Scheduling FB Ads for Success

by | Jun 21, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads, How To

On this blog, I answer a lot of questions you have about how to run Facebook ads successfully. I know that there’s so much to cover when it comes to what makes an ad campaign a success… How to create ads that build your audience. How to best get conversions. What type of content to place in your ad.

What I usually come back with when asked these questions is that the answers often depend on your specific business and goals. That’s why I do what I do – no two businesses are exactly alike, so they won’t necessarily get the same results from using the same methods.

Much of the advice I give is information that you can use as a guide to help you find what works in your business. In this post, I’m covering some common time-related questions about Facebook ads, like how to schedule campaigns and the best length of time to run them, because time plays a crucial role in the success of your ads.

IS SCHEDULING FACEBOOK ADS HELPFUL? HOW CAN I DO IT?

You know how you can schedule Pinterest and Facebook posts to show up on your board or page when you want them to? You can do the same with Facebook ads.

The most obvious reason you’d want to schedule your ads is convenience. It can be helpful for businesses that have several ad campaigns going at any given time or during a product/program launch. Instead of coming back to your Ads Manager day after day to set up a new campaign, you can set them up in bulk and then set the scheduled date and time when you need them to run.

Another reason to schedule your ads further in advance is that sometimes ads aren’t approved for one reason or another. If you’re in the middle of a launch and you need to set up time-sensitive ads, and you’re doing so an hour before they need to go live, you may have a stressful situation on your hands. Inevitably, if I’m running behind, the Ads Manager is glitching, approvals by Facebook are taking longer or some other tech nightmare happens. To avoid these situations, schedule your ad campaigns to go live well in advance and marvel at how much smoother things run:)

HOW LONG SHOULD I RUN FACEBOOK ADS?

It’s also common for people to want to know how long to run Facebook ads; should they run for just a few days, or should you spread the budget over a period of several weeks?

Obviously, the answer will first depend on what you’re advertising. If you have a two-day promotion, for example, running an ad for the days preceding (building hype) and the days during your sale is a good idea.

But for non-time-specific ads, what’s the best length of time?

The truth is (and as annoying as it sounds), it really does depend on your goals, what you’re advertising, your industry, and how well the ad market is doing at the moment.

For example: If you have some kind of list builder (free offer) campaign, you certainly can run it indefinitely. You’ll simply need to watch for a decline in performance, at which time you can add new audiences, change out the creative (image and copy), and turn them live again. 

I’d say I run about 50% time-sensitive campaigns for clients and 50% evergreen (running all the time).  Another example: We try to run some kind of engagement campaign in the weeks leading up to a launch. This helps nurture audiences in advance and we find that it translates quite nicely into more sales. The engagement campaigns are often run anywhere from 3-5 weeks, while the launch ads are all time-sensitive (running for no more than 7-10 days).

Learning how to run Facebook ads takes commitment because there are so many facets to a successful ad that vary with your industry, promotion, etc. Conquering the time aspect of a Facebook ad campaign can get you one step closer to an improved and more consistent return on your investment.

Got any questions? Feel free to drop ‘em below in a comment!

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My Secrets for Onboarding Clients into My Agency

by | Jun 15, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads

If you run an agency like I do or you own a service-based, client-based business, you know how important it is to onboard clients effectively… and how tricky it can be, too. See, the onboarding stage is arguably one of the most important parts of the puzzle in the client relationship, because it sets the stage for either a really incredible experience or a lackluster one.

And we’re allllll about the really incredible ones over here, huh?! (Heck yeah!)

Over the years, I’ve onboarded a lot of clients into my agency, and I’ve gotten the entire process down to quite the science. The keys? Overcommunicating, making all the checklists, and documenting each and every step.

Ready to dive in? I’ve got you covered.

Why onboarding is so important

Have you ever started working with someone, only to realize that you felt super unsure of what the correct next steps were — or, even worse, to realize that the person/business you’re working with feels really unorganized?!

Same. And there is nothing worse — which is why onboarding is so, so important.

