Facebook Ads Targeting Problem

A consulting client recently wrote to me with the following problem:

Client

I just started like 3 days ago with $20/day budget.

So far the campaign spent $60 with 10 initiate checkouts and no sales.

Im selling my stuttering course for $37

Using dct ads but thinking to switch to manual ads

Im also targeting "worldwide".. based off on what a guru was teaching.

But yeah no sales yet

My Reply

If your ad campaign is new, it might be worth restricting the targeting to western/rich countries. Can you see which countries are getting the most impressions so far?

Client

The countries that are getting most impressions are india and south african countries...

Gettings lots of checkouts initiated from india but no conversions

My Reply

Not surprising!

Maybe restrict them to North America, Europe, richer SEA countries and English language.

Client, a few days later

Finally made two sales, one from the USA and one from the Netherlands

Conclusion

Broad targeting is great once your account has some good data, but even then it’s worth restricting the countries your ads are being shown in. Generally speaking you aren’t going to be getting sales in Africa and South Asia, so don’t bother showing your ads there.