Introduction
Facebook Advertising in 2020
Facebook Advertising in 2020 (Instagram and Messenger advertising) is an exciting endeavor. Every quarter, and often every month, there’s some major evolution in the platform.
While the changes are constant, if you understand the fundamentals of how the algorithm works and what Facebook wants for its users, the changes become more understandable. They have context. In this big picture, Facebook is automating much of campaign management through dozens of iterations. Its algorithm is getting smarter all the time.
So when Facebook rolls out things like structure for scale or automated placements, that’s just another example of the platform encouraging advertisers to let the algorithm do data analysis, rather than having human advertisers figure things out themselves.
Campaign Budget Optimization
Same with campaign budget optimization, the concept of “significant edits”, and the simplified account structure Facebook now recommends. Both of those changes are just examples of how the Facebook advertising algorithm can now optimize our campaigns for us.
Once you understand this overarching goal of automation, all the “big changes” Facebook rolls out every few months are brought into context.
“Be a giver,” as the saying goes. Create engaging, helpful ads and you’ll probably get better ROAS (return on ad spend). And as you understand all the myriad ways people use Facebook (from Messenger to the Marketplace and via videos and interactive games), all the different ad formats make sense, too.
Creative strategy, especially, makes more sense when you take this larger view. For larger advertisers, especially, well-optimized ads are the difference between success and failure. This is especially true now.
As the algorithm has evolved, any benefits advertisers have gotten from third-party tools or fancy analysis are diminished – the algorithm automates the most advanced features, and better than the tools. Creative is the last best advantage.
This makes two things essential to success on Facebook right now: Understanding our audiences, and learning how to test creative as efficiently and as effectively as possible. We’ll cover both as we work through the different sections of this guide. The time you’ve finished reading this guide, you’ll have a working understanding of Facebook advertising.