While onboarding is what kickstarts your client relationship, it’s also what kickstarts the internal workflows in your own business that keep that client relationship moving forward. When you onboard clients properly, you set the stage for an organized, positive experience for everyone involved — including your team, yourself, your clients, and their teams. When you don’t onboard clients properly, you set the stage for a messy, confusing experience for everyone involved.

My Secrets for Onboarding Clients into My Agency

While our onboarding process over here at System Envy is definitely made up of a lot more than just a few secrets, there are 3 go-to’s that form the foundation of each step in our onboarding process: overcommunication, lists, and documentation.

Here are the 3 secrets we swear by when it comes to onboarding clients over here:

  • Over-communication is key: Being under-communicated to is the #1 driver of confusion, excessive questions, and unclear expectations — which is why we over-communicate in the onboarding process (and then after). We never want clients and their team to feel out of the loop in their onboarding status, and we also want to make every detail apparent and clear for everyone. At System Envy, we rely on Slack for quick communication and updates, but anything can work.

 

  • Checklists make everything easier: We love a checklist over here, and rely on them heavily when onboarding new clients. There are a ton of different checklists we use here (and have built into Asana), starting with researching the account and setting up iOS update tasks for their ads all the way to getting client assets and necessary logins. Those checklists keep us on track and prepped for client launches, and they’re also how we don’t miss out on important steps.

 

  • Document everything: No amount of communication or checklists can account for keeping track of where everything goes, which is why documentation is KEY. We document everything, from client communication to contract signatures to deposits, in our backend area of Asana to round out our onboarding process as much as humanly possible, and it’s come in handy over and over again.

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There ya have it — the 3 major secrets we rely on over here at System Envy to streamline and kill it with our onboarding process in our agency! Have any additional ones you love to use? Send ‘em our way!

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7 Ways to Reduce What You Pay for Facebook Ads

7 Ways to Reduce What You Pay for Facebook Ads

by | Jun 7, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads, How To

I may be in the business of making money from helping people create solid Facebook ad campaigns, but the last thing I want is for anyone to waste their money and time making ads that aren’t getting the results they want. In fact, teaching others how to run the most efficient ads is my specialty, and it all boils down to knowing the tricks experts use to reduce how much it costs you to get the most clicks, leads, sales, or whatever your goal may be for your ads.

Although Facebook ad costs depend on many factors, like how engaged your audience is and the type of industry you’re in, there are always ways to lower your costs for each action someone takes with your ad.

SET UP THE META PIXEL AND CAPI

Whether you have yet to start creating ad campaigns or aren’t having any luck with your current ones, I want you to do this one thing that will help your future efforts: install the Meta Pixel on your website. This little pixel is an optimization genius that you can’t afford to ignore.

The small code goes on your site and tracks important information about your users and integrates that information with your Facebook campaigns so that you can target the most relevant people, measure conversions, and stop wasting money. It has tons of insights that show you how people use your site, what they visit, and what’s most important to them to help you tailor your ads accordingly.

Facebook/Meta has all the details on how to install and use it, which you can find here.

The next one is a little more complicated but is so worth it to have it installed. That is the conversion API. cAPI is another bit of code that allows your server to connect conversion events, meaning customer action, to Facebook. cAPI works alongside the Meta Pixel to help advertisers improve the performance, measurement, and data collection of their Facebook ad campaigns. The installation process depends on where your content is housed. WordPress is a partner with Facebook so it’s a little easier, but there are workarounds for most platforms using a little bit of code. 

In order to install cAPI, make sure your domain is verified, and events are prioritized as well. These are all steps to help us get all the data we can with the iOS update. Here are more details from Facebook for getting everything installed. 

PUT EFFORT INTO YOUR LANDING PAGES

You might think that it’s your ads that aren’t converting well when in reality, it could be that your landing pages for your ads aren’t enticing enough to keep people where you want them or do what you want them to do. This is one area where many people fail to realize what they’re doing wrong.

