Facebook advertising: A guide to measurable results

TL;DR: Key actions for better Facebook advertising

• Narrow the target audience: Focus your budget on small, relevant audiences rather than broad spread. Use Lookalike Audiences from your best customers.
• Align ads & landing pages: Ensure a consistent message from the click to the conversion. A small text adjustment on the landing page can double the conversion rate.
• Reduce load times: Optimize your landing page for a load time under 1.5 seconds. Every second costs potential leads.
• Define KPIs clearly: Manage campaigns by Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and Cost per Acquisition (CPA), not by clicks or impressions.
• Enable rapid iteration: Empower your marketing team to change landing pages without IT dependency. Systems like JET-CMS speed up this process from days to minutes.

Problem: High spend, unclear results

Many marketing teams invest substantial budgets in Facebook advertising, but achieve only diffuse results. The causes are often the same: imprecise targeting and landing pages that do not lead visitors to the desired action. The result are high acquisition costs and a disappointing Return on Investment (ROI). The goal is an efficient system in which every campaign contributes to a clear business objective, reaches the right people, and visitors on the website are seamlessly converted into leads or customers.

Step-by-step: Setting up successful Facebook advertising

Successful Facebook advertising follows a structured process. This guide takes you through the key steps to create campaigns that deliver measurable results and remove common blockers in the team.

1. Step 1: Define a concrete campaign objective Set a single, measurable goal before investing budget. Instead of wanting "more leads", define: "Generation of 50 demo requests through our B2B software landing page within 30 days." This goal serves as a compass for all subsequent decisions.

   • Action: The marketing lead defines the primary campaign objective (SMART) by the end of the week.

2. Step 2: Narrow the target audience precisely Use Facebook's granular targeting options. Combine demographic data with specific interests and behaviors to minimize wasted reach. Create "Lookalike Audiences" based on your top existing customers to find users with a high purchase probability.

   • Action: The marketing team creates a Custom Audience of the top 10% customers by Friday.

3. Step 3: Create consistent ads and landing pages Your ad and the landing page must form a seamless unit. The message, the design, and the promise must be identical to avoid confusing users. A common mistake is to view these two elements separately, which leads to high bounce rates.

   • Action: The content team ensures that the landing page headline mirrors the ad headline 1:1 (before campaign start).

4. Step 4: Optimize landing page for performance The landing page decides success or failure. Ensure a load time under 1.5 seconds, a clear call-to-action, and a mobile-optimized design. Reduce distractions and focus the page on the single defined goal.

   • Action: The marketing team checks the landing page load time with PageSpeed Insights and implements prioritized optimizations.

5. Step 5: Systematically test and scale Don’t rely on guesses. Run A/B tests for individual elements like headlines, images, or call-to-actions to make data-driven decisions. Scale the budget for the winning variants and turn off underperforming ads.

   • Action: Start every new campaign with an A/B test for the primary ad material.

Case study: Lead costs cut by 62 %

A midsize B2B software provider faced a challenge: The Facebook campaign generated leads at a price of €120 each, which was not profitable. The landing page also loaded slowly at 3.8 seconds.

Before:

• Cost per Lead (CPL): €120
• Landing Page Load Time (LCP): 3.8 seconds
• Time for page updates: 3–4 days (IT dependent)

Through two targeted measures, the campaign was transformed. First, the ad message was refined to address the target audience's pain point directly. Second, the landing page was slimmed down using a flexible system like JET-CMS, the headline adjusted, and the call-to-action placed prominently. These changes went live within 30 minutes.

After:

• Cost per Lead (CPL): €45
• Landing Page Load Time (LCP): 1.4 seconds
• Time for page updates: < 30 minutes (autonomous by marketing)

The result was a reduction in lead costs by over 62 %. This example shows that it is not the budget, but relevance and a smooth user experience that drive success. An equivalent efficiency improvement in the logistics industry can be found in our Case Study.

Checklists for your next Facebook campaign

Use this template to structure your campaign processes. Copy the Markdown code into your project management tool and assign clear responsibilities.

### Phase 1: Strategy & Setup

- [ ] Clear goal defined (e.g., 50 leads, ROAS > 4)
- [ ] Target audience precisely specified (demographics, interests)
- [ ] Budget & duration defined
- [ ] Meta pixel correctly implemented and tested
- [ ] GDPR-compliant consent for tracking ensured

### Phase 2: Creative & Landing Page

- [ ] Landing page message mirrors ad 1:1
- [ ] Landing page load time < 1.5 seconds
- [ ] At least 2 ad variants created for A/B testing
- [ ] Clear A/B test hypothesis formulated

### Phase 3: Launch & Analysis

- [ ] Campaign live
- [ ] First performance check after 24 hours
- [ ] Weekly KPI analysis (ROAS, CPA)
- [ ] Final report with learnings created

KPIs & measurement: What really matters

Measure the success of your Facebook advertising by metrics tied to your business goals. The following KPIs are available directly in the Facebook Ads Manager.

• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Revenue generated per euro spent on ads. A ROAS of 4 means every euro spent generated 4 euros in revenue. This is the most important metric for profitability.
• Cost per Acquisition (CPA): The average cost to acquire a new customer or lead. The goal is to continuously reduce this value.
• Conversion Rate: Percentage of users who perform the desired action (e.g., purchase) after clicking the ad. A low rate indicates problems with the landing page.

Common mistakes & quick fixes

• Problem: Target audience is too broad.
  • Quick fix: Refine targeting by combining interests. Use Custom Audiences from website visitors or existing customers.
• Problem: Ad and landing page do not match.
  • Quick fix: Ensure the headline, promise, and design elements are consistent. With an agile CMS you can adjust landing pages in minutes to improve performance and reliability of your campaigns.
• Problem: Landing page loads too slowly (> 3 seconds).
  • Quick fix: Compress all images on the page. Reduce image file sizes from >500 KB to under 100 KB to drastically improve load time.
• Problem: A/B tests are not conclusive.
  • Quick fix: Change only one element per test (e.g., only the headline). Run the test long enough to collect at least 1,000 impressions per variant.

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about Facebook advertising

Which budget should I start with?
A starting budget of €15 to €25 per day is often enough to gather meaningful data within a week. More important than a high budget is a systematic test approach to find out what works.

How do I find the perfect target audience for a niche product?
Combine precise interest targeting (e.g., trade magazines, competitors) with Lookalike Audiences. Create a Lookalike Audience based on your best customers to find users who resemble them.

What do I need to consider for tracking in Austria due to GDPR?
You need explicit and informed consent from your website visitors before activating the Meta Pixel. A GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner is a legal requirement for conversion tracking.

Should I advertise on Facebook or Instagram?
Both platforms can be run from the Ads Manager. Facebook is often better for B2B or complex products, while Instagram can excel for visually strong brands and younger audiences. Use automatic placements so the algorithm decides where your budget delivers the best results.