Why Agents Don’t Get Leads from Facebook Ads? What is the Facebook Ads Learning Phase?

When running ads on Facebook, your ads will not perform at their best from day one. In fact, it will take a while before your ads reach their full potential. Many people expect immediate results and get disappointed when they do not see them. This happens because of a period in Facebook ads that is called the Learning Phase. In this article, we will tell you why your ads won’t work immediately and how much time you should give them. Are you wondering How to use Facebook ads so read our guide about Facebook ads for real estate

Why Won’t My Facebook Ads Work?

Facebook ads need time to work: The time to find the best way to deliver your ads to the most appropriate audience. During this time Facebook learns the best people and places to show your ads. The more your ads are shown, the better the results are. So it makes sense that your ads do not seem to work in the beginning. Give them time.

How Will My Ads Perform in the Beginning?

Due to the fact that Facebook has not learned how to deliver your ads optimally at the beginning of your campaign, the performance will be poor and unstable. Cost-Per-Action will be high and the results will not be satisfactory. It is normal. Don’t panic.

So What is the Facebook Ads Learning Phase Anyway?

The learning phase is a period of time when Facebook learns about your ad set and explores the best way to deliver them. In your ad manager, you will see a “Learning” status for the ads you have just begun to run or have made significant changes. This will take a while and when the learning phase is over, then you can judge if the ad is working or not. Here are some of the factors Facebook tests in the Learning Phase:

The best people to target

Times of day to show the ad

Placements and creatives to use

The learning phase is necessary for your ads to work optimally. Do not try to skip or avoid it by canceling the ads or making unnecessary changes. Tests Facebook runs during this period are vital for optimum performance. In short, there is no way to get optimum results in a short time. That’s how ads work.

How Long Does This Learning Phase Last?

According to Facebook: typically, performance stabilizes after an ad set receives around 50 optimization events within a 7-day period. So you need to wait a while before your ads are ready and then judge if they work or not.

To reduce spending in the learning phase, avoid editing an ad set or ad until it has exited the learning phase.

To learn more about how long you should let your ads run read: How Long Should You Let Your Facebook Ads for Real Estate Run

Does The Learning Phase Happen for All Ads?

As we have covered, whenever you create a new ad set or make significant changes to your existing ad sets, Facebook runs the learning phase. Therefore, you only make changes to your ads once they are through the learning phase, and you’re certain you need to.

If you want to learn about Facebook ads for real estate from scratch you can read our article about Facebook ads for real estate

YouTube Ads vs Facebook Ads for Real Estate

What Should I Do When My Ads are in Learning Phase?

In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the learning phase follow these tips:

Wait Until the Learning Phase is Over

During the learning phase performance is poor and CPA is bad but it does not mean your ads won’t work in the future. Do not make changes to the ad set during this time. When you restart the learning phase you delay the delivery systems’ ability to improve performance.

Use a Realistic Budget for Ads

If you go with a very small budget for the ads, the system will not be able to optimize your audience optimally. Your Facebook ads budget should be enough to reach at least 50 optimization events. Optimization events are the times your ads reach the goal of your ad set: clicks, messages, etc. If your budget is low, the system will not be able to reach 50 optimization events and the optimizations made to your ads will not happen.

Don’t Change the Budget Frequently

Changing your budget frequently will result in re-entering the learning phase and that will delay your optimal performance.

I See a “Learning Limited” Status for My Ads

Your ad set needs 50 optimization events to happen to exit the learning phase. If your ad set is unlikely to reach that number, you will see this message for your ads. That means your budget can’t be spent effectively. This can happen anytime: when you create a new ad set or make changes to your ads. Here are some of the reasons this happens:

Small audience size

Low budget

Low bid or cost control

High auction overlap

An infrequent optimization event

Other issues such as running too many ads at the same time

By addressing the root of the issue you can get your ads running.

Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for Real Estate

So What is the Facebook Ads Learning Phase?
The learning phase is a period of time when Facebook learns about your ad set and explores the best way to deliver them. In your ad manager, you will see a “Learning” status for the ads you have just begun to run or have made significant changes. This will take a while and when the learning phase is over, then you can judge if the ad is working or not.