pudding. You need to test different variations, so you have the data.

There are four areas where you should conduct thorough testing.

Creatives

Creative testing is essential. When you test your creatives, you analyze which creative elements perform better with each audience type to produce more ads like it. These elements include visual content, ad copy, headlines, links, emojis, and calls to action. 

Variations in your visual content could be trying different colors, like a dark version or a light version, for example. You could try different layouts or images as well.

Read our deep dive into creative testing to learn how best to do this.

Audiences

Unless you test the audiences you’ve created, you won’t know which ones are more profitable. By using your winning creative and testing different audiences, you can soon discover which ones have the best returns. 

Create ad sets for the different audiences you want to test.

Placements

You should analyze which ad placements perform better for your audience. You may find ads on your Facebook feed perform better than on Instagram profile feeds or discover that Messenger ads, reels, and stories bring you more sales than in-stream video ads. 

You should create ads for each placement and test the results to make data-led decisions.

ABO vs. CBO

Lastly, Facebook lets you choose how the algorithm optimizes your budget. You can choose between ad set budget optimization (ABO) or campaign budget optimization (CBO, now known as Advantage campaign budget).

Ad set budget optimization lets you manually set the budget at the ad set level. In contrast, with campaign budget optimization, the budget is managed at the campaign level using Meta's AI. 

You should test both to see which has better results in your ad campaigns.

You never know. You could be sitting on a winning combo you haven’t tried yet that could turn into a scalable ad - the holy grail of advertising. A scalable ad shows excellent results early on and is worth investing in to boost sales.

The only downside of testing is that all this costs money. 

But the data you gather from these tests is crucial. It helps you focus your ad spend on your best ads in future campaigns and improve your creatives. 

It ensures you spend money on profitable audience segments, creative elements, and placements. This strategy gives you a higher chance of increasing your return on ad spend (ROAS). 

If there is one tip you take away from this article, it’s this one.

13. Analyze and optimize

It stands to reason that you can’t improve what you don’t look at.

A vital part of the best Facebook ads marketing strategy is analyzing the results once they gather data.

You can do this in your Facebook ad campaign under Insights in the Meta Ads Manager. You can adjust the data to show your most important metrics, like sales or downloads. 

From here, you should determine a performance baseline for your ad account. Plus, you can identify more valuable metrics for your business. 

Once you have inspected the performance of your ads, you can take the learnings to optimize them.

Optimization equates to making minor incremental improvements over time. We do this to improve performance and stop spending money on poor-performing ads.

Pro tips:

• Analyze the performance of your creatives to determine the best ads to optimize.
• Analyze your audiences to find your most profitable ones.
• Run A/B tests to optimize your ads once you have clear winners for your creative elements and audiences.
• Use the best marketing analytics reporting tool out there. One-Click Report consolidates all your data into one dashboard. You can connect Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, Google Analytics, TikTok, and Shopify for multi-channel reporting. Give it a spin.

Conclusion

In this article, I’ve laid out some of the best strategies for Facebook advertising so you can hit the ground running and make every cent of your ad campaign budget count. 

If you’re ready to get serious about your Facebook advertising, use Madgicx. It reveals the most important data to use in your Facebook ad strategy. It helps you implement your tactics and analyze and optimize your ad performance to save time and deliver results. Try Madgicx for free.