Conversions are simply the activities you want people to take after viewing your ad, such as clicking on a link, subscribing to your email list, or completing a purchase.
We all encounter ads that don't achieve the expected conversion rates. Various factors may contribute to lower engagement and fewer clicks on these ads.
When an ad fails to convert, it significantly affects a business's sales and profitability. It’s essential to understand the problems behind ads not converting. In this blog, we will explore exact problems for low ad conversion across different ad platforms and most importantly how to fix them.
Facebook Ads are not Converting: 4 Fixes
Have you ever felt stuck while working to improve your ad conversion rate? If yes, this blog is for you. It discusses some practical solutions to tackle the problem.
On average, Facebook ads achieve a conversion rate of 8.78% across all industries. Many factors can influence ad conversion, so you must analyze the displayed ad metrics to identify where the problems lie. Here are a few reasons why advertisers struggle to convert ads:
Problem 1: You’re Targeting the Wrong Audience
We often make the mistake of broad or narrow audience targeting while creating Meta ads. Choosing a target audience that doesn’t align with the campaign’s goal can cause low conversions. Lack of precision and accuracy can hamper the rate of conversion and sale extensively.
Quick Fix : Use Lookalike and Retargeting Audiences
Studying the data and reports can suggest the best way to target your audience. Understanding your audience's preferences, buying behavior, and interaction rate can improve ad targeting.
Facebook lets you create a custom audience and a lookalike audience. You can choose to create a custom audience to target individuals who have previously interacted with your business or a lookalike audience that closely resembles your existing customer base.
Even after optimization, if the ads do not convert, consider using Advantage + Audience. This AI-powered tool displays ads to audiences that are more likely to engage. It leverages past interaction and conversion data and can reduce the cost of conversion by up to 7%.
Problem 2: Your Creatives Are Repetitive or Unclear
Ads that do not speak for themselves receive fewer clicks and conversions. Meta ads that are too promotional with tacky or generic headlines go ignored by users.
Quick Fix : Refresh Creatives Weekly
In times of ad overexposure, an ad creative must be designed with some value proposition, engaging, or attention-grabbing elements. Along with this, you can opt for the Advantage + Creative feature to improve ad performance by optimizing ad creatives as per suitability.
Image Credits: Social Media Examiner
Problem 3: Ad Fatigue
Ads run at full capacity but can become stagnant over time. They initially produce good results but begin to underperform after a week. Ad fatigue is concerning for marketers due to its significant impact on ad performance.
Quick Fix : Ad Rotation & Personalization
Ad fatigue can adversely affect ad performance due to the repetitive exposure to the same customers. It is best practice to rotate both the ad’s target audience and the ad's creative to mitigate this issue. Personalization can also help alleviate fatigue, ensuring the ads appear less invasive and more relevant.
Problem 4: Poor Landing Page Experience
Users may have a poor landing page experience if the three factors listed above are not contributing to the low conversion rate of Facebook ads. The landing page may be misaligned with the goal of the advertisement, appear user-unfriendly, or take too long to convert.
Quick Fix : Optimize and Perform A/B Testing
Test multiple landing pages to determine which one performs better. The landing page experience should be seamless; the loading time should be under 2-3 seconds. Allow guest checkout to enable purchases without registration. Regular optimization can significantly boost conversions.
Google Ads are not Converting: 4 Fixes
We run a Google Ads campaign and sit back to analyze the performance after a week. We see a good number of impressions but lower clicks and conversions. It means the users are viewing the ad, but the CTR and conversion rate aren’t as great as they should be. You can fix this issue by analyzing the reason behind the low conversion and working on ways to fix it.
Problem 1: Missing Right Intent in the Keywords
We select keywords with high search volume to get more traction. We may get impressions on the ad but no or minimum sales. Using broader keywords without applying search intent can be a big mistake.
Quick Fix : User Intent
It is crucial to consider users' search intent when selecting keywords for search ads. Use long-tail keywords that align with your desired intent to increase ad conversions. Ensure the keywords contain transactional terms like buy, book, hire, register, etc., if you're selling products or services online.
Problem 2: Fully Dependent on Static Ads
Solely Relying on Static Ads Using static display ads may not attract people's attention these days. They offer a low-value proposition, fail to pique users' curiosity, and are often ignored in a crowded space.
Quick Fix : Create an Interactive Ad Experience
Static ads were once popular. Google display advertising has rapidly transitioned to creating engaging ad experiences that offer more in terms of features, benefits, tours, 360 videos, and more. Interactive ads deliver an immersive experience that can boost conversions by three times compared to static or video ads.
Problem 3: Inaccurate Bidding Strategy
Choosing a bidding strategy that doesn’t align with the campaign’s objective due to budget issues can lead to lower conversion.
Quick Fix : Conversion Bidding Strategy
Using the Maximize Conversion or Maximize Conversion Value bidding approach can help increase conversions. These strategies aim to maximize the overall conversion and its value, respectively. This can increase the number of high-value conversions within the allotted budget.
Problem 4: Ignoring Optimization
When you fail to optimize the ad at regular intervals, it can lead to lower conversions and increased spending. The quality and effectiveness of advertisements may decline if A/B testing is overlooked and the same ads are repeatedly run.
Quick Fix: Regular optimization
Google Ads offers intelligent recommendations based on previous ad performance to enhance an ad’s quality score. By testing different ad alternatives, you can run only effective ads and pause those that are not performing.
