Facebook Ads Not Working? Here's How to Troubleshoot
There is a specific kind of panic that sets in when you log into your Facebook Ads Manager and see a wall of zeros. Zero clicks, zero sales, or worse—money being spent with absolutely nothing to show for it. Before you throw your computer out the window or delete your account, take a deep breath. 99% of the time, the problem is fixable. It is usually a small setting or a common algorithmic hiccup. Let's walk through the troubleshooting process step-by-step so you can get the sales flowing again.
When things go wrong, they usually fall into one of three categories: Delivery (the ad isn't showing), Performance (the ad is showing but nobody is buying), or Tracking (people are buying but Facebook isn't counting it).
1. Check Your spending Limits
This sounds too simple to be true, but it is the number one reason ads stop running. Facebook has an 'Account Spending Limit' hidden in the billing settings. If you set a cap of $500 three months ago and you just hit it today, Facebook creates a hard stop. Go to Billing & Payments and check if you hit your cap.
2. The Audience Overlap Problem
If you have two different ad sets targeting similar people (e.g., one targeting "Yoga" and one targeting "Meditation"), they might be fighting each other. This is called Audience Overlap. When this happens, Facebook pauses the smaller ad set to prevent you from bidding against yourself. Use the 'Audience Overlap' tool in the menu to check if your circles are crossing too much.
3. Creative Fatigue (The 'Boredom' Factor)
If your ad was working great for two weeks and suddenly died, nothing is technically broken. Your audience is just bored. Look at your Frequency metric. If it is creeping up towards 3.0 or 4.0, it means everyone has seen your ad multiple times. The troubleshooting fix here isn't technical; it's creative. You need to launch a new image immediately.
4. The 'Learning Limited' Trap
We mentioned this before, but it is a common killer. If your budget is too small spread across too many ads, Facebook stops optimizing. If you see 'Learning Limited' in the delivery column, you need to turn off the weak ad sets and combine their budgets into the strong ones. Consolidating your budget helps the machine learn faster.
5. Check Your Pixel Status
Sometimes, the connection between your website and Facebook breaks. Maybe you updated a plugin on your site, or changed your theme. Install the 'Meta Pixel Helper' Chrome extension and visit your own product page. If the little icon stays grey, your tracking is down. Reinstall your Pixel code immediately.
The Ultimate Fix: Better Creative
If all the technical settings are correct and your ads still aren't working, the harsh truth is that the ad might just be bad. It happens to the best of us. Stirling helps you generate fresh, high-performing creative angles instantly, so you can swap out the duds and test new winners without waiting on a designer.
