When you’re running ads and trying to manage campaigns, there is pretty much nothing worse than tech issues affecting your ad performance…. Especially when it comes to campaigns being shut down.

Well, nothing worse besides, um… managing the tech issues and not knowing where to start.

SIGH.

Here’s the thing, though — while FB Helpdesk can be hit or miss (it’s true… it rly is), it’s also necessary to navigate regardless when FB issues arise that are out of your control. Here are some overall best practices to help with FB’s Ads Manager.

• Monitor Meta performance in Ads Manager daily. You’ll want to get comfortable in the platform, so if something is amiss, you can try to get ahead of all alerts. As you probably know, “set and forget” is not the strategy here.
• Understand and be aware of Meta’s Advertising Policies. Their policies change, often. And so does Digital Marketing as a whole. Seemingly on the daily! Make sure you keep up to speed with any changes or new rules in the platform so you do your best to get ahead of updates. Subscribing to newsletters, listening to Meta Ad podcasts, and hey, what you’re doing right now, reading this blog, will also help you stay in the know.
• Don’t panic when the inevitable happens. I’ve had my fair share of issues with the platform. Whether it’s an ad that isn’t delivering, a campaign that keeps getting rejected, or (the worst!) being locked out of your account, know that this happens. With a little patience (or a lot), you can use this resource to get the most out of the helpdesk.

Playing nice is key, which is why we have a few tips for making communication work the best you can when an ad is shut down.

First up, don’t let small problems become big ones in the first place.

While there are about a million possible issues for your FB ads, a lot are preventable. The key? Daily check-ups of Meta ad performance, daily ad monitoring, and an understanding (and following!) of Meta’s advertising policies. Your payment method is also a good thing to monitor. You know as a business owner, if something is amiss with a CC on file, issues will likely be escalated. Also, remember: ads can take up to 48 hours to start working, and you’ll be notified if an ad is rejected or disabled. Don’t panic — just be aware of the process and the way it works.

Next up, have a communication tactic ready for when a big problem arises.

As you may already know… FB reps and Helpdesk services can be all over the place. However, they can be managed the right way if you have the right comms in place. Enter: your go-to “help!” email (because, guess what? At some point you will need it). 

Do your due diligence to gather as much intel as possible before you reach out to FB, and make sure there’s not an issue with the ad itself. You can diagnose the problem via this link first, and then request a manual review with a communication template like this:

Hi!

Please help! Looks like our ad [ID #] has been shut down and disabled incorrectly, and we’d like to request a manual review. We’ve read through to make sure we’re following policies correctly, and would really appreciate your help with a manual review.

Thanks so much!

Then, while you wait, reach out to the Meta Helpdesk with your ad ID and the concern to try and diagnose the problem sooner. Remember that kindness is KEY, and trust in the process. Just show up prepared with info and documentation, and make sure you advocate for yourself.

Now, if you don’t have access to the Meta Helpdesk through this link, you may feel out of luck, but there are workarounds. Even if you don’t have your own personal FB rep, make sure to do your due diligence. There are actually some handy resources in their platform.

Plus, here’s the kicker: everyone — everyone — has issues with ads sometimes. There’s simply no way not to, and it’s something you’ll deal with. Finding a community of ads people can be really helpful. Always feel free to reach out to others who are running ads for advice and guidance, as issues and trends tend to be quite common. Even if it’s just to commiserate! You aren’t alone in this. However, following these best practices for communicating with FB can make the problems disappear a lot faster.

Promise.

Friends, another year has come and gone. And it, quite simply, reminds me of HOW ANNOYED I used to be when I heard people say things like this. 

Like yes, Janet… another year HAS come and gone. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS!

But now, years later, I get it. Sometimes the years go by so fast that you just can’t help but be surprised by the speed – and when you’re a mama, and a business owner, and simply a human living in the year 2023 (!), it’s almost a required saying..

So, as we lean into a new year, I’m doing one of my favorite things to do… reflect, especially from a business standpoint. After all, we deserve to do this — and this year, it’s been a really growth-filled, exciting year. 

So in case you love to read these kinds of blog posts as much as I do, you’re in the right place! I wanted to share some of my very favorite learnings from 2022. 

My Business Learnings from 2022

1. Finding the right people to help you grow is absolutely everything — and this year for me, that was another Campaign Manager and Account Manager. Now I know not every business owner reading this is a Facebook ad agency (of course), so hiring a specific Campaign Manager or Account Manager may not quite make sense for you — but if it does, I can’t recommend it enough. And if you’ve increased your own ad spend, your own workload, or your own client load, 2023 may be the perfect time for you to do it, too. Read this blog post for some advice on this!

