Why has your Facebook Ad been Rejected?
Have you had Facebook ads rejected?
It’s so frustrating when you’ve put so much effort into coming up with a great ad only for it to be rejected. So how can you stop getting your Facebook ads rejected?
Facebook has got a LOT stricter in the last six months, probably due to the increase of online businesses using its ad platform. So, they don’t like it when you don’t play to their policies.
But there is a greater worry when you get ad rejections. Did you know that any rejection gets noted in your account quality section of Facebook ads Manager? Too many and Facebook may close down your account!
To save yourself time – not to mention stress – this blog is here to help you get Facebook ad savvy.
Check Facebook’s Policies
This social media giant is big on rules. It pays to head over to the Facebook Ad Policy page, get familiar with them and check through them before you publish an ad.
There’s comprehensive information under these headings:
Overview: Understanding common points of confusion.
The Advert Review Process: What Facebook considers and what happens after the review has taken place.
Steps to take if rejected. Make edits and appeal.
Prohibited content. The 30 standards to be met.
Restricted content. The 13 subjects to avoid.
Video Ads. What is deemed to be disruptive content and entertainment related.
Targeting. Must not discriminate.
Positioning. Must be relevant to audience and content.
Lead Adverts. Check the list of the type of lead advert that would require written consent.
Brand Assets. How to avoid copyright and trademark wrangles.
Data Use Restrictions. How to use data safely and legally.
Things You Should Know. An extra section of yet more stuff that, if ignored, could result in a rejection.
There’s a lot to get your head around and it can seem overwhelming at first, but please don’t let all the rules put you off – Facebook ads achieve great results when executed correctly.
Common reasons why ads get rejected
Time and again I get asked to check over an ad because the creator cannot find a reason why it was rejected.
To help you get it right first time, here’s my quick checklist for you:
Check your keywords as certain ones will trigger an automatic rejection. For example, don’t use the following: income, career, job, money, sales, profits as Facebook definitely don’t want MLM being promoting on their platform and any ads that they think are promoting quick income can fall into this category.
Don’t use swear words. And don’t try to hide them by using asterisks or other symbols in the middle of a word, Facebook will know what you’re trying to do and you will still get that dreaded rejected ad. Grammar also comes under this policy heading, so always spell check your copy.
Don’t mention personal attributes - topics such as depression, anxiety or wanting to lose weight for instance. Using the word ‘you’ and ‘feeling’ in the same sentence can be a big trigger and end up with getting an ad rejected. Facebook don’t like you calling out other people directly, or highlighting negative attributes – after all they want Facebook to be a positive and happy place. Instead, try writing your copy in the first person, as a story about yourself and focus on the positive outcomes instead of negative problems.
Don’t use before and after images in your images for ads. This is a big one in the fitness niche. If you do use an image of a body, never zoom in on a particular body part as, again, this may be seen to be making a health claim. Take a whole-body photo instead and talk about their transformation in the copy.
Don’t use the logo for Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp in your ad as this gives the impression that the Facebook brand endorses the product or service being promoted in the ad.
Have a look at doing a free learning platform called Facebook Blueprint which walks you through everything you need to know about Facebook Ads and its policies. It’s a good starting point to learn all about what you can and can’t do.
When writing your content have the policies open on a tab and keep double checking that you are not breaching any of them.
Get brownie points and avoid the rejection
Facebook’s aim is to provide a positive user experience for their community which is why they are so strict with the ads – they don’t want to see anything negative and will take action to enforce their rules.
Always check your content and your images against the rules.
Make sure that the content and the images on your landing page adhere to the rules because Facebook will scan that too. There are also other landing page policies, so take a look at that too in the list.
It’s also wise to check your website and make sure that you have a privacy policy, terms and conditions, a cookie notice, and a Facebook disclaimer at the bottom stating that it's not part of Facebook and that your company is not aligned with Facebook.
Contact me
I’ve dealt with quite a few business owners with disabled ad accounts in the last few months resulting from having their Facebook ads rejected. Often because they have been advertising themselves without knowing anything about the ad policies that they then end up breaching.
It can be a huge cost to a business if your ad account is disabled as you are unable to set up a new one.
If you don’t want to risk your Facebook ads account and instead want help with your next Facebook Ad campaign, please do get in touch – I can’t wait to help!