Step by step: how to audit Facebook advertising

Marketers and advertisers who place ads on Facebook closely monitor the results of their campaigns on a daily or weekly basis. The Facebook Ads advertising cabinet helps with this.

Auditing Facebook advertising will help assess the overall effectiveness of campaigns. To do this, you need to analyze the metrics of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, groups and ads, the relevance of targeting and target audience. Let's take a closer look at what a Facebook Ads audit consists of and how to do it step by step.

What is Facebook advertising audit?Facebook advertising audit is an in-depth analysis of everything that happens to your campaigns. The audit examines all metrics related to advertising placement, including campaign results and budget spent. An in-depth audit analyzes the strategy, account structure, target audiences, creatives, and target action tracking settings.

You start customizing your ads for a new customer.Advertising campaigns are ineffective and need to be identified.You need to optimize your advertising campaigns or make changes after testing your new strategy.Scheduled regular audits - weekly or monthly to make sure the advertising campaign is working. During a regular audit, it is convenient to compare data at equal intervals.Without a thorough audit, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of campaigns and their results. The audit will help identify trends and patterns of advertising on Facebook, in general, improve digital media strategy. Because Facebook updates the platform regularly, you won't miss out on changes such as the way pixels work or new types of advertising.

How to audit advertising in Facebook Ads

1. Get high-level access to your accountThe first step is to use the Business Manager to access the Facebook Ads account you want to verify. Some agencies ask clients to simply send analytical reports, but it is much more efficient to have direct access to analytics.

First, the ability to independently analyze more data than is contained in reports sent to you by customers.Second, for a more thorough audit, review additional information about the campaigns, assess whether the correct types of campaigns are selected depending on the objectives. Don't just rely on customer statistics.Third, the ability to test how performance and efficiency have changed over time.Fourth, without access to the account, you will not be able to verify the correctness of Facebook Pixel settings and all events.At this point, it's a good idea to check who has access to your Facebook Ads account. To keep your information confidential, you can restrict access or remove it from the list of colleagues who have completed your client's advertising campaign on the People tab.

2. View and download metricsOnce we have access to the account, we begin to study the indicators. Go to the Facebook Ads Manager tool and analyze the data.

In Ads Manager, you can view campaign data by placing all your important metrics in Control Panel. Depending on the task and depth of analysis, you compile reports at the level of a holistic advertising campaign, ad set, and ad level.

If you need to understand the creative strategies, communication messages and visual effects in Facebook advertising, then analyze the performance at the level of a single ad.

Your reports should cover important metrics:CTRResults (or number of targeted actions)CPM, CPC, CPAAdvertising campaign coverage and contact frequencyQuality indicatorSpent budget and othersYou can use the Ads Manager toolbar to download visual presentations with graphics that show the dynamics of change in performance.

3. Determine where to report on the auditBefore you begin the audit and analytics review process, we recommend that you create a reporting document to compile data downloaded from Facebook Ads. It is convenient to use Google Sheets for this purpose. It is an effective tool for collecting statistics, where you can add comments, notes and additional fields to each reporting item. You can upload CSV files with advertising data to a Google spreadsheet for future reference. It's also important to visualize information in Google Presentations to demonstrate audit results to clients and colleagues.

4. Evaluate different campaigns and audiencesMonitor campaigns and used ads, identify trends. For small accounts, you can view each ad. For larger accounts with hundreds of different ads, see the most effective ads in successful campaigns. Compose them according to the goals, audience and funnel stages you have targeted.

Track:The most valuable and productive audience, as well as the audience with the least final conversion.Which ads have been the most effective in split tests in terms of clicks and targeted actions? Identify trends in your ads that affect your results: abbreviated text, specific words in messages or videos, carousel ads, or single image ads.Which campaigns are more expensive than targeted action, or whether they give higher results.At what stage of the sales funnel did you achieve the best effect.Campaign gaps, such as high clicks but no conversions; problems with landing, messaging, or targeting.Is it convenient for the buyer to place an order. Check the landing page, product pages and ordering process. Go through the whole process of ordering goods on a desktop computer and a mobile device. Conversion issues can be caused by any of these components.When delving into the audit, take notes on all the indicators, mark certain ads or campaigns to further focus on them.

5. Check all the advertising tools you useCreatives, audience targeting and bidding are important components of Facebook advertising. However, the other tools you use are just as important for a successful campaign.

How to properly check them to see if everything works? Basic requirements:Make sure the tracking pixel is set correctly and that your tracking events are set correctly.Check your custom audience. Does this audience cover all your needs? Are there any problems with retargeting customers who are re-demonstrated already purchased goods? Do audiences intersect?Browse product catalogs. Make sure catalogs are updated and product categories are effectively optimized and relevant.Check the accuracy of the ice mold settings. Is there enough information they gather to qualify the ice? Can users who have requested an ice magnet get it quickly?

6. Make a reportThe last step is to compile a report from all the data collected. The report must contain:

Information on the effectiveness of advertising, including indicators of paragraph 2.Description of campaigns, ads, strategies and creatives. Use a few examples of advertising in your presentation to highlight trends.Information about which campaigns are not working and why.Data on the most and least profitable audiences on the platform. This will help optimize your advertising settings.Gaps in settings: weak landing pages, complex ordering processes, incorrect audience targeting, targeting settings, and more.Suggestions for optimizing existing ads.Metrics that need to be corrected with Facebook Ads tools or structures, including ad organization or tracking pixel tracking settings.Final conclusions with the answer to the question "What to do next?".Use metric tables and markers for thematic information in your report. Download visual effects from Facebook Ads Manager to visualize results and make it easier to express your point of view.

Although the audit of advertising on Facebook consists of many steps, it is easy to understand the stages and tools of analysis. However, the process is time consuming, requires concentration and careful data processing. It is better to entrust this work to Digital specialists - you will get a great result and save time.