How to Split Test with Facebook Ads

According to Marketing Land, Facebook organic reach was down by 52% in 2016. It's like they say, "You have to pay to play." The primary reasons for organic reach decline is there is too much content and Facebook only wants to show content relevant to each user, unless you're willing to play the game and back your content with "cash money".

Now that you've made the decision and understand why Facebook ads are an integral part to your digital strategy, let's move on to the next major decision: Ads Manager or Power Editor?

What is Ads Manager?

It is the Facebook's basic tool to create and manage ad campaigns. Ads Manager is recommended for anyone new to ads management. Its simple design is helpful to beginner advertisers when drafting and optimizing campaigns.

What is Power Editor?

This is Facebook's advanced tool to manage campaigns. Although similar to Ads Manager, it has a few more capabilities and is conducive to managing multiple campaigns with bulk action tools. It's preferred by most experienced advertisers.

It's important to note, Facebook's new split testing feature is only available through Ads Manager. If you're a seasoned advertiser, you can manually split test using Power Editor should you want to stick with this tool instead. However, if you're a beginner, split testing using Ads Manager is perfect because, instead of having to rely on a plethora of ads skills, Facebook will guide you on how to conduct split testing and deliver the results to you.

Here's how to get started.

1. Create A Campaign

Once you're in Ads Manager, select your campaign objective. Before creating your ad account, click to create a split test at the bottom of your screen.

2. Choose A Variable

There are three options to choose from: delivery optimization, audience, or placement. Facebook will ensure there is only one variable tested to retrieve valid results and avoid any audience overlap. This method promises accuracy.

3. Set A Budget And Schedule

Facebook gives you the option to split your budget evenly between both ad sets or choose a weighted split. It's recommended to stick with the even split as it will give you the best data to analyze. Keep in mind, Facebook requires a minimum budget of $14 for 3-14 days of testing.

Once you've run your split test, here's a few questions to ask yourself when evaluating the results.

1. Which audience has a higher click-through rate?

2. Which audience has a higher conversion rate?

3. Which audience has a lower cost per conversion rate?

4. Which delivery produced the most conversions?

5. Which delivery produced the most clicks?

6. Which ad placement platform performed better: Facebook or Instagram?

7. Which ad placement on Facebook performed better?

The answers to these questions should help you determine your ad strategy and methods for optimization. Apply these conclusions and knock your next campaign out of the park!

If you've tried this before, what tips can you offer up?