| Hey, I've been traveling all week - and the sun is melting my synapses - so I'm going to keep today's newsletter short-and-sweet. But I have one KILLER tip for you that's going to save you a ton of money while helping you keep your independence, quite appropriately. Maybe this sounds like you. - Getting weird random results with your Facebook Ads? You're not alone.
- Watching winning ads turn into a losers for no obvious reason? This is more common than you think.
- Tearing your heart out because Facebook keeps changing the settings on your ads? Hoo-boy, we've all been there.
But there's a way to stop it. And I'm going to show you how to it - right here, right now. ai caramba The culprit here is an account level setting called "Automatic Adjustments" and here's why it's a huge problem – even if you don't agree with my take on Facebook Ads. If you are a regular consumer of my advice - handily collected here if you want to catch up - then you will know that I'm quite sceptical of all the AI systems that Facebook keeps forcing on advertisers. I can totally see a future where all this stuff works exceedingly well FWIW. But, right now at least, a lot of the Advantage features that Facebook is pushing heavily do not work for the ads that authors typically run. (Traffic campaigns pointing at their books on Amazon.) I've written in great detail about this in the past and if you want to read into that further, hit that link above and read my four part series called Facebook Advantage and AI – A Deep Dive, which really delves into on what works and what doesn't when it comes to all these Advantage features. And why it doesn't if you want to nerd out. Anyway, the short version is that I advise turning off most Advantage features - where possible - and corralling the stuff you can't turn off completely to keep those ads of yours on track. Maintaining control in this manner is the way to keep your results consistent and profitable - at least, perhaps, until the AI and machine learning systems get a little smarter, and can handle the nuances inherent in the typical author business. Even if you disagree with my take on all this Advantage stuff, you should continue to pay attention here. Because you might not be aware that Facebook has carved out one humongous loophole which allows it to completely override all of your carefully calibrated ad settings - unless you actively go in and turn it off – and that's the Account-level settings for Automatic Adjustments. managing automatic adjustments You should be able to tell if you have an issue by checking your Account dashboard. If your screen looks like this below, you should be fine, and Automatic Adjustments should be switched off. However, if your dash looks like this (below), then you might have a problem. Here are the steps to ensure you have Automatic Adjustments switched off: - Go to adsmanager.facebook.com
- Click on "Manage automatic adjustments" as indicated above.
- Switch the "Automatic adjustments" button off at the top of the pop-up as indicated below.
Alternatively, you can make the granular choices above which you are comfortable with, but I strongly recommend having a deep understanding of what each of these things do before activating them - or your ads could go spectacularly off the rails. I recommend being similarly careful any time Facebook makes "recommendations" about your ads, or offers to let you test new features - for the exact same reasons. I'm not saying that these things can't be useful, but you really need an expert level understanding of the ad platform to avoid some pretty big potholes as agreeing can also override all your carefully chosen settings. The one caveat to all of this is if you are running atypical or advanced author campaigns – such as to your own website where you have the Pixel installed – where a lot of the dangers here may be mitigated. Although that brings its own set of challenges, of course. Whatever your take on Facebook's Advantage features, it's important that you decide what settings apply to your ads, and/or make an informed decision if you choose to relinquish any of that control. Hope this helps, Dave P.S. Writing music this week is could only be Martha & the Vandellas with Heatwave. | 
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