Facebook ads are a complete joke

[Nuduluna]

5 months in and I'm down 3 grand. Every guru on YouTube makes this look so easy but it's complete garbage.

My ROAS is trash. Started with 0.8, now sitting at maybe 1.2 on good days. Facebook keeps showing my phone accessories to random old people instead of college kids. Their targeting algorithm is broken or something.

Hired some guy from Upwork for $500. He did worse than me. These "experts" are just as clueless.

Been using AdsGo for campaigns, Canva for creatives, Hotjar to see what people do on my site. Still bleeding money. Meanwhile everyone else is posting screenshots of 5x ROAS like it's nothing.

Thinking about just going back to organic content instead.

 

[sophianguyen]

Since you can choose the age range, interests, and behaviors of your target audience, a bit of analysis makes it clear that university students usually fall within the 18–24 age group. What are their interests? What are their behaviors? What types of extracurricular activities do they usually care about and participate in?

 

[Popularsellertg]

5 months in and I'm down 3 grand. Every guru on YouTube makes this look so easy but it's complete garbage.

My ROAS is trash. Started with 0.8, now sitting at maybe 1.2 on good days. Facebook keeps showing my phone accessories to random old people instead of college kids. Their targeting algorithm is broken or something.

Hired some guy from Upwork for $500. He did worse than me. These "experts" are just as clueless.

Been using AdsGo for campaigns, Canva for creatives, Hotjar to see what people do on my site. Still bleeding money. Meanwhile everyone else is posting screenshots of 5x ROAS like it's nothing.

Thinking about just going back to organic content instead.

Man, I feel this. The “easy 5x ROAS” YouTube stuff is basically highlight reels — nobody posts the months of testing (and losses) behind it. And 5 months + down $3k is enough to make anyone want to rage quit.
That said, ROAS moving from 0.8 to ~1.2 isn’t nothing — it at least suggests something is improving, but it’s probably not scaling efficiently yet. The “old people seeing phone accessories” thing can happen when the algo doesn’t have strong signals, so it expands to whoever it thinks will click. It’s not always “broken,” but it can feel like it when the creative and landing page aren’t giving it clear direction.Also, hiring random “experts” is a gamble. Upwork is full of people who can launch ads, but fewer who can diagnose why it’s failing (offer, creative angle, funnel, tracking, site speed, pricing).Before you go fully organic, I’d consider a reset: narrow to 1–2 best products, simplify the account structure, test 5–10 new creatives with clear hooks for college-age buyers, and make sure your pixel/events are actually firing correctly. Hotjar is good, but if the fundamentals (offer + creative + landing page) aren’t clicking, it’ll just confirm people bounce.
What’s your AOV and margin on these accessories? And are you optimizing for purchases or just clicks/ATC right now?

 

[SKYAGENCY3333]

I think you're going into the wrong niche and industry; our clients have also been very successful with Facebook.

 

[Popularsellertg]

FB isnt broken - its just ruthless. 1.2 ROAS means algo doesnt trust your signals so it sprays traffic to whoever clicks cheapest aka old people. Phone accessories is a brutal category too, low AOV + zero differentiation unless you have a real angle.

Biggest mistake I see here - too many moving parts at once. AdsGo + random creatives + random Upwork guy + no hard signal loop. You need 1 product, 1 angle, 3-5 creatives max, clean pixel events firing correctly, then spend enough for FB to actually learn. If your hook + landing dont scream "college kid problem", targeting sliders wont save you. Organic is fine but paid only works when the offer + creative do the heavy lifting.

Yeah, I think this is pretty spot on — especially the part about FB “spraying” traffic when it doesn’t trust the signals. When the system can’t confidently predict buyers, it tends to chase the cheapest engagement, and that’s often an older/low-cost click audience. It feels like broken targeting, but it’s more like “we don’t have enough quality feedback, so we’ll take the easy clicks.”

 

[Popularsellertg]

I think you're going into the wrong niche and industry; our clients have also been very successful with Facebook.

I get what you’re saying, and I don’t doubt some niches print money on Facebook — I’ve seen it too. But “wrong niche” is a bit broad, because even inside the same industry results can swing a lot depending on AOV, margins, creative angle, and how competitive the market is right now.

 

[Sofiabacklinks]

You’re not alone. Ads aren’t as easy as YouTube gurus make them seem. 1.2 ROAS early on isn’t terrible, but it usually means the offer or creatives need work. Those 5x ROAS screenshots rarely tell the full story.

 

[Popularsellertg]

@Popularsellertg exactly - cheap clicks = algo in survival mode. One thing I'd add is tracking quality matters more than people think - if pixel is firing ViewContent or AddToCart but purchases are sparse or delayed, FB learns the wrong user profile. Seen this a lot with accessories where checkout friction + slow site kills the feedback loop. You either juice conversion rate hard or accept higher CPM to train on buyers - otherwise it just keeps farming retirees who love clicking ads.

