If you own a small business, regardless of the products or services you offer to your customers, Facebook Ads can be a brilliant promotional tool for your business. Not only are you going to benefit from the various advantages this tool has to offer, but so will your prospective customers!
That said, one of the most prominent mistakes new marketers make when running ads on Facebook is that they dive in without putting their foot in first. As a result, their ads get disapproved by Facebook, and sometimes even get their Facebook ads account disabled! In fact, this topic is one of the most prevalent topics in our Facebook Ads for Beginners Facebook Group, which is why The Beginner’s Guide to Marketing team wanted to cover this topic!
If your ad has been disapproved by Facebook, it may be because of a violation. And if your ads account has been disabled, it might have happened because of consistent violations or excessive negative feedback on your ads account.
Stressed? Don’t be.
Working with an agency, like Pendragon Consulting, can help you get back on the right track – but beware the scammers! Any why not give fixing it a go yourself?! You may find yourself pleasantly surprised AND have saved yourself some money.
Here are some steps you can take if your Facebook ads account ends up getting disabled.
Submit An Appeal
The first step to submitting an appeal is to visit: https://www.facebook.com/accountquality (<– make sure that you’re logged into your account before visiting that URL). Next, if you manage more than one business/ad account, you’ll want to ensure that you’ve selected the one that has been disabled from the left-side menu/dropdown. From there, you’ll be able to see what (if any) restrictions are on your ad account, when it became disabled/restricted and what assets connected to your ad account have been disabled.
After you’ve reviewed all of Facebook’s guidelines and advertising policies and you’re certain that you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ll have to submit an appeal to Facebook. There are two ways of doing this: 1) In the account quality section (ref link above) or by clicking on “Support” in the business center (again, you must be logged in to do this).
To go the first route – requesting review through the account quality page – you’ll want to start by logging in to your Facebook account. Facebook will send you a prompt to select the appropriate ad account if you manage more than one, or to enter your advertiser account identification number. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the problems you’re facing, and you’ll be able to describe the recent events that you’ve experienced. There are typically three options that you’ll have:
- “I’m not sure which policy was violated.”
- “I think there was an unauthorized use of my business account.”
- “Another Reason:” (you’ll be prompted to provide a brief reason here.)
All you have to do after that is hit submit. Easy peasy.
To go the second route – chatting with support – you’ll want to first ensure that you’re logged into your Facebook account and then visit https://www.facebook.com/business/help/ and click on the “Support” button located on the top right of the screen (see screenshot above). From here, you’ll want to click on the blue “Get Started” button on the left side.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll then be prompted to select the ad account that you’re having issues with. Following that screen, you’ll be asked to select a reason for requesting support. In this instance, you’ll want to select “my ad account was disabled”. Now, you’ll need to provide information to get the ball rolling…
In the heat of the moment, you’ll want to get done with this step quickly to back what you’ve lost, but we strongly urge you not to. Several experts suggest that you take this opportunity to thoroughly describe everything that happened. Be descriptive, appreciative and, most of all, honest. Include any screenshots you may have – there’s a place for you to upload that information.
When submitting the information, make sure that you cite all of the policies (or policy) that you think your ads (or ad) may have violated. Let Facebook know that you understand the policy and won’t violate it again. Ensure them you’ll be mindful when you create ads in the future. Basically, just let them know you’re sorry and ask for another chance.
Some people can also have their accounts deactivated accidentally and they only find this out after they make an appeal in a composed manner. However, if your appeal is denied by Facebook, there are still some things you can do. If your offense was a small one, you may be able to create a new Facebook Ads account.
One of the most important things to remember at this stage is that you must keep trying. Even if you’ve received a denial email from Facebook, don’t stop trying. That is because in several cases, your appeal may have been read by a robot which will often give you the standard response. Even if the email says the decision is final you can still keep trying. But obviously, there is a certain limit. If you’ve reached 10, 30 or 50 denials, we think it’s safe to assume that it’s a no.
This is the perfect example to understand why you should never rely on a single platform for all of your promotional efforts.
Additional Steps to Take
Once you’ve submitted an appeal to the Facebook Ads Manager, there are still few ways you can reach out to the platform’s support team to get your complaints heard. If you’re successful, they may reinstate your ads account, but this will only happen if your concerns are relevant!
