Facebook Ads Not Delivering: Understand Why Your Ad is Struggling to Deliver

You have just completed setting up your ads, after months of strategizing,  writing ad copies, and creating images. You are about to run your ads then suddenly, you question yourself “Why are my Facebook Ads not delivering!?”

Oh no! Maybe there’s something wrong along the way while setting up your Facebook ad campaign. You might have clicked on something or there might be important things you forgot to consider. Hmm, are you guessing which one?

Stop guessing and figuring out what the heck is happening with your ads! Here are the common reasons why Facebook does not deliver your ads to your audience.

8 Common Reasons Why Your Ads Are Not Delivering

1. Your Ads have been disapproved

There are a lot of reasons why your ads have been rejected, and most of them usually have something to do with violating the Facebook Community Guidelines. Listed below are the common reasons why your ads are disapproved:

• Your ad might be promoting tobacco products, drugs, and other drug-related products including pharmaceuticals and paraphernalia used for drugs.
• Your ad might be promoting unsafe, unverified, and unreliable diet supplements
• You might be selling weapons, ammunition, and explosives
• Your ad might be promoting violence, sensual, and other excessively graphic content
• Your ad might promise a service for counterfeiting or faking documents, such as passports, licenses, or immigration papers.
• Your ad might be selling malware, spyware, or other surveillance equipment
• Your ad might be using unreal or exaggerated “before and after” transformation images that promote weight loss
• Your ad might be promoting  and featuring “Adult Content” including sex, alcohol, and gambling
• Your ad might be promoting unrealistic and misleading claims

But if you firmly believe that you have not violated the Facebook policy, you can message their support and appeal your disapproved ad.

2. Your account spending limit has been reached

Most advertisers forget that their spending has limits. Setting a spending limit makes sure that the expenses for your campaign do not go beyond your intended ad budget. 

3. Your Ad image violates the 20% ratio rule

According to the Facebook ad policy, the images used in the ads cannot exceed the image-text ratio of 20%. Meaning, the overall text in the images (including, headlines, logos, slogans, prices, and watermarks) should not cover 20% of the overall area of an image.

You can revisit the images you used for your ads and revise them appropriately.

4. Your ad bid is too low

Another reason why your Facebook ads are active but not delivering is because your bid is too low. Getting your ad posted on the platform is like an auction. Your ads are competing against other brands at the same time.

Though Facebook doesn’t always necessarily look at the price, here are the three factors that affect Facebook’s decision when choosing the winner of the “auction.”

• Bid price
• Estimated Action Rates
• Ad relevance and Ad Quality

5. Your ads are irrelevant to your target audience

The Relevance Score is one of the most important yet overlooked parts of your ad. This metric tells how interesting and engaging Facebook perceives your ads are to your audience. 

If a Facebook user engages with your ads in a positive or negative way, it contributes to the overall relevancy score of your ad. The better the score, the higher the chance that your ads will be shown on the platform.

6. Your ad is still under review

Every advertisement posted on Facebook needs to be verified and reviewed by Facebook’s team, making sure that it adheres to their advertising guidelines. The review process usually undergoes in Facebook’s automated review systems and manual review conducted by their support staff.

Facebook states that the ad review process takes at least 24 hours. But in some cases, it takes a lot longer than the given timeframe especially during the fourth quarter of the year where the ad volume is too high.

7. Your ad is low quality

Facebook has been disapproving of ads and reduces its reach to ads they think are low quality to stop spammy and “clickbait” ads.

Facebook categorizes these low-quality ads into three categories:

• Engagement Bait – for ads that ask people to engage through comments, likes, and shares
• Withholding Information – for ads that hide specific information and require the audience to click the ad before they can get the specific information.
• Sensationalist language – for ads that deliver exaggerated headlines that do not reflect on the landing page.

8. Your ad is seen as an issue of national importance

Facebook has just released last year that any ad with the purpose of promoting political propaganda or promoting a certain politician will be disapproved from posting on the platform. 

Key Takeaway

These are just some of the biggest reasons why your Facebook Ads are not delivering. Revisit how you set up your campaign, find any holes you’ve missed, revise your campaign in accordance with the Facebook Ad Policy, or speak to the experts at Blue Water Marketing.