If you’re going to put a bunch of money into something, put it into paying someone to make your landing pages stand out. These are the areas of your website where people will come after clicking through your ad, so they need to be super relevant to what they just clicked on and engaging. They should also have clear call-to-actions so your audience knows what they should be doing once they get there.

TARGET, TARGET, TARGET

It’s so important to target the correct crowd – not too broad and not too narrow. One way to gauge your target audience is by viewing the ads’ Relevance Score. This little tool shows you how much your ad information matters to the people you’re targeting. The higher it is, the better. Surprisingly enough, many creators don’t even know this score exists or how to use it to its full potential.

Targeting is an essential part of a Facebook ad campaign strategy because the more specific your ad is for your audience, the likelier your chances of getting action. The lower your cost-per-click, the higher your return on investment!

…AND THEN TARGET AGAIN!

Then comes retargeting. Retargeting is targeting people who have already had some interaction with your business, whether it’s through your Facebook page or website. Maybe they’ve made a purchase from one of your ads in the past or have clicked an ad, visited a landing page, and signed up for whatever you were offering. These people already have an interest in your business, so they’re an excellent audience pool for targeting again without having to find a new audience to target.

One of the easiest ways to make this work for you is by using the Facebook Pixel to see who’s clicked on your ads and had an interaction on your website through those ads. Create a custom audience in your ad campaign and choose the people who have visited landing pages similar to the ones you’ll use for this campaign. Of course, because of the iOS update, this is more limited than it used to be, but still worth it especially when you’re driving consistent traffic to a page.  

MAKE YOUR ADS MORE APPEALING

Your ads themselves might need some sprucing up if you’re not getting the cost-friendly results you want. Think about the ads you click on most: Are they plain with no real value, or do they get you interested and excited about a product or service enough to want to learn more about it?

You might need to rethink your images and copy for better results that will stop people from scrolling past your ads and get more of them to click on your offer.

GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR CREATIVES

Experimenting with different types of ads is a huge part of successful ad campaigns on Facebook. It may take some time (and extra money) in the beginning to run a variety of campaigns and ad types – like a carousel, video, etc. – to learn what your audience likes best. Once you do, though, you should narrow your options to a few choices that you know work well, reducing the amount of time and money you have to spend figuring it out for each campaign.

EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR CTA

There are a few criteria your call-to-action needs to meet to be the most effective, regardless of your niche, audience size, and what you’re selling or offering:

Clear and concise (no wordiness and difficult-to-understand language)

To the point (people should know exactly what you want them to do)

Show excitement (“Get a lower payment today!”, “Order now for 30% off!”)

Includes command verbs (order, shop, learn, download, etc.)

Again, though, experimentation is crucial. Depending on your audience, you might have a better click-through rate with certain wording than you do with others, like “Learn more with our free guide” instead of “Shop the collection now.” Testing out all this stuff in the beginning can lead to much lower costs for future campaigns.

Facebook ads definitely get expensive if you’re more focused on pumping out ads for more cash flow than you are about all the other aspects of a successful campaign. Take time for some A/B testing and utilize the several free Facebook ad tools that spell everything out for you to lower CPC. Come back here and let me know what’s working for you and what isn’t – I’d love to help!

xoxo,

Kerry Swetmon

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How to Use Existing Video Content to Build Audiences

How to Use Existing Video Content to Build Audiences

by | Jun 1, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Uncategorized

If you’re even kiiiiinda in the avenue of marketing (which I’d bet you are, if you’re reading this blog post!), there’s no way you haven’t heard a zillion and one things about the power of video. Whether it’s on social media or on a business website, people love talking about video.

We do, too — and we’re big believers that video content can totally transform your Facebook ad strategy and build audiences.

Plus, we know that our clients have zero time to build out a bunch of extra videos on top of everything else (retweet, right?!). That’s why we place a huge emphasis on already existing video content… AKA, the videos you already have in your arsenal. 

So, have you been looking for a new way to level up your ad strategy… without a bunch of extra work? We’ve got you covered. Here’s how to use existing video content to build your audiences.

