I often think that I should sit down, just for fun, and figure out how many ad campaigns my team and I have worked on.

Because, like, it’s a lot.

However, I’m just gonna settle (for now) for saying this: we’ve made some mistakes along the way. We’ve also made a LOT of wins along the way, too. So, just because, I want to dive into a few of the biggest mistakes we’ve either A) made, B) seen our clients make, or C) seen others in the online space make.

Specifically, we’re going to show you a few of the biggest Facebook ad mistakes we see while people are trying to SCALE their ad campaigns — so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes. Of course.

Don’t Make These Top 4 Facebook Ads Mistakes: Scaling Edition

Don’t segment your audiences too small: You might think that segmenting your audience is a good thing to test, but it’s actually the opposite of what you want to do. Instead of wasting your ad spend, focus on:

• Building strong warm audiences from engaged users
• Leveraging lookalike audiences
• Testing creative, messaging, and offers within a larger, more stable audience

When you try to narrow in on an audience that is too small, your ad frequency will get way too high and your ads won’t deliver the way you want them to. 

Don’t get lost in the number sauce: Facebook Ads Manager throws a lot of numbers at you, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. If you’re checking every metric under the sun — click-through rates, cost per click, reach, impressions, frequency, conversion rate, and a dozen others — you’ll drive yourself crazy. Even worse, you might misinterpret what really matters.

Focus on these instead:

• Choosing 2-3 key performance indicators (KPIs) that actually align with your goal (e.g., cost per purchase, return on ad spend, lead conversions)
• Tracking trends over time instead of obsessing over daily fluctuations
• Understanding that not all metrics matter equally — some are vanity numbers, while others directly impact your bottom line

We like to look at weekly metrics and monthly results. During a launch, we do look at daily results to track performance, but often we’re watching for days to make sure results are stable before making any changes. 

Don’t forget to optimize your ads by platform: When running an ad campaign, don’t simply use one ad for every platform! Make sure you:

• Optimize your ad format, aspect ratio, and messaging for each platform. For example, Pinterest’s aspect ratio is slightly different than FB/IG, so you don’t want your ad to be cut off/cropped 
• Keep videos short, snappy, and attention-grabbing for Instagram Stories, TikToks, and Reels
• Test carousels, static images, and videos separately to see what works best where

Don’t expect higher spending to work: So, SO often, people think that spending more on an ad budget will yield a higher result. This, my friends, is not even close to true. If your creative, messaging, or audience targeting isn’t dialed in, increasing your spending will just magnify those issues — not fix them.

To scale strategically, do these first:

• Strengthen your engagement and audience trust FIRST
• Test and optimize at lower budgets before ramping up spending
• Adjust your budget in increments

Scaling your Facebook ads is all about working smarter, not just spending more, digging into a million numbers, or throwing things at the wall. Avoid these mistakes, and you’ll actually be able to set yourself up for stronger performance, better engagement, and real growth.

Promise.