Getting likes but no customers? Start with your campaign objective

When someone tells us their ads aren't working, our first question is: what objective is the campaign set to? Often the answer is post engagement or website traffic, while the advertiser is waiting for bookings and sales.

The platform delivers exactly what you asked for

Meta's and TikTok's algorithms look for the people most likely to take the action you chose. Optimise for post engagement and you reach people who like and comment a lot, who aren't necessarily buyers. Optimise for traffic and you get cheap clicks, but if the landing page is slow or unclear, those clicks are wasted.

Pick the objective that matches the step you want customers to take

• Want people to message you and book? A messages campaign to WhatsApp or Messenger usually suits most local businesses.
• Have a booking form? A lead campaign with a short form and few questions.
• Selling online? A sales campaign with proper tracking on your site.
• A brand nobody knows yet? A small awareness budget, but don't judge it on sales.

Track the number that brings in money

Likes and reach are easy to grow, but they don't pay the rent. The numbers we track with clients are cost per message, the share of messages that turn into bookings, and the cost of an actual customer. If messages are cheap but bookings don't come, the problem is usually response time or the offer, not the ad.

Three things to do today

1. Open Ads Manager and check the objective of every active campaign.
2. Ask whether that objective is the step you want customers to take. If not, build a new campaign with the right objective instead of editing the old one.
3. Pick one number to track every week, such as cost per message or cost per booking.