A Testing Strategy That’s Getting Results For New Skool Groups

I've noticed a trend with new Skool group owners running Facebook Ads, especially those without an email list or a mature pixel (this includes me). They start too consolidated and broad.

The testing structure that seems to be working really well is to start with an initial ABO (ad set budget) test campaign to identify which creatives resonate with the audience.

This is a simple setup where you run broad, lookalike, and/or interests with 5 creatives in each ad set.

Once an ad breaks out, the next step is to pull that ad into a new campaign and duplicate it into several different audiences, like broad and lookalikes. This is also an ABO. Running several versions of the same ad helps different pockets get served. This method amplifies the impact of the winning creative or helps you understand if it's actually a winner.

After running that setup for a few weeks you may have enough winners to finally dabble with a more dynamic campaign. This would be a CBO with all top winners from the last several weeks of tests, allowing Facebook to dynamically pick and spend on the best-performing ads.

The biggest mistake many new accounts make is jumping into a consolidated campaign too quickly.

Starting with an ASC (Advantage Shopping Campaign) or a CBO right away can be problematic because Facebook isn't very good at picking winners for new pixels. This phased approach—ABO first, then CBO, and finally maybe ASC—is what seems to be what is working right now for new Skool groups.