Hello @SelectionHouse !
This is Lana from Shopify. I understand you’re having issues trying to publish your Facebook Ad, so I wanted to help you out here.
First I just wanted to clarify, in what section of the admin are you seeing this error? If possible, it would be very helpful if you could include a screenshot of that error in your next reply!
As for the error message itself, 'A problem with Facebook prevented your activity from being published. Try to republish in a few minutes.’ - it sounds like something we could potentially resolve with some local troubleshooting. By this, I mean trying some of the following steps:
- Clear your browser cache and cookies. Oftentimes errors like this are resolved by simply clearing the cache and trying again. For example, if you are using Google Chrome, please clear the cache by following these steps here and try again.
Note: If you are not using Google Chrome, we recommend switching to it because that is the browser that is best optimised for working with Shopify, and can also be the solution for issues like this.
- Switch to a different network when trying this. Sometimes similar errors can occur due to your network connection, in which case we would recommend you test this by switching to a different connection such as a mobile hotspot, or even try to fully reset your internet.
- Try again on a different device. We have also seen issues like this occur on one device only, and merchants were able to resolve this by trying a different device available to them. For example, if you are trying to publish your ad on a mobile device, please try again on a desktop.
After you have tried all of these steps, if it is still not working for you please do reply to me here again and include the screenshot that I requested earlier so that we can see what else can be done here.
On this topic, I also wanted to ask - is this your first time running ads with Shopify? If so, that’s great! These are really exciting times, and once you get your ads going you may notice an increase in traffic as more people will get to know about your store. The next question here is 'What do I do with this new traffic?'. At this stage you will want to start looking at how to turn traffic into sales. Here are some important things that you can look at to increase your chances of making a sale:
- A Contact Us page. This is necessary because as your customers are browsing your website and considering taking a product to the checkout, they need to feel that they will have your support should there be any issues with the product after they purchase it. As well as that, they may have some questions they would like to ask you before they go to checkout, but a lack of a Contact Us page might put them off going through with the purchase as they were unable to receive the support they expected.
- An FAQ page. Not only does this particular page add to the professionalism of your store, but it can also answer a customer’s concerns and eliminate the need to reach out to you directly. This makes for a better shopping experience and helps build customer trust. You can learn more about how to create pages in this help doc here.
- A discount for first time buyers. Needless to say, a promotional discount can be very positive to see and can also be the encouragement that your customer needed to finalise their purchase. To learn how you can create a discount, you can check out our guide on the topic here.
For more ways to increase conversions, please check out our Shopify Blog article on some of the Timeless Ways to Increase Conversions.
Let me know if you need any more help!
Thanks. -Lana