Here’s the key to using existing video content

Marketing your business often goes hand in hand with feeling like you need to catch up… always. Here’s the thing, though: you do not need to reinvent the wheel with every piece of marketing content you send out, and you certainly don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you build out a Facebook ad.

The key? Use what’s been well received. It’s that simple. For instance, say you hopped on IG stories recently to talk about something business-related and it sparked engagement! Save the story from your archive and use it as an ad. Say you recorded a video for a course or class a few months ago that seemed to really resonate with your audience. Save the video and use it as an ad. 

It’s that simple.

Video content = engagement ad content

When you build out your video content with content that people have already engaged with in the past, you’re setting the stage for what we like to call engagement audiences — which build warm audiences very quickly and very inexpensively. We use engagement ads constantly with our clients by utilizing their existing video content, because these can easily be edited and run with the ‘post engagement’ campaign objective to build ‘video view’ audiences for $0.01/post engagement.

Like, that’s basically free. (!!!) 

We’ve done it time and time again, and it’s been an excellent way to help our clients build their followings, create lookalike audiences, and spur engagements with their brands — it’s that easy. Now, it’s your turn!

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So, if you’ve been looking for new, easy, and inexpensive ways to boost your engagement and ad strategy, there ya go! Existing video content is your secret, pals.

 

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Top 4 FB Metrics To Pay Attention To

Top 4 FB Metrics To Pay Attention To

by | May 25, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads, How To, Uncategorized

The key to a successful Facebook Ad campaign starts with tracking and analyzing results. The data in the Facebook Ad Manager lets you know what’s performing well and what isn’t. The information can be used to adjust ads and track the results of those adjustments. It also gives you ad-specific data to improve your overall Facebook marketing strategies.

Facebook ad metrics are pieces of data that convey the success of your ad campaigns based on the intention of the ad. Some of the key elements of a successful ad campaign are:

  • Desired Action – Is the ad doing whatever it is you’re asking it to do (get clicks, garner engagement, get conversions, etc.)?
  • Cost – Are costs acceptable?
  • Building your Brand – Is advertising overall helping to build your brand and engagement in a positive way?

There are many factors that determine ad campaign success but answers to these three questions are an excellent place to begin.

Perhaps you’re already familiar with your Facebook analytics in Ads Manager and you regularly track how your campaigns are doing. For some, the data in there can be overwhelming, particularly if you aren’t a marketer or you’re just getting started with ads. Let’s get you started and stick with it! I promise it will be worth it.

I’m going to break down some of the steps so you can use the data to improve your results. We’ll walk through the process of analyzing your Facebook ad performance using the analytics dashboard and a few important metrics. Let’s zero in on some key ad metrics in your Facebook Ads Manager that tell you how your campaign is doing.

HOW TO FIND YOUR DATA

If you’re just starting out, you’ll need to know how to get to your Facebook Ads Manager, which houses all the data:

  1. Sign into Facebook.
  2. Click the arrow at the top right of the screen and then click Manage Ads (you can also click here – you must be logged in to Facebook). 
  3. Click on your ad account.
  4. From here, you’ll see your current and previous campaigns and can click on any of them for more detailed information.

This area is what we’ll be using to find key metrics to analyze including link clicks, ad frequency, cost per action, and return on investment.

CLICKS

Clicks are one of the most straightforward forms of ad data and the most important Facebook ad metrics, even when not the main objective of your ad. How many times a click on your ad occurs is the most basic way to know that your ad prompted an action. The click confirms that action. I’m sure you’ve clicked on ads on Facebook. Here’s what happens next.

LINK CLICKS

When you click on an ad it takes you to a landing page where you are asked to take another action. It’s there that you’ll either take another prompted action – like sign up for an offer or make a purchase or register for something – because you’re interested in what you see. Or, you’ll click away and go back to what you were doing because the offer didn’t interest you enough, even though the original ad did.