But, on the other hand, I can’t even tell you how imperative it is to hire the right people to help you grow, no matter what type of business you run. The people you invest in are the people who will push your business forward (or pull it backwards), so hire intentionally, fire quickly if needed, and hold onto your best ones — because the growth is unparalleled when you do.

2. Continuing to create, invest in, and follow processes and systems makes the biggest difference in your workload, your team’s productivity, and in the experience of your clients. While processes and systems have always been important to us over here at System Envy — I mean, just look at our name! — they’ve become especially integral this year. 

We’ve continuously worked towards creating checklists for everything, building out Asana templates for tasks, creating Drive folders for templates we constantly need, and building out SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for everything from client onboarding to campaign procedures. 

P.S., Wondering what needs a SOP? To give you a sneak peek of a few things we make SOPs for, here are a few examples: campaign setup, onboarding, evergreen ad set up phases, TikTok setup, reporting, sales calls, client notes… literally you name it, and we have a SOP for it. It’s changed the game for us.

3. There is nothing more important than being a customer service-focused business. Nothing. We truly care about our clients, and for us this is a legitimate, foundational tenet of the work we do. No one signing up to work with us is going to find a team who leaves them hanging, and that’s so important to us. 

Changes in the FB ad world this year have thrown us all for a bit of a loop at different times this year, but we’ve continued to adjust with our clients, guide them towards the things we know will work, and continue to be their partner… no matter what. (Plus, we work with some wonderful and successful clients, and we’re so lucky to do it. We love them all so much!)

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Now it’s time for a new year… and new lessons — and I can’t even tell you how hopeful and excited I am for those, too. Have any lessons you want to share, too? Post them in the comments below. I’d love to hear ‘em!

I mean, obviously. 😉

But, really — we’ve handled millions of dollars in ad spend, helped our clients gain millions of dollars back in conversions, and watched as our clients have launched HUGEly successful offers.

#casual.

And, with all of that comes a LOT of learnings, lessons, and best practices for rocking launches with FB ads. So, with no further ado, here are some of our most important tips, questions, and best practices to implement in your next launch!

#1: Focus on your audience, ALWAYS. This is essential for every launch.

Knowing your audience — and approaching them the right way — is almost always at the root of all three of those ways. So, as you start getting ready for your launch and your Facebook ad campaigns, keep that audience in mind over absolutely anything else. Ask questions like this:

• When do they tend to shop the most? 
• What messaging is going to attract them? 
• What messaging do they hate? 
• What have past launches shown you? 
• What do their online behaviors show you?

Knowing this is absolutely key to rocking (or, well… not rocking) your launch in the first place.

#2: The seasonality of a launch matters sometimes, but, well… not all the time. 

Friends, guess what? You are the one who knows your offer like the back of your hand, and you’re the one who knows your audience. There are tons and tons of offers that do incredibly well no matter the time of year (business owners are always learning!). 

However, there are some offers (like… a course on Christmas lights, for instance 😂) that likely aren’t going to perform as well in June as they do in November.

#3: Waitlists work… if you nurture them well.

People have way too many emails in their lists and things on their mind for poorly designed waitlists — AKA, waitlists that don’t nurture, encourage, or remind their audience of what they’re waiting for. However, if you CAN nurture your waitlist, offer them juicy discounts and freebies, and build hype around your offer, you’re killing the game. 

#4: Webinar launches have been around for a long time for a reason.

Engagement helps bring lasting connection… and lasting connection is what brings sales. Webinars allow you to build this connection-focused engagement, and people get to see YOU, get to know YOU, and learn from YOU. It’s a powerful, strategic method for introducing yourself, your offer, and your possible outcomes, and it can also scale your launches and help you reach a wider audience.

If you’re hesitant about the webinar style, don’t be — it can be super effective, and there are other ways to frame it! Keep it straightforward and make sure people know what they’re signing up for (we love using mini-sessions, live trainings, and masterclasses messaging), and keep the value first. You can create a challenge, a video series, or a more traditional lunch & learn style webinar, but make sure you don’t middle the message too much.

#5: When you’re building an opt-in page, maximize your opportunity. Include these 10 things:

• Cohesive branding
• Compelling headlines
• The bulk of the message up top (AKA, above the fold!)
• Clear CTAs
• Contrasting colors
• Short form fields (don’t ask too many questions!)
• Zero navigation, please
• Visual clues
• Clarity and brevity — make it easy!
• Your legal I’s dotted and T’s crossed

#6: Utilize past content in your ads!

You do not need to reinvent the wheel with every piece of marketing content you send out, and you certainly don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you build out a Facebook ad.

