Facebook is not just a social site to connect with friends and family, it is now a platform used by many businesses to promote their products and services. Facebook Ads have proven to be one of the most effective ways to promote your business and get your CTA to the appropriate consumer. But, are you creating content for this platform that will be successful?
It seems like each week Facebook is releasing new updates to their ads platform, stronger guidelines to protect user privacy, and more optimization capabilities than ever before. If you are a fellow advertiser on Facebook, you are no stranger to A/B testing and the never-ending journey of finding the optimal targeting, ad copy, imagery, and headline combinations.
However, the quest for continuous improvement could also be leading to the demise of your Facebook ad performance. Enter: the Facebook Learning Phase.
The Facebook Learning Phase is the time period where Facebook is using its machine learning capabilities to optimize your results. This is achieved by Facebook showing your ads to different audiences, at different times of day, and within different ad placements to determine the optimal delivery system.
Facebook has a lot to learn about new ads, and during this Learning Phase Facebook performance is not considered stable. It’s recommended that Facebook advertisers spend no more than 20% of their budget in the learning phase, as those ads usually encounter a higher CPA.
The Facebook Learning Phase occurs whenever a new adset is created or a significant edit has been made. Edits that will force your ad sets into the Learning Phase are listed below.
Campaign
Ad sets
Ads
Once your Facebook ad set performance is considered stable, you will exit the Learning Phase. Stable performance generally means that your ad set has received around 50 optimization events within a 7-day period. Your optimization event will depend on what you have set at the ad set level. This could be 50 purchases, 50 leads, 50 landing page views, 50 add-to-carts, etc. Whichever one you choose, your optimization event should be congruent with your performance goals.
If your Facebook ad sets don’t generate enough optimization events within that 7-day period they will be launched into the dreaded Learning Limited phase.
When your Facebook ad sets are stuck in Learning Limited, it means you haven’t generated enough optimization events to exit the Learning Phase and become Active. For many advertisers, the Learning Limited Phase is a limbo that should be heavily avoided. Not only will your Facebook ads have a higher CPA, but they won’t be fully optimized toward the best-performing audiences and placements. When Facebook doesn’t have enough data, it can’t accurately predict the best ad placements and positioning which could make your performance suffer.
While the Learning Limited phase can be hard to exit, it’s not impossible. Facebook has outlined a few tips that could help catapult your ad sets into the active phase.
Making constant changes and edits to your Facebook Ads campaigns is easily the No. 1 mistake most advertisers make when it comes to being stuck in Learning Limited. Every time you make an edit, the system essentially has to start over. So while you think you are improving your campaigns by making optimizations, you are actually further delaying your exit from the Learning Phase and wasting valuable ad dollars.
However, this is not to say you should never optimize your Facebook campaigns and make edits. On the contrary, testing new creatives, ad copy, and targeting is how Facebook learns about your ad performance. Testing is essential to performance success. The key is to simply find the balance between making changes and letting your campaigns simmer.
At GCommerce, we are constantly optimizing our ads and running A/B tests, but last year we found that we were stuck in Learning Limited a lot. We discovered that the main cause was excessive editing. At this discovery we implemented new procedures to only edit campaigns once per week (in most cases) and with this change we quickly saw that we were able to exit the learning phase quicker.
Are you running multiple ad sets within your Facebook Ads campaigns? This could be keeping you in Facebook’s Learning Limited. When too many ad sets are run at once they begin to take away from each other. This results in less deliveries for each ad set, longer time spent in the learning phase, and more budget spent on unstable ad sets.
Instead, if you are running multiple ad sets with similar targeting or audiences, Facebook recommends combining these into one ad set with a larger budget and audience to deliver to. Larger audiences will give Facebook more options for delivery which can help you exit the learning phase and Learning Limited much quicker.
If you are unable to combine ad sets, try increasing your current audience size by adding in more interests, geographical locations, or other targeting capabilities or taking away harsh parameters that might be restricting your deliverability.
While this option is certainly not always an option, the number one recommendation to remove your ad sets from the Learning Limited phase is to increase your Facebook budgets by at least 25%. Most advertisers don’t have the ability to increase budgets at whim, but if you are able to this can help with exiting the Learning Limited phase.
