Stop Wasting Money on Ads: Fix These 5 Things First

Andrea Alberto
Comments

Thinking about boosting a post or running Facebook or Instagram ads? Pause. Because if you don’t fix these five things first, you might end up wasting your money — and missing out on real results.

1. Fix Your Website or Landing Page
Imagine running the perfect ad… only to send people to a clunky, confusing, or slow website. Make sure your site (or landing page) is mobile-friendly, loads fast, has clear calls-to-action (CTA), and is optimized to convert visitors into customers.

Pro Tip: If you’re promoting a special offer, build a dedicated landing page for it!

2. Tighten Up Your Target Audience
One of the biggest ad mistakes is targeting too broad. Before spending a dollar, define your ideal customer: location, age, interests, behaviors, and more. The more specific you get, the better your results.

But here’s where it gets interesting: Today’s ad platforms — including Meta (Facebook & Instagram) with Advantage+ campaigns and Google’s Performance Max — use powerful AI-driven automation to optimize who sees your ads.

What Does This Mean For You?

Pros:

Smarter targeting: These AI systems analyze tons of data in real-time and adjust your audience to find the people most likely to convert.
Efficiency: You don’t have to micromanage every detail; the AI learns which segments perform best and reallocates the budget accordingly.
Broader reach with precision: Sometimes AI can uncover valuable customer segments you might not have considered.

Cons:

Less control: AI may expand your audience beyond your ideal customer if not monitored closely, which can waste your budget.
Requires quality input: If your initial targeting or creative is too vague or poor quality, AI won’t have good signals to optimize effectively.
Data dependency: The AI relies heavily on historical data, so new businesses or campaigns with limited data may see inconsistent results initially.

What’s the Best Approach?

Start with a well-defined target audience: Give the AI a clear foundation by narrowing down your ideal customer first.
Test and monitor: Let AI-driven campaigns run, but keep a close eye on performance. Adjust your inputs if the AI starts targeting irrelevant segments.
Combine human insight with AI power: Use your knowledge of your customers alongside AI’s data crunching to refine and optimize continuously.

At Sociallybuzz, we’ve helped clients strike this balance, achieving up to an 18X return on ad spend by tightly defining audiences before leveraging AI-powered optimization.

3. Polish Your Social Media Profiles
If someone clicks on your ad and checks your Instagram or Facebook page, what do they see? Outdated posts? No bio? Bad reviews? Clean up your profiles with updated information, recent content, and good visuals — your brand should look active, trustworthy, and worth their time.

4. Set a Realistic Budget and Timeline
Good ads take time to work. Don’t expect magic overnight with $20 and two days. We help clients set realistic budgets and timelines based on their goals — whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, online orders, or foot traffic.

5. Create Eye-Catching, Mobile-First Content
Most people will see your ads on their phones. That means your photos, videos, and graphics must pop on a small screen. Focus on bold visuals, short videos, clear messaging, and scroll-stopping headlines.

A South Florida restaurant we worked with tripled their reservations by fixing their landing page and tightening their ad audience before launching ads — resulting in 3X better ROI compared to their previous campaigns.

Want a pro team to make sure everything’s ready before you hit “Boost”?
Book a free strategy call with Sociallybuzz — we’ll help you run ads the smart way.

About Sociallybuzz

Sociallybuzz is a leading social media marketing, management, and digital advertising agency for small and medium-sized businesses. With over 17 years of experience as one of the first social media marketing agencies in the world, we know how to create and execute marketing campaigns that will help you grow your business. Our social media agency has created successful targeted social media campaigns that acquired our customers more leads, sales, and revenue.

Check out some of our case studies:

10.57% Conversion for Our Client Leveraging Google Performance Max. Learn More
We used Facebook Ads and Google Ads to Drive Over 6 Figures in Sales for a B2B Brand. Read More
18X Return on Advertising Spend and Over $3 Million in Sales for an Online Store. Read More

Get in touch for a free consultation call

Check out our insights on The Impacts of Social Media Marketing in the Restaurant Industry to see how specific strategies can influence different sectors.

Recommended: Learn How to Create Your Restaurants Social Media Marketing Strategy

Recommended: How to Run Facebook Ads for Restaurants

Read More: