How to Recover a Suspended Facebook Ads Account

Did Facebook suspend your Facebook ads account? Wondering how to appeal the decision and get your ads up and running again?

In this article, you'll find out how to submit an appeal to get your Facebook advertising account reactivated.

Facebook Ads Account Suspension: Two Red Flags

You're going along your merry way, crushing your Facebook ads, starting to scale up your ad spend… then one day, you log into your Facebook ad account and get the red message of doom:

Your first reaction: sheer panic.

Well, I'm here to tell you that everything will be okay. With the simple action steps in this article, you'll be “all systems go” in no time.

In this situation, it's easy to assume that Facebook is out to get you. Just remember: It's not a vindictive human sitting behind the screen maniacally laughing at your misery. Your account was shut down because something sent a red flag signal to the algorithm and it's Facebook's responsibility to mitigate threats at every moment.

The behaviors that typically trigger these red flags fall into two categories:

• High negative feedback percentages
• Not following Facebook's Advertising Policies

Red Flag: Your Ads Generate High Negative Feedback

Facebook users you target with ads can share their feedback with the platform. They can choose to:

• Hide the single ad.
• Hide all posts from your Facebook page.
• Unlike your Facebook page.
• Report the ad content as spam.

When a Facebook user reports your ad for any of the issues listed above, it's marked as negative feedback.

If one or two people report an ad, unlike your page, or hide your content, it's not the end of the world. The challenge is when the percentage of negative feedback in comparison to the overall number of ad impressions starts to rise.

To find the negative feedback score for each ad, navigate to the ad level in Facebook Ads Manager. Select the individual ad and click Preview. From the pop-up, choose Facebook Post with Comments.

Scroll to the bottom of your ad post and click in the Performance Results section. This will launch a pop-up window.

In the Post Details window, look at the Negative Feedback section.

Although we don't know the exact percentage that triggers a red flag, in my experience, if you're getting more than one spam report for every 5,000 impressions (or 0.02%), you should shut off that specific ad as a preventive measure.

To calculate your negative feedback rate, you use the same formula you would to calculate the engagement rate of a Facebook post (i.e., amount of activity divided by impressions).

Add the totals in all four categories under Negative Feedback:

• Hide Post
• Hide All Posts
• Report as Spam
• Unlike Page

Then divide that number by the total number of People Reached.

Once you calculate your negative feedback percentage, you can see if there are specific ads that triggered your account shutdown. If no ads have high negative feedback, the reason your account was shut down is likely your failure to comply with Facebook's Advertising Policies.

Red Flag: You Violated Facebook Advertising Policies

According to Facebook, “our Advertising Policies provide guidance on what types of ad content are allowed. When advertisers place an order, each ad is reviewed against these policies.”

If you're not familiar with Facebook's Advertising Guidelines, start getting up to speed now. It's the entire rulebook of Facebook advertising in one spot. Everything that is or isn't allowed. Everything that's a gray area or a big ol' red flag.

Most people think they can dance around the policies and then they get upset when they're in direct violation and lose their account. Remember, it's not Facebook, it's you. Very rarely do ad accounts get disabled for no good reason.

How to Reinstate Your Facebook Advertising Account

Now that you know what happened, it's time to learn how to reinstate your account. This one's easy! I walk you through the entire process in this video.

First, jump into Ads Manager. Typically, you'll see a red bar informing you the account has been disabled. Click Contact Us to submit your appeal and get your account back up and running.

If you don't see the red bar, perhaps you've gotten an email that told you your account has been disabled. Follow the instructions in the email to submit your appeal.

Additional Support Options

Once you've submitted your appeal in Ads Manager, there are additional ways you can reach out to Facebook support to increase your chances of getting your ad account reinstated.

To do that, click the question mark icon at the top-right corner of your ad account. Then scroll all the way to the bottom to the blue link that says, “Still need help?” or “Help Center.”

The beauty of clicking this link is that the page it launches occasionally has instant chat available with the Facebook support team. When instant chat is available, you can speak directly with a Facebook representative, which can help make the appeal process quicker.

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If instant chat isn't available, you can submit a form to file a complaint about your account closure. On this form, tell Facebook about the situation and make your case.

If the banned advertising account doesn't show up in the drop-down menu under Advertising Account ID, add your ID to the description box below along with other pertinent details to help Facebook investigate.