Yep, 100% agree with this add-on. “Cheap clicks” is basically the symptom — the real disease is the feedback loop being weak or noisy. If Meta is mostly seeing ViewContent / AddToCart and only a handful of purchases (or purchases come in late), it’ll optimize toward the people most likely to generate those cheap micro-events. And that audience is often not the buyer audience, especially in low-AOV categories. Accessories are a perfect example because any friction (slow site, confusing variants, shipping surprises, weak trust signals, annoying checkout) kills purchase volume and delays the signal. Then FB never gets enough clean purchase data to lock in, so it keeps “farming” the easy engagement crowd. The hard choice you mentioned is real: either improve conversion rate enough that purchases come through consistently, or spend more (higher CPM/CPA) to train on buyers. Otherwise the system just keeps reinforcing the wrong profile. Curious — when you see this, do you prefer optimizing for Purchase from day one (even if volume is low), or do you run a short “warming” phase on ATC/IC and then switch once the funnel is cleaned up?

 

[Popularsellertg]

@Popularsellertg I go Purchase from day one unless volume is literally zero - warming on ATC just teaches FB to find professional clickers. If funnel is janky I fix that before scaling spend, not mask it with micro events. Only time I touch ATC is brand new account + pixel with no history, short window, tight budget, then hard switch once first purchases land. If purchases dont come in fast enough on low AOV, thats the market telling you the offer or checkout is the real bottleneck.

Yeah, I respect this approach a lot. The “ATC warming trains professional clickers” line is painfully true in a lot of accounts — you end up building an audience that’s great at doing micro-actions and terrible at buying. And then switching to Purchase later feels like starting from scratch anyway, except you’ve already burned budget and polluted the signals. I also agree with the mindset of “fix the funnel, don’t mask it.” If purchases are sparse because checkout is slow, shipping is a shock, payment options are limited, or the page doesn’t build trust, optimizing for ATC just hides the real problem instead of solving it. The only place I’d maybe soften it is what you said: brand new pixel, tiny budget, literally zero purchase volume — then a short ATC phase can be a necessary evil. But I like the “short window + hard switch” framing, because otherwise people get stuck there forever.

 

[Anakin austin]

You’re not alone—this is common. FB isn’t broken; it optimizes for cheap conversions, not your ideal age. 1.2 ROAS means the offer/creative isn’t strong yet. Upwork “experts” often aren’t. Pause scaling, test UGC-style creatives, validate organically, and fix offer/AOV before running ads again.

 

[navyraiser]

Or maybe your niche is just trash....

 

[Elliot Price]

I completely understand your situation; I was in the same boat when I launched my first independent website. First of all, I'm certain there's nothing wrong with Facebook's algorithm. When your competitors are making a profit, it means the problem lies in your advertising skills. When you're feeling lost, you should hire an advertising manager from a professional website to manage your ad campaigns. Learn from them; this will be the fastest way for you to improve.

 

[HA Marketing Agency]

As far as I know, the higher the (ROAS) Return on Accounts, the higher the profit.
Facebook Ads are an amplifier, not a money printing machine.
You should use organic videos with real views, comments, and shares.
Run ads for that post, not "beautifully designed" ads.
Abandon detailed targeting; let the algorithm learn.
Only keep ads if the ROAS is stable at ≥ 1.5.
Below this level, ads are only for data nurturing.

 

[AdCard Agency]

What is your niche? What if it's because your niche is too small?

 

[BAM AGENCY MARKETING]

Paid advertising is not broken, but your campaigns are likely sending weak or mixed signals to the algorithm through creatives, targeting, and conversion data. Organic content can be a smart reset because it builds clearer audience intent and trust before you reinvest in paid traffic with stronger data and positioning.

 

[FIDO AGENCY]

Ads aren't inherently flawed, but if your organic content lacks genuine engagement, then ads are just amplification of failure. Instead of targeting specific details, run ads on posts that already have natural views and comments to send a 'clean' signal to the algorithm. Maintain discipline: Only maintain your budget when profitability is stable; otherwise, it's just the cost of buying data. Don't try to use flashy images; use genuine content to build trust before spending money on advertising.

 

[NAM AGENCY]

Re-evaluate your target audience, choose an age range appropriate for your product category, and sell what people need.

 

[Glebagency]

We have many clients who are making money from Facebook. You should review your business practices on the Facebook platform.

5 months in and I'm down 3 grand. Every guru on YouTube makes this look so easy but it's complete garbage.

My ROAS is trash. Started with 0.8, now sitting at maybe 1.2 on good days. Facebook keeps showing my phone accessories to random old people instead of college kids. Their targeting algorithm is broken or something.

Hired some guy from Upwork for $500. He did worse than me. These "experts" are just as clueless.

Been using AdsGo for campaigns, Canva for creatives, Hotjar to see what people do on my site. Still bleeding money. Meanwhile everyone else is posting screenshots of 5x ROAS like it's nothing.

Thinking about just going back to organic content instead.

 

[UnusualSubstance]

Change "Facebook ads are a complete joke"

To

I don't know how to run facebook ads.

Now it's a knowledge gap and thus solvable.

 

[MOND AGENCY MARKETING]

phone accessories are a brutal niche, and most youtube easy roas examples ignore margins, saturation, and real ad costs. once roas stalls around 1.0, continuing to force paid traffic usually just burns cash rather than fixing the problem. going back to organic to rebuild demand and validate what actually sells before spending more on ads is a reasonable move