As a business owner, ad spend can be one of the most difficult areas for you to monitor. You need to find the combination of targeting, ad formats, and networks that will provide you with the most ROI while still meeting your budget at the end of every month. If left unchecked, ad spend can balloon faster than you realize. But fear not: There are ways that you can improve your ad spend in 2022.

Automate Tasks Where Possible

One way to help control ad spend is to automate tasks. For example, you may want to set up auto-ad-expansion so your ads are running at maximum capacity. This approach will allow you to spend more while still maintaining a high level of engagement on each ad. You can also set up auto-optimization so that your ads are automatically adjusted and retested. You can then see which ad variations perform best with the least amount of effort on your part. Lastly, you could use sales software to help you automate workflows, email alerts, and more so that it’s easier for you to sell your products throughout your campaign.

Use a Solid Tracking Tool

You want to track all of your ad spend and engagement data so that you can make adjustments as needed. Although you can do this manually, it’s not recommended. Manual tracking is prone to error as well as being significantly slower than using an automated ad tracking tool. The best ad tracking tools will not only allow you to track data but will also allow you to run reports at the click of a button. Some programs will even send emails to alert you when a metric has gone beyond a certain threshold that you’ve set. When selecting a tracking tool, look for something that will integrate with your existing analytics software. This way, you can view all of your ad data in one place and you won’t have to switch between two different platforms.

Set Goals for Each Ad Campaign

As soon as you set up an advertising campaign, you need to be setting goals for what you expect to get out of it. These goals don’t necessarily have to be sales-based, although that’s always the ultimate objective. You can set goals around things such as clicks, engagement, and other metrics that are important to your business. By setting goals at the start of each campaign, you can track your progress more easily and make adjustments if you’re not on track to achieve them. Just make sure that your goals are realistic and within your budget.

Be Selective With Where You Spend

Although every ad network wants you to spend as much as you can on their platform, it’s important to be selective with where you choose to spend. You want to take a look at the data from your campaigns and see which networks are giving you the most bang for your buck. If one network is consistently outperforming the others, divert more money to that network. You can also look at your overall budget and see which networks are giving you the most engagement for the amount that you’re spending. You can then divert more money to these networks. Ideally, you want to be diversifying your ad spend. You don’t want to over-rely on one network, especially if you’re not sure how useful it will be in six months.

Remember that it can take weeks or even months to see an increase in ad spend ROI. Additionally, you may have to make some sacrifices, such as reducing the number of ad campaigns that you run. You can’t win every time but you can learn from each loss.