To find your advertising account ID, head back into Ads Manager. Go to the URL in the address bar at the top of the page and copy your account number. It's the long string of numbers after “act=”.

Give Facebook this account number, not your Business Manager ID.

From here, all you have to do is provide Facebook with the details they'll need to confirm your ad account compliance, if you believe you weren't at fault for the account being disabled.

Note: Once you submit your appeal, it may feel like it takes forever for Facebook to get back to you. You can track the status of your appeal at facebook.com/support.

In the support inbox, view the case status (i.e., open or closed) and the results of each unique case. If the appeal comes back and it isn't in your favor, this is where you can respond if you disagree with Facebook's decision.

Best-case scenario: Facebook reinstates your ad account. This would be a huge win because you save all of your hard work inside of the account, like the previous custom audiences you've created with your Facebook pixel and all of your advertising campaigns and results.

6 Steps to Prevent Your Account From Being Shut Down Again

Once your Facebook ad account is reinstated, follow these steps to help prevent it from being suspended again in the future.

Follow the Facebook Advertising Policies

This is the most important step: Follow Facebook's advertising policies. Full stop.

Yes, I'm a rule-follower. And you should be too when it comes to your Facebook ad account. As I mentioned, accounts are typically shut down for not following simple rules that Facebook lays out in their advertising guidelines. I particularly want to bring your attention to the Prohibited Content and Restricted Content sections.

You have complete control over whether you follow these rules.

Create Your Own Facebook Advertising Strategy

I recommend a three-pronged approach to your Facebook advertising strategy:

• Connect: Target new people to grow your audiences.
• Commit: Generate qualified sales leads.
• Close: Land new customers.

I've found that when members and clients run multiple ad types with different result objectives, it helps reduce the negative feedback rate. Advertisers who have a strategy in place for their results are more prepared for the curveballs that Facebook throws.

If Your Account Isn't Reinstated and You Create a New Ad Account, Use a New Credit Card Number

The credit card attached to your previous Facebook ad account will now be a red flag in the system. To avoid this triggering another account shutdown, make sure the credit card on the new account hasn't been previously used on Facebook's ad platform.

Have a Lawyer Craft Your Privacy Policy and Website Terms

This step communicates to Facebook that you're a reputable business entity. It's great for your user experience as well.

Note: I'm not a lawyer and this does not serve as legal advice.

Make Your User Experience Seamless

Have you ever clicked a link on a web page and all of a sudden you're bombarded with a quadrillion different pop-up messages all at once? Well, if you do this, users are going to abandon your website ASAP.

Facebook calls that poor user experience “a non-functional landing page,” and you can see all of their examples of this in Facebook's Advertising Policies under Prohibited Content.

Make sure your website is optimized for the user experience. Use big, bold, legible fonts and bright, clear pictures. Then lay out everything users need to know exactly as they expect when they're clicking from your ads over to your website.

Take Responsibility

Nine times out of 10, our Facebook advertising accounts get disabled as a direct result of our actions. When you're able to admit that (and then follow the action plan outlined in this article), it's easier to make sure you don't have any red flags on your account in the future.

Conclusion

Having your Facebook ad account shut down can be disheartening; however, following the simple steps above will have you back in the advertising game in no time.

Keep in mind that Facebook's algorithm—the same one that temporarily shut down your ad account—also protects you from consumer fraud. As a Facebook user, you wouldn't want to be served an ad from a company with a track record of shady behavior like fraudulently recharging your credit card after an initial purchase, auto-enrolling you into a subscription program without your consent, or even not delivering what you purchased. The reality is these situations happen every day.

Instead of blaming Facebook for this minor inconvenience, use this as an opportunity to determine where you could be more sound in your business practices across your entire company.

• Do you need to create a new privacy policy or update terms and conditions for your site?
• Can you update your customer onboarding sequence to reduce refunds or chargebacks?
• Would adding more information or context to your sales process create a better customer experience?

Although reflecting on your answers to these questions won't get your ad account back up and running directly, it will lessen your risk exposure in the future.

What do you think? Did these steps help you get your Facebook ad account reinstated? Let me know in the comments below.

More articles on Facebook ads:

• Learn how to use Multiple Text Optimization to customize your Facebook ads for different people.
• Discover how to write Facebook ad copy that converts.
• Find four lookalike audiences to use with Facebook ads.

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