The key? Use what’s been well received. It’s that simple. For instance, say you hopped on IG stories recently to talk about something business-related and it sparked engagement! Save the story from your archive and use it as an ad. Say you recorded a video for a course or class a few months ago that seemed to really resonate with your audience. Save the video and use it as an ad. 

#7: Remember that your cost-per-lead is unique to you.

Cost-per-lead is not going to be the same across the board (not even close). CPL varies drastically depending on tons of things, like the platform you’re advertising on, your industry, your audience engagement, and your offer itself. Over here, we serve digital course creators and see a CPL lead from between $0.30-$12.00 (depending on all of those factors).

But, no matter what the cost-per-lead IS, we ask ourselves one simple question:

Does it make sense?! AKA, are people actually buying the offer, OR are they being set up to buy an offer in the future?

See, not every lead is going to be a purchaser. So, if you usually see that you need 10 leads for one purchase, that makes a difference — AKA, say your CPL is $10. If your CPL is $10, your cost-per-sale is going to be $100. While that might be a great margin for a really high-ticket course, it’s not going to be a great margin for a $10 guide. 

This is also where you have to start thinking about where your leads are going to — are they instantly making a purchase, or are they signing up for your email list in hopes that they’ll make a later purchase? These things matter when it comes to building engaged customers *and* making smart business decisions, too.

#8: You need 3 pieces, or versions, of “creative” for each step in your ad formula. These can be images, videos, Reels, or gifs!

Here’s the formula we use for webinar-style launches to get a little sneak peek:

• Ad/creative #1: Invite!
• Ad/creative #2: Reminder — “Your free class/challenge/etc. is happening today!
• Ad/creative #3: Replay — ”Did you miss it? Catch the replay.”
• Ad/creative #4: Cart open — “Enrollment/doors is/are open!” (this is one where you could test even more than 3 versions of creative)
• Ad/creative #5: Mid-cart bonus (we typically do 2 versions here)
• Ad/creative #6: Cart close — “Doors are closing/time is running out!” (for these, test at least 3 — and try out a testimonial version, too. They can be super powerful in this stage)
• Ad/creative #7: Final day — ”LAST DAY to sign up/enroll!” (we usually shoot for 2 versions here)

#9: The mid-cart part of your launch is SO important — so maximize it with mid-cart bonuses!

When you can optimize that mid-cart phase with tons of value (and bonuses!), you can boost the heck out of your sales. In fact, we’ve seen an increase as big as 30% in sales during the 48-hour mid-cart bonus period. (!!!)

That’s a big boost, huh?! 

We recommend mid-cart bonuses to all of our clients, especially to anyone with a longer cart open period. See, when you can add a lil’ bonus round situation to your mid-cart period, you’ll encourage those people who, A) were going to wait until the last minute, or B) were going to forget, to go ahead and lock in their purchase.

Need some bonus inspiration? We recommend checklists, video trainings/exclusive podcast episodes, extra course material, live components, or even a BOGO course offer!

#10: Good ad copy makes ALLLLLL the difference.

To create your launch ad copy, try this easy-peasy formula:

“So… are you ready to change/skyrocket/save [what will be different if they take you up on your offer]? And are you ready to change it NOW?

Imagine [what will they have/accomplish – really paint the picture here for them].

[Offer] is the NUMBER ONE way I/my clients [drive traffic/make money/save time/etc] and you can too!

[Snag/grab/download/other verb] your very own [offer] to [reiterate their goal] and [one more massive benefit]. I promise, my friend, THIS is what you’ve been waiting for.”

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So, friends, there are 10 MASSIVE lessons we’ve learned over the years for you to take into your own launches! Remember: test, know your audience, and play the long game.

You’ve. Got. This.

Looking for more insights into all things FB ads? Check out our blog here.

When you’re thinking about Facebook ads, you’re probably usually thinking about your own offers and brand — but what about the times when you could benefit from running ads for something else?

Enter: affiliate launches! These are the launches you’re a part of as an affiliate — and while they’re not necessarily for your own unique offers and brand, they can be hugely beneficial for your bottom line and the bottom line of whoever you’re affiliating with.

As with your own offers and brand, running your own ads as an affiliate can make a big difference in your sales… as long as you follow a few best practices.

But, first — here’s what to focus on in affiliate ads

When you’re participating in an affiliate launch (whether it’s for a course, a product, or something else), there’s one major issue with running ads — you very likely aren’t going to have the opportunity to place your Facebook pixel on someone else’s landing page like you would with your own launch offer’s landing page.

But here’s the thing: while this might not be all the way ideal, it can also still be really effective.

