Social media marketing is a growing field. With the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter has come to the interest in reaching their users with marketing.
Facebook is the largest of the social media platforms so is of particular interest for online course creators looking to find their target audience.
Advertising on Facebook is pretty straightforward. You create a campaign, choose your budget, and start promoting.
There are several ways to advertise on Facebook, such as creating a page, running a contest, or using paid advertisements.
The Learning phase of Facebook ads refers to the time when Facebook tools are learning what works for your online business.
While the learning phase is important you want to be past it and have your Facebook ad settings help you reach the largest possible audience.
What is the Facebook Ads Learning Phase And Why Is It Important?
The Facebook Ad learning phase is when Facebook’s delivery system learns about the best places and the best people to place your ad. As Facebook tries different combinations of ad placement it learns to optimize these settings for better results.
This is important to help you reach the largest number of people with your offerings. By testing different audiences and ad placements by the rate of conversion events the ads manager can greatly increase your ad performance.
When Facebook gets enough data from the different placements the Facebook algorithm will work to help you with successful campaigns. Make sure you have enough optimization events to see good results in a small amount of time.
How Long Is the Learning Phase?
Facebook ads learning phase lasts until fifty optimization actions occur. Optimization events occur when your ad has the desired outcome.
Ideally, these fifty optimization events will occur within seven days but it can take a longer time to see the learning phase progress depending on a few factors we will cover.
Facebook can reset the learning phase if you make significant edits for example. It stands to reason that a new ad requires new testing. Setting too low of a budget or running too few ads will also keep you from getting the fifty optimization events within seven days.
You need enough people to see your Facebook ad if you want to gather enough data to leave the learning phase. Aim for exiting the learning phase within 7 days to ensure that you are using your Facebook ad budget most effectively.
When Will the Learning Phase Begin Again?
The Facebook ad learning phase will reset each time you make significant changes to an ad set or the ads within the ad set. New ad sets will also have a new learning phase. Facebook ads optimize your content so it needs to learn what works with the different content you try.
A new ad set will have to go through that process again. The bottom line is that new Facebook ad campaigns and unnecessary edits will start a new time period of Facebook’s learning phase.
How Do You Get Past the Facebook Learning Phase?
While the learning phase is very useful for optimizing your sales by finding the right audience for you, you don’t want to stay in the learning phase forever. You don’t want to constantly be learning to optimize but rather have optimized ads running.
Facebook ad campaigns that are effective are great to keep around. Let’s talk about ways to get out of the learning phase and on to successfully optimized ads that are helping your online business as much as possible.
Stop Modifying Your Ad Sets
Each time you modify an ad set Facebook needs to relearn how to reach your audience with the new content.
Each edit will put you back into the learning phase. While it is important to adjust your ads as you gather more data on how they are performing, try not to do it too frequently.
Stick with ads that work and only modify them when it becomes essential to do so. You must balance whether a tweak is necessary against the possible negative effects of the Facebook ad learning phase.
Avoid High Ad Set Volume
High ad set volume will also keep you in the learning phase. If you are running a lot of ad sets they will have fewer optimization events which keep you stuck in the learning phase.
Try to consolidate ads into fewer ad sets to avoid this problem. A new campaign might not be the best way to handle your Facebook advertising if it dilutes your views and stops you from reaching the required fifty optimization events.
Set Reasonable Budgets
If your ad budget is too low you will take longer to reach the fifty optimisation events to leave the learning phase. By increasing your budget you will get more views in a shorter amount of time and increase the chance of optimization events.
For best results set a reasonable budget in your ad account. You also don’t want to set too high of a budget and have Facebook learn from data that won’t reflect the bid amount that fits into your normal marketing budget.
It is advisable to have a budget of $1,000 in the first 7 days to get the best data possible from your ad campaign.
What Exactly Is Learning Limited?
Learning Limited will be displayed in the delivery column when Facebook determines it cannot reach fifty optimization events within a 7-day period.
This might occur because your audience is too limited or your budget. If enough people aren’t seeing your ad you can’t have fifty desired actions at a fast enough pace.
Learning limited isn’t a penalty but rather a warning from Facebook that your ad dollars aren’t seeing as much return as they could with a higher sample pool.
Is It Necessary To Move Past the Facebook Learning Phase?
While Facebook does not force you to move past the Facebook ad learning phase it is in your best interest. When you exit the learning phase Facebook will be able to display your ads in the most effective way.
This will help you get the best possible outcome from your marketing and save you money. Facebook will let you know you aren’t working toward the goal by displaying the learning limited warning.
Conclusion
Facebook ads are a powerful tool for gaining sales. Everyone is on Facebook so find your audience where they are. Facebook ads have the advantage of coming with Facebook analytics data. The learning phase is a part of Facebook’s powerful AI that it offers to Facebook ad marketers.
While the Facebook Ad learning phase will help your ad reach the sort of results you are looking for you don’t want to stay there forever. Exit the Facebook ad learning phase so that you can be running Facebook ads that are working for you.
If you want to discuss ways for you to exit the Facebook ad learning phase or develop strategies for launching your course, book a call with me to see how I can assist. We can work together on your campaign budget optimization.
And if you are looking for an alternative for Facebook Ads, I can also help you with that as well.
