Facebook is far from perfect. If you’ve spent any time creating ads in the Power Editor, then you may have already run into some very annoying glitches. Error messages that don’t make any sense, changes that never seem to get saved . . . there are bugs all over the place in Facebook’s code. It can be more than a little frustrating when you’ve spent tons of time putting together a campaign that seems like it will never actually happen.
But let’s say that you hit that Upload Changes button and everything appears to be in order. Now all you have to do is wait until your ads get approved before they start running.
But what if they never start running? Or they start and then suddenly there’s a huge drop-off in the impressions you’re getting each day?
I’m about to give you three possible answers to the question, “Why aren’t my ads being shown??” You will almost definitely bump into this problem at some point in your Facebook advertising career, and the solution is usually a quick little fix.
But I do want you to heed this warning: in some cases, ads that aren’t being delivered could be a sign that your advertising account is actually in some pretty hot water with Facebook.
Read on to make sure that you can spot the signs of an account that’s about to get shut down so that you can prevent it from happening:
Scenario #1: Your Ad Is Stuck With a “Pending Review” Status
Sometimes your ads will get approved in minutes. Other days it can take hours. But occasionally a day and a night will go by and you wake up to find it still says “Pending Review” next to your ad in the Ads Manager.
Some ads will simply slip through the cracks of Facebook’s approval system. There’s no rhyme or reason – it’s just a fact of life. This is why it’s a good idea to create and upload your ads a day or two before you want them to run, especially if what you’re promoting is time-sensitive.
The Solution:
If your ad hasn’t been approved after 24 hours, try this out:
- Go into the Power Editor.
- Download your data.
- Find the ad that’s stuck in review.
- Change the name of it. You can add or remove one letter; just make sure it’s slightly different.
- Then hit Upload Changes.
Essentially what you’re doing is sending the ad back into the queue for approval. Hopefully this time around it won’t slip through the cracks and will get approved ASAP.
Scenario #2: Your Ad Was Approved but Never Got Any Impressions
If you’ve uploaded a new ad to an ad set that already has ads running in it, then you may not get any impressions at all because of the way Facebook optimizes campaigns for better results.
But if you’ve got a brand new ad in a new ad set that’s been approved but never seems to start running, it’s usually* just a simple glitch in the system.
*It’s possible that this could also be a symptom of Scenario #3, so keep reading to make sure it’s not.
The Solution:
Same as above: go into the Power Editor, change something really tiny about the ad like its name, and hit Upload Changes. That will send the ad back for review, but then hopefully it’ll start running after it’s been approved.
If tweaking the name of your ad doesn’t fix the problems of Scenarios #1 or #2, try duplicating the entire ad set, pausing the original one and letting the new ad set run.
Scenario #3: Your Ad Started Getting Impressions But Stopped or Slowed Down Abruptly
Everything seemed all hunky-dory: your ad was approved, it started running, you even got some clicks and conversions!
But then it stopped. You didn’t get a notification from Facebook saying that the ad had been disapproved (which can happen, even if they supposedly approved it the first time). Instead your impressions slow to a screeching halt, or you get just a handful everyday even though your budget leaves room for a lot more.
This is where the warning comes in:
If you’ve had ads disapproved in the past for something other than the 20% text rule and your ads have stopped running, your account may be on its way to being shut down.
Facebook has been cracking down on ad accounts that don’t follow their terms of use, and once your account has been shut down, chances are reaaaaally slim that you can get them to open it up again. In other words, you do NOT want your account to get shut down.
“Why does that happen?”
Facebook’s terms of use are very strict about certain kinds of ads. They won’t let anyone suggest that their product or service can help you make millions with a work-from-home job. They don’t want you making anyone feel bad about the way they look, so copy that includes the words “diet” and “weight” will almost always get your ads rejected.
You’ve been warned, health coaches and people who teach about earning 6 figures in 6 seconds: you need to tread really carefully or your ad account will almost definitely get disabled for good.
It doesn’t take that many rejected ads for your account to be flagged by the good people of Facebook. Rick Mulready has a great podcast episode about this, so if you’re running into this problem a lot, definitely have a listen.
The Solution:
- If you think your account may have been flagged, stop running your ads right this minute. Delete the ads that have suddenly stopped getting impressions. Don’t try to get more ads through, even if you change the copy. Take a break from Facebook ads for a couple of weeks, and when you come back to them, start off slow with ads that have no chance of getting disapproved. And cross your fingers that your account doesn’t get shut down.
- If you have NOT had your ads disapproved for violating Facebook’s guidelines but your ads have stopped getting impressions, go into the Power Editor and change something about the ad: a word or two in the copy, or perhaps the image. Then hit Upload Changes.
These are the hacks that have worked for me and several of the members of the Absolute Support Group. If you try them out, please let me know what you did and whether your ads start getting impressions in the comments below. I’m dying to know if you see the same results we have!
Great post, Claire! I love that you provided actionable “what-to-do-if..” steps. I will bookmark this one. :)
Thanks so much Janice! Good idea to bookmark it, it’s a common problem but usually the solution is so simple!
Great list, Claire! This is exactly what I do too! The other reason I’ve seen ads get stuck is when people manually bid and bid to low. The easiest way to fix that is to put a big number in for your bid to get things kick started.
Have you ever had to start a new account for yourself or someone else after getting banned? I know people that do it, but am curious how it works. I’ve gotten accounts reinstated, but never actually had to go start a new one…
It hasn’t happened to me but I do know of someone who created a whole new Facebook account after their ad account got shut down. Care to share how you got the accounts reinstated? Or do you have a post somewhere about how you do it? I get asked about it all the time, as I’m sure you do too, Tony!
I don’t know if there is any secret to it… mostly random. The FB review process is part automated and part manual human oversight. I’ve had errors from both cause an account to get shut down. I think the trick is that I was SUPER polite in my emails inquiring about what went wrong and was trying as much as possible with the ads to follow the guidelines. I honestly think sometimes it just matters if the right FB contact person responds and is feeling generous when they review your account…
I’ve heard the same thing, that being polite and apologetic can do wonders! Thanks for sharing Tony. :)
Tried all this. Still am not getting any impressions. :( Ads are still getting approved and sit there.
Can you post a screenshot of the ad? has the same thing happened with different campaigns?
yes. Now ads are getting impressions, but it’s like 12, and 2 engagements cost $5.24.
This can’t be right at all.
Super helpful list, Claire! Thanks for sharing.
No prob, thanks for stopping by, Carla!
help me, ..it’s been 4 days since i did the payment, and my ad still not running yet, and and don’t have any noifications whether my ad aproved or not. Fbook just notified me “Thanks for making payment on your account”. I attach a pic to explain my problem more clearly…any explanation would be appreciated..sorry if my english is not good. Thank you
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