# Facebook ad testing best practices for more successful campaigns

This blog post is designed to help new and experienced marketers avoid some of the most common mistakes made when testing Facebook ads, while also providing expert guidance and Facebook ad testing best practices that will help you nail your Facebook advertising strategy.

By using the Facebook ad testing best practices outlined in this post, you'll be well on your way to creating optimized Facebook ads that will drive results and improve your overall advertising ROI.

## Best practices for Facebook ad testing

### Focus on a measurable hypothesis

When testing ads, it is essential to have a clear target hypothesis or theory that you are testing before you ever get started. In order to have a valid hypothesis, it needs to be one that is actually measurable and can be proved or disproved by further testing. Here are some examples of well-thought-out hypotheses:

- I want to see which generates more conversions: images of my product being used by a model or images of the product by itself.
- I want to see which discount drives CTR the most: BOGO, dollars off, or percentage off.
- I want to see which background colors generate more leads.

### Choose the right campaign objective for your KPI goals

Before testing, create a new campaign and choose your campaign objective with Meta Ads Manager. Currently, there are six different options:

- Awareness: Reach the largest number of people most likely to remember your ad.
- Traffic: Increase traffic to your website or app.
- Engagement: Find people who are more likely to like and share your content.
- Leads: Generate sign ups for your business, newsletter, event, product beta, etc.
- App promotion: Get mobile users to install or interact with your app.
- Sales: Find people most likely to buy your product or service.

Reevaluate your objectives periodically to ensure you are using the most effective campaign objective.

### Test against multiple audiences

Identifying your total addressable market and targeting specific demographics is key when creating ads that convert. Facebook allows you to target specific audience attributes, so take advantage of these targeting methods.

#### When to use Lookalike Audiences

If you have the Facebook pixel installed on your website, "Lookalike audience" can be utilized to target another audience similar to your existing one.

### Set a strategic time frame

Setting a time frame for your Facebook ad testing is crucial. Generally, perform tests in 7-day increments to avoid weekly fluctuations. If you have the time, a 14-day timeframe is usually ideal. Without a set timeframe, tracking results and making necessary adjustments becomes difficult.

### Calculate a sensible budget

It's important to have an adequate budget for your Facebook ad testing to gather statistically valid results. A good starting point is to allocate 10–20% of your advertising budget for ad testing.

### Track your data continuously — and keep it organized

Tracking data during Facebook ad testing is essential. Stay organized by using a specific naming convention for your campaigns, allowing you to track performance over time.

#### Naming convention example

`_campaign_audience_image_headline_CTA_postcopy_`

### The benefit of testing your Facebook ads

#### It saves you money and time

Ad testing can save you a considerable amount of time and money in the long run. Identify which elements work well and use that information to refine your ad design.

#### It helps you create the right ad assets

Use multivariate testing to determine the best ad assets to create effective Facebook ads.

#### It helps you understand customer patterns

Testing can help identify demographics, interests, or behaviors that correlate with your target market, thus creating more effective ads.

### Mistakes to avoid when testing Facebook ads

#### Testing for too long or too short of a time frame

Setting an adequate testing timeframe is essential to capture relevant data without wasting your budget.

#### Setting an inadequate budget

Setting too low of a budget can hinder your ability to gather valid data.

#### Relying too heavily on the Facebook algorithm

Monitor results regularly and utilize tools like Google Analytics for insights about your ad performance.

## Why we recommend multivariate testing

Multivariate testing allows you to analyze every possible variation of your ad creative to find the best performing ads. Using automated tools can simplify the process.

## Scale your Facebook ad testing with Marpipe

Using Marpipe for Facebook ad testing enhances efficiency and results, allowing you to automate multiple tests quickly.