Your ad link clicks can show you if your ad is interesting enough to make people click, which is critical for you to know. If your audience is not clicking over to the landing page, they never consume the message on that page. They won’t be signing up for an offer, making a purchase, or registering, etc. Link clicks tell you if the ad is effective enough to get them to go to the landing page in the first place.

CONVERSIONS

If they click over to your landing page but then don’t sign up, buy, register, etc., this tells you it may be the landing page (and not the ad itself) that needs adjusting. Link clicks with minimal conversions (purchases, sign-ups, etc.), reveal that something isn’t working with your landing page or offer itself, and the ad is not the likely issue.

Find your link clicks in Ads Manager. If you’ve chosen Traffic as your main objective when you created your campaign, clicks will automatically show. Alternatively, you can click on Columns (see screenshot below) and select “Performance and Clicks.” And if you REALLY want to see what’s what, click on Breakdown (right next to the Columns ) -> By Action -> Destination, to see the breakdown of where people clicked from your ad, like your page’s name or the URL associated with your ad (which will most likely be your landing page).

AD FREQUENCY

The frequency metric, ad frequency, shows how many times Facebook shows your ad to each person who sees it. Think about some of the ads you see on Facebook. You might see some only once or twice, while others come across your feed a few times a day.

Those that you see frequently might start to annoy you after a while. They might even cause you to click on the “Stop showing me this” option that Facebook offers.

Use your frequency score to improve your results. Retarget the Facebook audience that sees your ad to include new people instead of the same pool of Facebook users. Here’s more information on Facebook targeting and retargeting to help you out!

Find the frequency by clicking on Columns: Performance and Clicks. You want that number as low as possible. For my clients’ campaigns, I start itching when it’s above 3 views per person. There are some exceptions. However, higher frequencies run the risk of irritating people, so keep that in mind.

COST PER ACTION AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT

These two go hand-in-hand. They’re both related to how much you spend, obviously a crucial part of the ad process. Cost Per Action (CPA) refers to how much you spend per targeted action. For instance, it’s how much it costs you for someone to sign up for something or make a purchase. Return on Investment (ROI) is how much you make versus how much you spend. In Facebook Ads world, it’s called ROAS, or Return on Ad Spend.

Your CPA helps you know how well your ads, your landing pages, your targeting and your offer are working together in terms of getting prospects from your ad to your chosen action. 

Your ROAS depends on the type of conversions you’re looking for because sign-ups will obviously not bring you money immediately like a purchase will. But, if you’re getting hundreds of sign-ups from people who will become potential customers from spending $100 on one ad campaign, then that’s a pretty good return, amiright?

PUTTING THE METRICS TO WORK 

At face value, Facebook Ad metrics provide valuable data about the results of our ad campaigns. Their true potential is found when we take action after analyzing them.

Get familiar with the data for your ads by using the steps we’ve explored. Then adjust your current and future ads based on what you learn. This is the best way to use Facebook Ads to market your business over the long haul. Metrics help you fine-tune your Facebook Ads marketing strategy.

These steps offer an introduction to Facebook ad metrics and their value to an overall Facebook Ads marketing strategy. Using the data to improve your results over time is how you can really have an impact. Anything here shed some light on data to help your ad campaigns? I’d love to know.

 

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Why Final Day Ads are so Important

by | May 18, 2022 | Uncategorized

A huge part of the work we do at our Facebook ads agency comes down to launch strategies. In fact, that’s our team’s FAVE part of this whole thing — especially when we get to help lead our clients with everything from launch prep all the way to reaching launch goals. 

Here’s the thing: the Facebook ads we run over here at System Envy are a massive part of the launch strategies that our clients use.

Because they work. 🙂

And, more importantly, we’re always on the move here to continually improve our clients’ launches — which is where the focus on final day ads have come into play!

Okay, so… lemme explain.

When our clients are running their launches and we’re prepping their ad strategies, we’re all putting a lot of thought into the customer journey, especially on Facebook. People are so bombarded with content and sales and things to remember each and every day, so we have to get really strategic about how they’re given ads for a launch.

