Challenge
A trucking company had limited success with quarterly replacements of text ad copy and graphics on job ads. We wanted to increase recruitment without relying on increasing the advertising budget. Ad frequency had climbed above 3.0, which meant that the same users had seen a particular image more than twice.
Approach
To Exceed, LLC generated more versions of advertising copy to replace low-performing ad copy on Facebook. Instead of a single batch of quarterly copy, we created a file with alternate versions of the recruiting job ad, and we replaced the low-performing copy once a month.
Results
As a result of more frequent ad refreshes, we increased the total number of contacts from Facebook and lowered the overall cost per hire.
How This Worked
- Facebook campaigns allow up to 10 alternate versions of images and 5 versions of each piece of text content (primary text, description, and headline). (Facebook Ads Manager allows you to generate reports about which versions of your text got the most clicks.)
- Each month, To Exceed, LLC removed the versions of text copy that got the least attention and generated the fewest leads. Significant changes to active Facebook ads re-start the “learning phase”, which can reduce efficiency for about a week.
- Monthly refreshes allowed To Exceed, LLC to add fresh options while keeping the versions of ads that performed well.
- Average frequency dropped from over 3.0 to 1.13, which means that drivers were seeing new images instead of the same ones repeatedly. Over exposure to the same image causes ad fatigue, literally making people tired of seeing the same ad.
Takeaways
With the help of monthly refreshes, total contacts on Facebook climbed to nearly double. As cost per hire decreased, the client put more budget into those campaigns, and we were able to further multiply those gains.
- “Refresh” doesn’t mean deleting whole campaigns and starting from scratch. You keep what’s working and replace what’s not.
- Facebook encourages 5 (or more) variations of ads, so using too few versions (or running the same one for too long) weakens your campaign
- Over this six-month-period, refreshing ad copy helped achieve 2x the leads and reduced the cost per hire dramatically. An increase in advertising budget helped with the lead count, but reduced ad fatigue and fresh creatives lowered the cost per hire.