If you’ve tried all the tips above, you could consider changing the event you are optimizing for altogether. If you are optimizing for purchases, but can’t get 50 purchases in a 7-day period, try changing that event to something higher up in the funnel like initiates check-out or add-to-cart. The further down the booking funnel you go, the lower your conversion events will be. Changing to a higher-funnel event will allow you to generate enough events to exit the Learning Limited phase. Note that you cannot change the optimization event on a published Facebook ad set, you will need to duplicate your existing ad set for this.
We’ve covered a lot in this blog post, and managing the Facebook Learning Phase and Learning Limited can be overwhelming for a lot of advertisers. There is no right way to create success with your Facebook campaigns. Ultimately you need to evaluate your own campaign performance and define what success means to you. It’s important to also take these Facebook phases with a grain of salt; you might be stuck in Learning Limited, but maybe your performance is the best it’s ever been and you are showing a high ROAS. It’s very possible to maintain successful campaigns without being fully optimized and stable.
Let the experts at GCommerce help get your Facebook advertising to where it needs to be. Connect with us today for more information!
Back in July, we shed light on how direct bookings can be more profitable than OTA bookings for hotels, even when you factor in media costs. The development and execution of a superior direct booking strategy for our hotel clients has always been GCommerce’s mission. Why? Because we were born out of a hotel management company which means we’ve always tried to focus on what’s best for the hotel. It’s in our DNA.
Now, what if I told you that there was a risk free direct booking channel that can drive an average of 8% of total web bookings at an average 5% conversion rate? One that only incurs a cost when it produces a stay that actually occurs, and is less than a commission payment to an OTA. Would you be interested? Is there anything that would hold you back from giving it a try?
Through the pandemic, Metasearch has evolved to not only be a top producing revenue channel to drive direct bookings, it has shape-shifted to provide hotels with a risk free billing option during a period of uncertainty in the travel industry that saw record cancellation rates. It is a powerful addition to the arsenal in the fight against hotel booking contributions coming from OTAs. Why is that important?
While some hotels have been slower to adopt this channel into their direct booking strategy, there really is no better time to try it. The OTA’s have been owning this ad space since its inception because they know it’s power and profitability. OTAs like Expedia have even been fighting Google with government lobbyists because they feared the impact this evolution of Google’s travel vertical would have on their business model. Google has changed their travel planner and hotel search over the years with the specific purpose of funneling users to the Google travel planner and hotel search tools.
They have pushed the visibility of Google Hotel Ads into the knowledge panel, into the SERP and as the ultimate call to action in Google hotel search.
And they have handed hotels the keys to driving more direct bookings and relying less on the OTAs. How? Because Google has become the OTA. Consumers no longer have to navigate to Expedia or Booking.com to comparison shop. They can do it directly within Google.
Now ask yourself again. What is stopping me from distributing my hotel’s inventory and rates to Google Hotel Ads and other metasearch channels? Here’s why your hotel should be advertising with direct inventory and rates on Google Hotel Ads and metasearch:
Can you still think of a good reason not to advertise your hotel’s direct rates and inventory feed to Google Hotel Ads and other metasearch channels? Probably not. Now that you’re ready to focus on this channel, how can you make sure it’s successful?
Now, how can you get started running metasearch ads, including Google Hotel Ads, for your hotel? First, you’ll need to connect your rates and inventory feed through a connectivity partner. GCommerce offers a full service hotel metasearch advertising solution that can facilitate this for you and handle all management of metasearch campaigns. Have more questions or are looking for additional information? Please reach out to one of the hotel marketing experts at GCommerce for more information.
Google recently announced yet another fundamental change to their paid search advertising product - the discontinuation of Expanded Text Ads.
Right now, there are a few different ad types available on Google Ads. Each ad type is automated in some way, but Expanded Text Ads offer some of the most direct control available on the entire platform.
Expanded Text Ads allow advertisers to choose a particular combination of headlines and descriptions to show up in a search, providing a great opportunity for very specific messaging and branding. However, creating and editing Expanded Text Ads will no longer be supported as of June 30, 2022.
With Expanded Text Ads disappearing, search marketers will now have to focus their efforts on Dynamic and Responsive Search Ads. These ad types still allow marketers to write copy and choose messaging to some extent, but the opportunity is smaller than that of Expanded Text Ads. These more automated ad types remove the ability to choose exact combinations of copy, relying far more heavily on machine learning and other AI in the interest of improved ad performance.
