Transcript

Unqualified Leads – Episode 006 Highlights

Hosts: Harry Hughes & Daniel

Topic: Final deep-dive into their Meta playbook, testing, metrics, conversion tracking, post IDs, community management, and whitelisting / partnership ads.

They wrap up the series by covering the operational & tactical layers that make Meta campaigns run well in practice.

Testing Structure & Creative Strategy

When & How to Test

• If budget is small, avoid over‑fragmenting. It can hurt performance via dilution.

• For larger budgets / more creatives, dedicate ~ 20 % of overall spend to testing; 80 % to core evergreen campaigns.

• Use ABO (ad set budget optimization) for strict, comparable testing (equal spend per ad set).

• Suggested rule: each ad set should spend at least ~3× your cost per lead to be meaningful.

• Run tests in weekly cycles (e.g. Tuesday → Tuesday) so teams stay aligned, creatives are prepped, and feedback loops are clean.

Scaling Winning Creatives

• After the test period, pause underperformers, keep winners.

• Increase winner’s budget gradually (e.g. +20 % steps).

• Migrate winning ad (with full social proof) into your evergreen / scaling environment. Use post ID so the social proof (comments, etc.) moves with it.

• Keep the ad live in both the test and scaling environment if it continues to perform — do not kill winning ads prematurely.

Other Testing Approaches

• CBO (campaign budget optimisation) with minimum spend per ad set: let Meta allocate optimally once data accumulates.

• Cost caps / control spending: specify a maximum cost per lead (or other metric) so Meta only spends if it can hit that target. This can protect against blowouts but may limit scale or undervalue Meta’s algorithm.

• When budgets are small, sometimes the best approach is just to introduce new creatives into your existing evergreen campaigns and let them compete.

  
  

What to Test (at Ad / Ad Set Level)

• Angles / hooks: e.g. problem–solution, case studies, thought leadership.

• Start with static creatives (cheaper to produce) to validate the angle.

• Once angle is validated, expand to videos / other formats.

• For videos: measure hook rate (first ~3 seconds) and hold rate (how much time viewers stay past 3 seconds).

• Also test thumbnails — take a winning video and try multiple thumbnails to see which stops scroll most effectively.

• Use consistent creatives across audiences when testing audiences (so creative is not the changing variable).

Key Metrics & Custom Columns

They discuss standard and custom metrics they monitor to guide decisions:

They caution: none of these should be the sole decision metric, use them for observation, insight, and creative / targeting direction, not for absolute judgments in isolation.

Conversion Tracking & Data Integrity

• UTM consistency: All ads must have consistent, correctly used UTMs (use Facebook dynamic variables like campaign name, ad set, creative ID) to ensure accurate downstream reporting.

• Pixel + CAPI: Use both Meta Pixel and Conversion API. CAPI helps mitigate data loss (e.g. from browser restrictions, ad blockers).

• In Events Manager, check event quality score (aim for 10) and ensure deduplication (use same event ID in both Pixel & CAPI).

• Send offline conversions: Import events like demo attendance, opportunity creation, or closed deals back into Meta. This helps the algorithm optimize toward outcomes you care about (not just surface-level leads).

• Aim for as close to real-time data syncing as possible — avoid large lag in CAPI uploads.

Post IDs & Creative Portability

• Every ad has a post ID — a unique identifier you can reuse.

• Use existing post ID in a different campaign or audience to preserve social proof (comments, likes).

• To find a post ID: preview the ad (Advanced Preview in Meta), view the shared post URL, grab the identifier string.

• Caveats:

  
  

  • Aspect ratios / placements may reset — check and fix them after applying a post ID.

  • AI enhancements, site links or dynamic overlay settings may revert — turn off or re‑adjust.

  • Using post IDs means you can’t edit the creative content itself in the new environment — it’s locked.

  
  

Community Management (Ad Comments / Engagement)

• Check ad comments / messages daily in Meta’s Inbox:

  
  

  • Hide / delete / report negative, harmful, irrelevant comments

  • Respond / engage to positive or genuine queries — builds social proof and trust

  • Comments effectively act as dynamic Q&A / testimonial surfaces

  
  

• In extreme cases, use keyword / profanity filters in Business Manager to auto-moderate (e.g. filter “scam” or repeatedly seen negative words).

• Timely moderation can prevent one negative comment spiraling or damaging perception.

  
  

Whitelisting / Partnership Ads (aka “Partnership / Influencer / Branded Ads”)

• Also called partnership ads or whitelisting.

• In essence: you allow another brand / influencer / partner (or their profile) to share / run your ad, often from their page.

  
  

  Why use it:

  
  

  • Enhances trust (people prefer seeing fellow “known” profiles endorsing or publishing content).

  • Can unlock reach in audiences that trust that partnership or influencer more than a brand.

  • Amplifies social proof and authenticity.

  
  

• In B2B, this is less common than in e‑commerce, but increasingly valuable (e.g. letting a thought leader or industry influencer post your ad content under their profile).

• Be aware of alignment (audience fit, brand values, messenger credibility).

Final Takeaways from Ep 6 (and the Series)

• Testing must be structured, consistent, and budgeted — not ad hoc.

• Metrics and custom columns give direction, not full answers. Use them smartly.

• Data integrity is critical: UTM discipline, Pixel + CAPI, offline conversions, real-time sync.

• Post IDs give you a tool to move social proof between environments, but require care with creative formatting.

• Community management is not optional — positive / negative comments can influence conversion and perception.

• Whitelisting / partnership ads offer trust leverage, especially when executed thoughtfully.

• The Meta playbook is evolving — though the core principles (creative, data, feedback loop, trust) remain.