Over here, we’re preeeeetty well-versed in the land of Meta ads. (After all, duh. It’s literally what we do.)

And in between tons of client launches — and millions of dollars in ad spend — we’ve learned quite a bit about the best practices for Meta ads, which is something we share as much as we can with clients, blog readers, friends, and everything in between.

See, the way we see it is this: the ad world isn’t supposed to be as dang confusing as people tend to make it! Not even close. Instead, we should all be helping each other the best we can — because navigating allllll of this shouldn’t be done alone.

Full. Stop.

So, friends, if you’ve been wondering how to get started in this big ole’ Meta ads world, we have you covered! Here are some of our top do’s and don’ts.

Our top 3 Meta ads do’s

From testing to warming up your audiences to different media types, these are 3 of the biggest do’s we focus on with our clients over here at System Envy:

• TEST.

We probably sound like broken records over here, but friends — there’s literally nothing more important to the success of your ads than testing, testing, and testing some more. From the people your ads are targeting to the copy you’re including in the ad, TEST. Trust us here. Wondering what to test? Try out some of these:

• • Your targeting parameters
  • Imagery in your ad
  • Copy (short versions and long versions)
  • Cold audiences vs. warm audiences
  • Emoji usage
  • Ad placement
  • Engagement vs. link clicks

• Expect to warm up your audiences.

Here’s the thing, friends: expecting to immediately sell a product or a service to a cold audience that has zero idea who you are isn’t going to work. Instead, consider your audience warming part of your strategy… and invest in it! 

Give your audience lead time, make them feel nurtured and catered to, and build that know, like, and trust factor that they need in order to buy from you. Once you really start focusing on this true engagement and relationship-building, you’ll see results. After all, people want to know “why” you’re the best to buy from — so show them!

• Try Reels, static images, AND carousels.

A few years ago, the options were super limited when it came to creative on ads… and you could pretty much only run an ad with an image. However, Meta now allows you to have actual, legit fun with Facebook ads (AKA, to try out things like Reels, static images, AND carousels). 

Basically, we are in *the* most fun time — ever — to be advertising… so take advantage of it! Test with different types of creative, utilize your existing Reels content, and engage your audience with exciting imagery that’s actually enjoyable to look at. It pays off!

Our top 3 Meta ads don’ts

Next up, we have our “no, thank you” list — AKA, the things that we’d consider a big NOPE in the world of Meta ads:

• Assuming a strategy will work because it worked for someone else

You know the saying “different strokes for different folks?” Well, friends — there’s pretty much nothing as true as that saying when it comes to Facebook ads. 

I have had so many clients and students come to me over the years wanting to try a strategy that someone else did, and I always warn against it for the exact reason of that quote up there. Different brands will always, always have a different offer, a different audience, and a different engagement rate — and that means that the same strategy that worked for them will NEVER exactly work for someone else (or vice versa). Remember this.

• Going “straight to sale”

If you build out an ad on Meta that immediately encourages a cold audience to make a purchase, you’re selling yourself short. SO short. Instead, prep and build content in advance that educates, nurtures, and engages your audience — and give it time to work! When you do this, you’re much more likely to build strong relationships that sell.

• Only trying out 1 type of asset

In case you haven’t noticed, testing is a PILLAR of what we do — and why it works — with us and our clients. There are tons of reasons for this, which is why we don’t ever want our clients to try out ads with only one type of asset (AKA, all still images, all Reels, all video, etc.). Instead, we’re big proponents of always, always mixing it up… regardless of what’s worked for you in the past.

Alright, pals — there are some of our top do’s and don’ts over here! However, that isn’t even close to all of ‘em. If you’re curious about other Meta ads best practices, take a scroll through our blog — it’s packed with goodies!