Instagram Ads are Not Converting: 3 Fixes
Instagram focuses on visual storytelling ads, making it one of the most effective platforms for e-commerce brands. However, it can feel like a waste of money if your advertisements don't convert. If you find cracking conversions challenging on Instagram, you're not alone. Let's explore the most common reasons for low conversion rates on your Instagram ads and suggest specific solutions.
Problem 1: Ads Don’t Catch Enough Attention
When your ad fails to stand out while users scroll, you’ll miss out on conversions. Lengthy ads with dull visuals and unclear calls to action are easily overlooked.
Quick Fix : Compelling Ad Copy
Creating ad copy that aligns with Instagram's algorithm is crucial for driving conversions. Utilizing eye-catching images, videos, stories, and reels with engaging narratives increases the likelihood of clicks and conversions.
Problem 2: Insufficient Retargeting
Many marketers do not fully leverage the benefits of retargeting. Failing to segment users based on their interactions with your product or service can lead to decreased sales.
Quick Fix : Effective Retargeting
Most users won’t convert on their first visit; retargeting encourages them to take action with appealing offers. Prioritize targeting users who have added products to their cart or wishlisted them to motivate a purchase.
Problem 3: Boring CTAs
Ads with call-to-action buttons that don't compel any action could be a huge oversight for advertisers. Running posts or stories ads that do not prompt any action makes the ad very ordinary.
Quick Fix : Use of Powerful CTAs
A strong call to action (CTA) can boost conversion rates by persuading users to do the intended action. The most powerful CTAs for conversion are “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” “Download,” and “Sign Up.”
YouTube Ads are Not Converting: 2 Fixes
In some cases, video ads generate engagement, but not enough conversions or sales. YouTube ads, powered by Google, have enormous potential to reach millions of users through advanced targeting tactics. Understand the possible reasons behind ads not converting and the solutions for them.
Problem 1: Audience Mismatch
When people visit YouTube to watch videos, they find it intrusive to see irrelevant ads; as a result, the ads are skipped within a few seconds.
Quick Fix: Right Audience at the Right Time
Timing is also a crucial factor in determining the number of sales. The ideal approach is to target users who have already shown interest in your product or service at the right time, when the chances of conversion are high.
Problem 2: Promotional Ads
Creating promotional ads that contain a “hard sell” tone without any value proposition does not generate leads.
Quick Fix : Natural Tone Ads
Natural-sounding ads that tell a story are more engaging and do not seem overly commercial. It is better to approach viewers with informative advertising content that highlights features and benefits rather than focusing on sales, as they tend to take their time making purchase decisions.
LinkedIn Ads are Not Converting: 2 Fixes
Industry leaders, experts, and B2B recruiters utilize LinkedIn as a professional platform. Its audience is distinct compared to other platforms, necessitating a change in advertising approach. Instead of being transactional, LinkedIn ads should be informative. Let's examine some reasons why certain ads fail to generate conversions.
Problem 1: Not Targeting According to Funnel Stage
Targeting all users with the same ad creatives and neglecting to provide value. Pitching the same ads to users at both the awareness and conversion stages.
Source: Semrush
Quick Fix : Target as per funnel stage
Target an audience that has some value or information and is seeing the ad for the first time. Only pitch your offering once they are well-equipped with the information and express their interest.
Problem 2: No Follow-Up
Not following up with customers who interacted with the ad but didn’t convert right away may result in losing potential leads.
Quick Fix : Retargeting campaign
Create a separate ad for potential leads and follow up with them to see if they are still interested. If so, pitch them something they can’t ignore.
TikTok Ads are Not Converting: 2 Fixes
TikTok is a broad-reach platform where achieving conversions can be challenging. The audience and algorithm differ from other platforms. Your ads may reach many people, but conversions remain low. We can identify some major reasons for low ad conversion rates, along with potential solutions.
Problem 1: Broad Audience Targeting
Given TikTok's popularity and extensive reach, it can be challenging to identify the correct audience segment for your business.
Quick Fix : Correct Targeting
Instead of opting for broad targeting, segment your audience based on demographics, interests, and personalization. Show your ads only to those who are more likely to respond. According to TikTok’s conversion data, nearly 50% of the audience purchases viewing live or in-app ads. You can leverage this opportunity by implementing an intelligent targeting strategy.
Problem 2: Lack of good deals and offers
When advertisers fail to give good deals on their products, the rate of conversion drops.
Quick Fix : Entice with discount offers
Offering good deals through TikTok ads can attract lots of users to make the purchase. Developing an ad strategy with great, exciting offers on several occasions can boost the conversion rate.
How can KappaX help the advertiser to boost the conversions by 4x?
KappaX transforms ideas into an interactive picture by building an automated advertising strategy. You can get detailed performance reports and real-time feedback on the ads with the advanced analytics feature. Advertisers may quickly address bottlenecks by gaining a thorough understanding of why their ads are not getting converted.
KappaX indicates exactly what has to be optimized next by analyzing CTR, bounce rate, clicks, and number of conversions. KappaX assists advertisers with creating customized ad journeys that lead visitors from awareness to action through dynamic content customization, boosting conversion rates and relevancy. Book a free demo to know more details.
Final Thoughts
Insufficient conversions from your ads typically indicate a problem with your offer, marketing, or targeting. You may be directing traffic to a landing page that doesn't align with the advertisement, using language and tone that don't address their problems, or reaching the wrong audience.
We discussed several possible causes of poor conversion rates, but numerous optimization strategies can boost ad performance. Building a lasting relationship with potential consumers and nurturing them is the best strategy for improving your profitability and conversion rates. A strong brand image has a better chance of being recalled whenever users view the ad.