How to Edit a Facebook Ad and Retain Social Proof

Ever create a Facebook ad that starts racking up likes, comments, and shares, only to spot a glaring typo or a broken link after it’s live? The panic sets in. If you edit it, you risk resetting all that precious social proof back to zero. This guide will walk you through exactly how to edit your Facebook ads the right way, so you can fix mistakes without losing the engagement you’ve worked so hard to build.

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Good Social Proof On Your Ad Is Gold. Protect It

Positive comments and high engagement on your ad campaigns tell viewers that what you have to say as a brand deserves their attention, it's a green light - and it's very effective at getting people to trust you enough to become future sales leads. Facebook's algorithm values social interactions, rewarding advertisers with increased visibility and reduced campaign costs. This is why having ads with great social proof earns you organic visibility on Facebook without extra spending. Your company will save money because smart advertising aligns with Facebook's platform logic. Let's ensure we protect our data and work effectively. Here are some things to consider before we start:

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Three Questions to Answer Honestly For Your Marketing Team About ‘Editing Our Facebook Ad’ And Social Proof

Deciding to adjust or fix a live ad on Facebook requires your team to have good data from a trustworthy source. Your company should collect and interpret social data to make informed decisions on your next plan of action. Here is a framework to begin:

• Which online comments are hurting us? Your goal is to gather all the information from your current community of social interactors. Should you erase negative comments? Ask your team: What is the main message they are trying to convey? Is it customer service-related? Knowing the answer will guide your choices. When in doubt, ask your power users directly for their opinions.
• Could there be a quick fix by simply replying? Your community management plan must work with your advertising strategy. As always, reach out directly and personally to users who engage frequently with your brand. This authentic interaction shows all customers - present and future - that your company cares and is paying attention.
• What are our business hours online? It's not enough for your company to claim “office closes at five.” You need insights into your valued customers' online behavior to know when to engage on customer service matters. Check the customer journey map to guide this thinking.

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The Safest Ways To Edit Facebook Ads Without Destroying Data

The fastest way to address the challenge is to prepare. All Facebook posts come with a unique Post ID. If you need to make an edit, retrieve the post's ID, create a new campaign, and enter the ID to retrieve engagement data. This process - sometimes called a "loophole" - is effective for split-testing. If correctly gathered, this data provides valuable insights for advertising.

Always assume Facebook might change its UI at any time. Backup workflows are crucial to keeping social data intact, not because Facebook tells you to - it's a good business practice. Never give one person total login control, instead, create security levels that fit your business risk profile. Here's a flow to consider:

1. Go to your Business Facebook Manager, then to "Page Posts," and find "Ads Posts." We recommend creating a "dark post" - an unpublished page post viewed only by your target audience as an ad. It doesn’t show to your organic subscribers. Create the post.
2. With your ad set up and a fresh Post ID, ensure you check for typographical errors in your ad copy. It’s good practice to avoid repeating mistakes. When it's time to create new ad sets as planned, use that Post ID.
3. At the ad creation level within your Facebook Manager, do not "Create Brand New", instead, select "Use Existing Post" from the dropdown. Choose the dark post you've created. This method allows you to edit grammar or other necessary fixes while retaining engagements, demonstrating a UI look:

This method empowers even small teams without extensive resources to get results quickly. Here's how to safely test what you learn today:

Go to all your Facebook Ad Sets and for all of them add that Post ID. If your team is testing variations for a new ad campaign, select "Existing Post" with its ID tag repeatedly to familiarize your team with this workflow.

Step-By-step Walk Through Using Your Old Post ID For Editing Ad Campaigns

1. Select the campaign with all its creative and ad copy from your ads page.
2. Go into your Ads Manager.
3. Go to your "Create Ad" section, name it, and proceed to "Ad Creative."
4. Use the "Use Existing Post" option. Enter the Post ID here - its data travels back to your main Facebook ads platform.

This Post ID method is effective for ensuring your data remains intact. Here's an example screenshot image that shows a post number in the URLs:

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Editing the "Creative" Inside Your Campaign Can Still Delete Your Data

As a rule of thumb, most Facebook Ad account managers avoid editing live campaigns, even though Facebook provides this ability. Here's why: Facebook's system collects data throughout your ad’s lifecycle, during a "learning phase" to optimize advertising. Interrupting this learning phase can be detrimental. Our recommendation: allow Facebook to optimize with its technology and save money while understanding its functionality.

These Campaign Creative Edits Reset Our Data (We Checked It)

Stay updated on Facebook updates, experiment regularly, and consider your specific context. This April 2024, here’s what typically erases all your data:

• Changing the headline.
• Changing your ad copy/text.
• Changing the image or video for the post.
• Changing the webpage link (as your call to action, for example).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Editing ad campaigns on Facebook may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. You need accurate data insights into ad data visibility on the platform. Quick access to information is crucial for prompt actions. We developed Graphed to offer faster solutions, automating answers for our teams while supporting the marketing community.