To do this, click on the question mark you see on the top-right of your ads account. Now, scroll all the way down until you see the blue link which says, “Help Center,” or “Still need help?”
The best part about this magical link is that it will instantly give you a chat option to communicate with the Facebook support team. When you have instant chat, you can directly to a chat representative from Facebook and they will expertly guide you throughout the appeals process. However, there can be instances when chat won’t be available.
In this case, you can submit a form to file your complaint about your ad account’s closure. On this form, just like the appeal, be thorough, and build your case strongly. If your banned ads account isn’t showing up in the drop-down menu under the Advertising Account ID, write your ID in the description box. Also, include pertinent details that can help Facebook investigate your issue further.
To find the ID for your ads account, go back to the ads manager. In the URL, you’ll see your account number written. Do you see the long chain of numbers written after “act=”? That’s your account number. This is the number you’re supposed to give to Facebook, not the business manager ID. After this is done, all you need to do is provide Facebook with the details they’ll need confirm the compliance of your ad account. But this will only happen if you truly believe that you weren’t at fault for anything that has happened.
You can track your appeal at facebook.com/support.
The best-case scenario is that Facebook will reinstate your ads account, and this will be a massive win for you since you’ll get save all of the hard work you’ve put into creating the account. Trust us, we understand! We know much work goes into creating custom audiences for every advertising campaign. Remembering all of those details to the bone can be difficult.
Speak to a Social Media Marketing Expert
If all of your efforts lead to a dead end, you should consider talking to a Facebook marketing expert. These experts are employees of Facebook and can provide you consultations and suggestions on how you can optimize your ads for better performance. But before you do this, you’ll have to find out if you’re entitled for a consultation. If you are, you can schedule an appointment.
Since you’ve been dealing with AI up till now, talking to a Facebook marketing expert will give you a chance to talk to a real person. Once you’re on the call, you can ask them for advice for your future marketing campaigns. Tell them your Facebook ads account has been disabled and you’re seeking guidance to avoid violations in the future.
Ask for their opinion on why they think your account was disabled. There’s a chance that they won’t give you a convincing answer, but they will go through the details from the backend and give you their informed opinion on the situation.
Here’s How You Can Prevent Your Account from Being Disabled Again
Create a Facebook Marketing Strategy
We recommend that you take a three-pronged marketing approach for your Facebook marketing strategy.
- Connect: Target new customers to grow your prospective target market
- Commit: Generate quality sales leads
- Close: Convert those new customers
When you run ads that have different motives each day, you’ll notice that the negative feedback will reduce. Advertisers who always have a strategy ready are always prepared for every curve ball Facebook throws towards them.
Create A New Ads Account With a Different Credit Card Number
You’ve just lost the ability to create an ads account on a certain credit card number, you can still create Facebook ad accounts on different cards. To ensure the new card doesn’t get flagged by Facebook, make sure that it hasn’t been used on the platform before. And remember: don’t repeat the same mistakes!
Create A Seamless User Experience
Have you ever clicked on a webpage and been bombarded with millions of pop-ups all at once? Well, if you’re doing this, forget buying, people won’t even visit your website to go through your offerings. According to Facebook, a landing page that has such poor experience is called a “non-functional landing page.” To see the examples of such pages, go to Facebook’s Advertising Policies tab and see what’s Prohibited Content according to them.
Therefore, it is necessary that your webpage is optimized for the visitor’s experience. Use big, legible, bold fonts and clear pictures that get the message across instantly. Also, ensure that the layout of your website is simple and easy to understand.
Wrapping Up
Having Facebook shut down your ads account can be a sinking feeling. And if you aren’t able to spot your mistake, you can repeat it, which will only get you banned for the second time. If you’re struggling with a disabled ad account and are ready to enlist the help of an agency, reach out to Pendragon Consulting, LLC. They take a research-driven approach that increases click-through rates and revenue at the same time, without any violations.
To learn more about Facebook Advertising, or marketing as a whole, check out The Beginner’s Guide to Marketing blog section or our books. You can also join our Facebook Group to help get your questions answered: Facebook Ads for Beginners.