But is it actually worth it?
Based on this sample of our client data, it seems like more automated ad types do indeed perform better in almost every way. Even when Expanded Text Ads perform the best, they aren’t very far ahead. With this information, it’s easy to understand why Google is moving away from Expanded Text Ads. Even if the platform pushes Responsive Ads more often, the interaction rates between these two types are pretty similar. Since Google is already interested in automation, the performance of Expanded Text Ads likely isn’t significant enough to keep them around.
However, it’s impossible to predict how this decision will actually affect performance in the long run. Maybe we’ll see a massive boost for Responsive Search Ads without the added competition of new Expanded Text Ads. Maybe users will see lower returns until Google’s AI learns how to deal with the new landscape. Maybe there won’t be a significant change at all, and we’re all just overreacting.
In any case, marketers have no control over the decision. This will be an adjustment for all of us, and reactions have been sort of a mixed bag. Here’s what our search marketing team has to say about the upcoming Google Ads update.
“New standards and best practices will emerge as the industry figures out how to manipulate Responsive Search Ads effectively. It’s just a matter of keeping up with the changing landscape.”
- Cat Jones
“I’m pretty excited about what this means for the future. Change is the backbone of marketing, and this is just another opportunity for us to flex our problem-solving skills and adapt to the unknown.”
- Alex Scharpf
“The removal of Expanded Text Ads is an exciting new challenge. Advertisers will have to explore the best ways to optimize Responsive Search Ads, allowing for more variables and opportunities for testing.”
- Mike Orrison
“I think this is just the latest in a long trend from Google. Learning how multiple Responsive Search Ads interact within a singular ad group should be something all search marketers explore and test as Expanded Text Ads are phased out.”
- Patrick Buckner
“The only concerns I have are the lack of robust reporting and slightly less control that come with Responsive Search Ads. I'm hoping that Google will continue to build out its reporting capabilities prior to the sunsetting of Expanded Text Ads in 2022.”
- Lisa McGivney
“Responsive Search Ads have always been a means of testing new headlines and descriptions, and they’ve provided valuable knowledge as to what works and what doesn’t. If control becomes a challenge, we can still implement qualities of Expanded Text Ads in our Responsive Search Ads.”
- Alex Horrocks
“If needed, we can force Expanded Text Ads into a Responsive Search Ad by pinning specific headlines and descriptions. Unless the pinning function goes away or changes, I can't disagree. The change gives us more options and ways to test all at once; I guess we’ll see how it all goes in 2022.”
- Jael Dugdale
We can speculate about the future, but no one knows for sure what the upcoming Google Ads update will mean for the industry. This isn’t the first time Google has made a move towards automation, but every new change brings new challenges. For now, GCommerce Solutions will continue to learn and evolve in order to provide the best possible results for our clients. Contact us for more on our thoughts and plans for the future.
Facebook has launched a new Limited Data Use tool to give control and responsibility to advertisers regarding keeping their business in compliance with CCPA while using Facebook Ads. Keep reading to learn more about this new feature and what your hotel needs to do to ensure your business stays in CCPA compliance.
What is the new Facebook Limited Data Use feature?
It is a new feature that Facebook advertisers must utilize to match the compliance requirements of their business in regards to CCPA. It requires an update to the advertiser’s pixel used on the business’ website to go into effect.
What does this new Facebook LDU feature mean for my hotel?
Currently, Limited Data Use has been automatically enabled for all Facebook business accounts, but this will turn off on July 31st, at which point Facebook will require your business to update the pixel used on your website to include the new Limited Data Use parameter to control data collection and usage for certain users.
If your hotel does not take action by July 31, your business takes on sole responsibility for compliance with CCPA and Facebook is not liable.
What does my hotel need to do to stay in compliance with CCPA while using Facebook Ads?
We are not legal experts, I repeat we are not legal experts, and this is not to be taken as legal advice. You should seek counsel with your CCPA lawyer based on what level of action you should take. Once you have direction from your lawyer, select one of the following three possible options that make sense for your hotel and contact your hotel’s digital marketing agency to direct them on what action you want them to take.
