Mastering Facebook Ads is complicated– there’s no denying it. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you’ll see that an ad you thought was strong is coming up short. Maybe it’s not getting enough clicks, the cost per click is too high, or it’s simply missing the mark.

When this happens, it’s important to have some strategies in place for troubleshooting Facebook Ads. Being able to quickly identify the underlying problem– which may or may not be obvious– will allow you to make adjustments to your campaign. You’ll be able to find the underlying problem, adjust or re-allocate ad spend, and avoid the same mistake in the future.

In this post, we’ll go over seven different ways you can quickly troubleshoot underperforming Facebook Ad campaigns to help you get to the bottom of your ad problems.

1. Check Your Relevance Score

This should be the first thing you look at if your ads aren’t hitting the mark. Your relevance score can reveal a lot– it’s how Facebook tells you how relevant your ad is for the audience you’re targeting. It’s calculated based on a number of factors including engagement, and both positive and negative user interactions.

Facebook Ads troubleshooting

Relevance scores can directly affect CPC: the higher your relevance score, the lower your CPC and the better ad placements you may get. If your ad costs (cost per action or cost per click) are creeping up too high, your relevance score can tell you part of the reason why. Start here before looking anywhere else.

2. Does Your Video Thumbnail Have Too Much Text?

Is your Facebook video ad not getting the results you thought it would? Make sure the video’s thumbnail image doesn’t contain too much text.

While I’ve never seen this be listed as an official rule, we already know that ad images that are text-heavy will be penalized in the ad system with fewer placements. Facebook even has a tool to help you evaluate the amount of text on the image. I’ve noticed in my own ad campaigns that video ads with less text on the thumbnail images get better placements and more results, so it’s something to consider.

Facebook Ads troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Facebook Ads

This is a pretty easy fix so if your images have a lot of text and aren’t getting the kind of placements you’d expect, change it up and see if it can help.

3. Evaluate Your Bid

We all know that it can be difficult to be on a budget, but having a budget that’s too tight or not allocated correctly can severely limit your campaigns.

If you aren’t getting a lot of ad placements or impressions, take a look at your bid and make sure that it’s competitive. To do this, look at Facebook’s recommended bid.

Are your costs-per-action higher than you can afford? You can change this but keep in mind that it will limit your ad placements. If you want to make sure that you never spend more on a single click or conversion…