why your CPMs are so high
High CPMs in Facebook ads are often caused by aggressive landing page design, overly promotional copy with all caps, and negative sentiment language rather than just creative issues. Testing new landing pages and analyzing copy sentiment are critical to identifying and fixing CPM problems.
Summary
The speaker explains that high CPMs on Facebook ads stem from multiple sources beyond just creative content. Landing pages play a significant role—aggressive landers featuring extreme before-and-after transformations and unrealistic claims can substantially increase CPMs regardless of creative quality. The speaker recommends testing new landing page formats to isolate whether the lander itself is the culprit. Additionally, the primary text in ads contains elements that trigger Facebook's quality penalties. The speaker specifically identifies all caps usage as a CPM-increasing factor and notes this is just one of several copywriting elements Facebook penalizes. Facebook evaluates overall copy sentiment, and the speaker recommends using sentiment analysis tools to check both creative and primary text. Fear-based language and negative sentiment in copy are flagged by Facebook's systems and result in higher CPMs. The ideal approach is to maintain neutral or positive sentiment in ad copy to avoid triggering these soft rejections that artificially inflate costs.
Key Insights
- Aggressive landing pages with extreme before-and-after transformations and unrealistic claims increase CPMs independent of creative quality, making lander testing essential for CPM diagnosis
- Using all caps in primary text increases CPMs, representing just one of several copywriting elements that trigger Facebook's soft penalty system
- Facebook penalizes ads based on overall copy sentiment analysis, which can be measured with sentiment analysis programs applied to both creative and primary text
- Fear-based language in ad copy generates negative sentiment scores that trigger Facebook penalties rather than neutral or positive sentiment responses
- High CPMs are often caused by soft rejections from Facebook's quality systems rather than algorithmic performance issues, making copy and lander optimization critical
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] What matters also is not only your ads but also your lander. So how aggressive is that? If you have a lot of before and afters, crazy transformations, unrealistic expectations, claim, those can definitely increase your CPMs. So you need to test new formats. I would test new landers to kind of rule that out cuz a lot of times I see guys running very aggressive landers and no matter what they do creatively, the lander is actually a reason why their CPMs are so high. There's also a lot of things in the ad copy specifically like the primary text. Even though you're running video ads, there's a lot of stuff in primary text that can increase your…
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to AccessMore from Mark Builds Brands
google ads vs FB ads
Google and Facebook ads serve different purposes in the marketing funnel. Google excels at middle and bottom-funnel retargeting and should be implemented alongside Facebook for the halo effect, while Facebook is better for scaling cold traffic and demand generation/YouTube ads work well for top-of-funnel conversions.
The Real Role Organic Content Plays
The speaker argues that organic content is the only realistic starting point for e-commerce entrepreneurs without a budget, but paid advertising is ultimately a more valuable skill to develop. Learning paid ads requires developing direct response copywriting abilities, which the speaker compares to learning a new language.
is europe actually the shortcut to ecom succes
European markets can offer better CPAs and profitability for early-stage e-commerce businesses, but they're not a scalable shortcut to success. The U.S. market remains the dominant end-game for virtually all successful D2C and CPG exits, making it the inevitable focus regardless of initial market choice.
Is Being Happy With 1-2K a Month Actually Cope
The speaker argues that being satisfied with 1-2k per month is mostly self-deception and comfort zone avoidance rather than genuine contentment. They contend that life should be about pursuing one's full potential across all dimensions, and that claiming satisfaction with a low income is only justified after achieving significant wealth.
How to create S tier winners
To create S tier creatives, it's essential to understand your customer deeply and to analyze existing winning ads to identify effective variables that can be combined into new concepts. This iterative testing approach allows marketers to refine their creatives using insights gained from lower-tier ads.