It’s also important to call out that the option you go with can have serious implications for your hotel’s marketing. If you decide to use a risk-averse approach and enable Limited Data Use for all California users then you will be excluding all of these users from your remarketing list. If you have a large number of consumers from California this would potentially decrease your audience size to be too small to target and cut off your retargeting campaigns and a great source of revenue in your hotel’s marketing funnel.
My hotel currently uses the OneTrust cookie banner to regulate cookie settings on my site, do we still need to make any changes to our Facebook pixel to stay in compliance?
If you are currently using OneTrust cookie compliance on your hotel’s website, bravo! You’ve already taken great strides to make sure your business is in compliance with CCPA by providing users with cookie tracking preference options. If you don’t have the OneTrust cookie compliance banner on your site, we recommend it highly as a solution to help with cookie usage compliance for California residents.
If you already have OneTrust cookie compliance on your hotel’s website, you still need to adjust your Facebook pixel to set it to only enable Limited Data Use when the user opts out. The great part of using the OneTrust tool is that it provides the opt-out option that has a more limited impact on your hotel’s marketing and automatically disables tracking across any platform you’re using, including Google Ads and Facebook Ads, when a visitor opts-out.
How do I get my hotel’s Facebook pixel updated to include Limited Data Use?
Contact your hotel’s digital marketing agency, or whoever manages your Facebook Ads campaigns, to request they update the Facebook pixel. Then make sure your website is updated with the revised pixel.
If you need assistance or have any questions, please reach out to our hotel digital marketing experts at GCommerce.
Even though we’re still experiencing the random snowstorm here and there in the mountains of Park City, summer is officially here. Over the past month, we’ve continued to see positive trends for our clients and the hospitality industry as a whole as we entered this new season. There was also no shortage of announcements across the digital marketing space, and we’re here to bring you the highlights.
1. GMB Adds More Flexibility with Business Hours
Google My Business has quickly adapted throughout the Covid-19 crisis with new feature updates. The latest update gives local businesses more specific types of “hours” that they can communicate through their GMB page. They can now set up separate hour types for seniors, pickup, kitchen, and more. This allows your business to better communicate with your customers regarding special hours throughout the day due to social distancing regulations.
2. LinkedIn Announced New Retargeting Audiences for Video Ads & Lead Gen Ads
LinkedIn has officially announced new on-site retargeting engagement audiences. Advertisers are now able to create audiences based on anyone who opened a lead gen form, people who submitted a lead gen form or based on how much of a video has been watched (25%, 50%, 75%, 97%, 100%). These changes allow advertisers to continue to speak to audiences past the initial point of engagement and lead them down the funnel for better structured (and better-performing campaigns).
3. Prominent Brands Pledge to Stop Facebook Ad Spend in July
Brands and advertisers including Starbucks, Patagonia, REI and Unilever have pledged to stop all ad spend on Facebook during July. The campaign is called Stop Hate for Profit and has been organized to put pressure on Facebook to stop the spread of hate speech and misinformation. While Mark Zuckerberg has since come out to state that the social media company will roll out new labels to better explain why some content is allowed to run and that it will work to detect and remove any misinformation posts, the campaign continues to gain traction to push for greater change on the platform.
4. Google Sees 7% Decline in Paid Search Ad Revenue, Mostly Driven Travel Ad Spending
Google is set to see it’s first-ever U.S. revenue decline which is “driven primarily by a loss of travel ad spending”. We’ve seen first hand what the Covid-19 crisis has done to ad spend for the travel industry. Everyone from the OTAs to independent hotels were forced to decrease or stop spending altogether and with travel being one of the most monetized industries in the Google platform, it had a huge impact on the search engine’s revenue. For our clients that have been able to keep paid search ads live, we’ve seen a huge decline in CPCs which are down 52% YOY and 32% since pre-COVID-19, showing there is a great opportunity for low-cost advertising through this channel right now. This is most likely due to less competition in the space.
5. Spotify Adds Video Advertising Option
Spotify’s self-service ad platform continues to evolve, now offering video campaigns in addition to audio ads. As we watch Spotify expand its reach and content by going after more content creators from YouTube and Podcasts, such as Joe Rogan, it shows an interest in emerging as an alternative to YouTube for advertisers. Let’s hope the audience targeting options also follow suit.