The trick? Running ads for clicks and for traffic. This means that you’ll need to have trust built into your messaging (don’t rely on cold leads), this means that you need to seriously believe in what you’re affiliating for, and this means that you need an engaged audience who trusts your recommendations.

Try these best practices during your affiliate launch

Running ads during an affiliate launch is definitely a little bit different than running your own ads, so stick to these best practices to rock your conversions, make some money, and kill it as an affiliate:

• Pay attention: While you won’t be able to use your own pixel, you still can track. Pay attention to the total number of leads and purchases you’re getting (you can do this inside your affiliate portal or you can make inferences inside Ads Manager) and compare it to ad dollars spent. While this won’t be 100% accurate with organic traffic, it should give you an idea of leads and sales vs. spend.
• Negotiate for data: It’s harder to track down data when you’re not in your own offer launch, so negotiate with the brand you’re affiliating for to receive lists of registrants or leads to retarget. This can make all the difference.
• Build a relationship with the launch team: From an ads perspective, you won’t be able to see leads, conversions, and the like — so try and ensure that your affiliate team is tracking and can report what’s actually going on behind-the-scenes.
• Maximize what you can see: While you can’t see everything, take advantage of what you can see — specifically clicks, engagement, cost-per-click, and click-through rates.
• Test, test, test: We always recommend testing, but this is extra important in a launch like this… especially since trust might be a bit harder to come by. I’d recommend testing urgency messaging (‘last day,’ ‘last chance,’ etc.), leaning into the partnership of the brand you’re affiliating for by explaining why you endorse them, and building out some Reels where you speak to your audience about the offer itself.

Okay, pals — there ya have it: my tips for a great affiliate launch! As always, let me know what you want to see next… and keep me in the loop! I want to hear how your next affiliate launch goes. 🙂 

Through my years of running System Envy, I’ve hired a lot of incredible people… and I’ve also had to let some people go, too. And in the meantime, I’ve learned a TON about growing a team, building effective processes, and doing it to scale — but it’s not always the easiest thing to do.

Not even close.

But, at the same time, hiring team members is the way that I’ve been able to scale my business, increase our revenue, and support more clients — and I’d just bet that it’s exactly how you’ll be able to do the same, too.

And if you’ve been rocking it in the ads world, lemme give you a piece of advice: hiring an additional campaign manager may be EXACTLY what you need.

When to hire an additional campaign manager

As anyone in the ads world knows, running campaigns involves a lot of work — a lot of strategy, a lot of technical specs, and a lot of communication (especially here, where we pride ourselves on being incredibly responsive… always). And while this can be managed by one person up to a point, it can’t forever.

So, here’s the truth: if you feel like it’s time to hire an additional campaign manager, it absolutely is. 

This is especially important if you’ve increased your client load, your ad spend, or your workload in general, too — because in the ads world, your clients matter more than anything else. Sometimes, that means being able to delegate, hand off tasks, and ensure that your client campaigns are taken care of the right way.

So, here’s the trick to hiring an additional campaign manager…

As a business owner who continues to hire, grow, and scale, I firmly believe that the most important piece of the puzzle lies in onboarding and SOPs. When you can onboard your team properly — and build out standard operating procedures that every team member and role can follow — you make hiring simple and effective.

Over here, hiring campaign managers (and any team member) follows the same pattern. We send the team member their new welcome packet, get them set up on Slack and Asana, and then they go through onboarding (usually with our account manager). Once they’re onboarded and ready to go, they’ll have access to a doc that spells out every single SOP they need to follow in their role.

It’s so smooth, so seamless, and SO effective for everyone involved. It just takes a little bit of work on the backend!

SOPs for our campaign managers

While every business runs things a little differently, there are some common SOPs that I think every ads-related role can benefit from. We outline standard operating procedures for the following with our campaign managers:

• Onboarding checklist for every client
• Checklist for client access (passwords, back-ends, etc.)
• Client research processes
• The campaign setup phase
• Campaign management tasks (including routine monthly tasks for our evergreen campaigns)
• Reporting tasks

So, there ya have it — some of my go-to tips for hiring and managing one of THE most valuable team members you can have as an ads manager! Do you want more tips for hiring team members and streamlining your business (and ad campaigns)? Let me know — I’d love to share.

Look, let’s all just agree that Pinterest is SO FUN. I mean what other place can you find truly unlimited inspo on all the things (give me alllll the home decor pins) AND grow your business?

Win, win, win.

Over here, we guide a lot of our clients into the world of Pinterest ads — which can be so, so great for conversion and outreach. Pinterest ads have a way of feeling really organic when used the right way, and can be a top-tier way to reach your target audience where they already are. However, just like with any social media ads, you want to jump in on the right side: i.e., with proper onboarding and the right approach.

So, here’s what to know when starting out with Pinterest ads.

To kick off your Pinterest ads journey, you need to transition your Pinterest account to a business account. No worries here — you’ll still be able to pin all of your home decor faves, you’ll just also be able to run ads. Then, make sure your boards are all cleaned up (hide any you don’t want potential clients to see), ensure that your Pinterest bio is up-to-date, and make sure your links all take people to the right places.

(Psst… Pinterest is WONDERFUL with guiding their advertisers with helpful suggestions. If you’re contacted by Pinterest with an opportunity to meet with an account manager, I’d recommend doing so!)

Next up — the types of Pins you can promote on Pinterest.

When it comes to prepping your ad content on Pinterest, as we do for Meta ads, you want to consider your goal. Are you trying to get leads? Build audiences? Get more sales? Ideally, you’ll be testing some form of each of those (hellllo sales funnel!). Because our clients are course creators, the bulk of our ads tend to be conversion and/or engagement ads however Pinterest also offers Awareness, Consideration, Video Views and Catalog Sales as objectives for your ads.

Best practices for your Pinterest ads

Alright, you ready to get started with Pinterest ads?! Follow these guidelines, tips, and best practices for Pinterest ads that really convert (and, well… are eligible for promotion):

• Pin them in the right place: Pinterest requires you to save the pins to your business profile on public boards that include destination URLs — anything else won’t be eligible to promote.

• Create them with these specs: We recommend that our clients follow these guidelines for their created Pins:

• • ensure ad text is less than 500 characters

• • images should be 2:3 or 1000 x 1500

• • headlines/subject lines should be no longer than 100 characters (first 40 will be visible in certain feeds)

• • motion graphics must be .mov or .mp4

• Use the right keywords: Think about what people will be searching for to find Pins like yours, and organically align that wording in your headlines and captions.
• Think about aesthetics: Pinterest is a platform that rewards aesthetically pleasing content (I mean, hello… it’s a platform filled with beauty), so be thoughtful about your imagery, your graphics, and your attention to detail.

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Alright, my sweetest friends — there you have it! Your mini starter guide to running Pinterest ads. Have any questions at all? I’m your girl for answering ‘em, always.

Oh, I have SO many thoughts, my friend — and first off, congratulations! I’ve seen so many of my clients transform their businesses — well, their LIVES! — with successful course launches, and when they’re done right they can transform yours, too.

The bulk of the work we do over here at System Envy is guiding our clients through their high-ticket course and membership launches with Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram ad support, and we’ve learned a LOT from watching so many fantastic women launch and rock their courses — which brings me to waitlists.

So, here’s your question: does your audience respond well to being enticed? Do you have an engaged, nurtured email list? Are you willing to go above and beyond to provide juicy discounts/freebies to those on your waitlist?

Well then, YES — absolutely. A waitlist is for you, my gal. Let’s dive in:

The most important thing about waitlists

There’s something that makes a waitlist WORK, and there’s something that makes a waitlist fail — and you’ve likely experienced it yourself. See, have you ever signed up for some sort of waitlist (whether for a pair of shoes you were drooling over or an actual course) only to completely forget about the launch and realize you were totally disinterested once you got off the waitlist?

Well, there ^^^ is the problem, my friend.

People have way too many emails in their lists and things on their mind for poorly designed waitlists — AKA, waitlists that don’t nurture, encourage, or remind their audience of what they’re waiting for. However, if you CAN nurture your waitlist, offer them juicy discounts and freebies, and build hype around your offer, you’re killing the game. 

SE client case study wins

By turning the people on your waitlist into raving fans that are excited about your launch, you will have a successful one. It’s that simple — and one of our clients is a great example of this. We have a long-time client who launches her course twice a year and otherwise keeps her course closed for enrollment (and on a waitlist). Her course has two tiers — pricing ranging from $1,997 to $2,997 — and she’s a master at her waitlist. In fact, 94% of her ad sales come from a waitlist (!!!), and she has EASILY generated more than $5 million in revenue just from the one course.

Um, hello.

Essentially, we do this by running ads for the waitlist year-round — and there are a LOT of perks to joining her waitlist. People get an immediate freebie and a beautiful email sequence that nurtures the leads until launch with the perfect mix of personal anecdotes, inspiration, and teachings.

By doing this, our client has built that list of raving fans we’re referring to — and it has worked, to the tune of riiiight around $5 million from course sales ALONE. 

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This, my friends, is possible for you, too. And if you’re willing to put in the work, do it — and test out rockin’ your waitlist! Need some help? You know where to find us.