Enter: human nature, and needing to understand it.

And humans forget — which means that most of us tend to get to the last day possible to do something we meant to do, only to… well, forget about it.

This is where last day ads come in, AKA busting through the noise of life and Facebook feeds and everything else to remind people that the product they were going to purchase/the course they wanted to join/the membership they wanted to sign up for is in its last and final day.

They’re magical.

This is why last day ads are an important part of all our ad strategies.

See, these final day ad campaigns are exactly what push people off of the fence and into a purchase at the last minute. They don’t have to be a big budget part of an ad campaign, either — they just need to be in the strategy, prepped and ready to go with messaging and graphics designed to encourage a purchase.

Plus, final day ad campaigns are what make all of your hard work worth it. A long launch comes alongside tons and tons of prep work in itself, from sales pages to product development and everything in between — and those final day reminders are often exactly what human psychology needs to make it all worthwhile.

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So, here’s your challenge: in your next launch, implement one or two ads for the last day of your campaign, and watch your sales rise.

Promise.

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My Office Tour

by | May 11, 2022 | Uncategorized

While these last couple of years have made WFH a huge part of pretty much everyone’s vocabulary, it’s not new for me! As an entrepreneur, I’ve been working from home for a looooong time… and I love it.

I especially love my home office. 

And, as someone who has worked from home for a long time, the space I work in is SO important to me — and I’ve really realized that the space I sit in each day is a huge determinant of the mental space and productive space that I sit in, too. I used my Business & Interior Design majors to cultivate a space I am obsessed with (and proud of), and wanted to show it off to you today!

Here’s a sneak peek inside of the System Envy HQ over at my home:

And here is the before and after! 

Plus, I have to say — the office wouldn’t be an office if I couldn’t actually, well, work from it. 

These are the WFH tips I swear by each and every day:

  • I get dressed every day: I drop my kids off at school, come straight home to make my bed and get ready, and then sit down at my desk. If I don’t do this, it’ll be 2 pm before I know it, and I’ll still be in my PJs.
  • I love a timer challenge: I’m a huge fan of the Focus Keeper app, which keeps me on task and productive. Plus, it helps me see how much time something is actually taking me, too.
  • I will allllways take breaks: I don’t ever want to get to the end of the day and realize I haven’t moved for 8 hours, so I’m super intentional about breaks. I’m a big fan of sitting in the sun, so I love to sit outside for 15-20 minutes if it’s sunny outside — and I also will use my Mirror for a 15-minute yoga session if I feel overwhelmed or like I’ve been staring at my screen for hours.
  • I’m pretty intentional about work hours: While I’ll sometimes need to check in later in the evening, I really try to end work at around 4 pm every day so I can pick up my kids from school and embrace the mama time while I still can!

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There you have it — my favorite ways to spend my days in this cozy home office of mine, AKA one of my favorite places… ever. Now, I just need to figure out how I can have a home office in Rome, Mykonos, and the Bahamas.

Someone let me know if they’ve figured this out yet. 

Looking to shop? Check out the links below! 

Desk:
https://rstyle.me/+vV060NAL6wYgUgFjbuqpZg
https://rstyle.me/+mpnp2iBaTrgibVRJzhrLeg
https://rstyle.me/+RJYZhEWtu8lYz2mve9q_jQ

Chair – Homegoods but here are a few other options:
https://rstyle.me/+ORL3v6ienCsFBtNsICCpiA
https://rstyle.me/+tL-WEdwjFBQrxScTmcNlgQ
https://rstyle.me/+NAfcJ6WYDouJvUtixM_3QA
https://rstyle.me/+q8tgV2dvZTDV3jVcm4xiCg

Light fixture:
https://rstyle.me/+4tiYo9NfMtSCMt4EnGukFg

Rug:
https://rstyle.me/+ya2mybqRYDw22KhBLYbnyA (similar)

Art: I got at Hobby Lobby, but here are some similar ones! 
https://rstyle.me/+mxhRSa2GBikOzR3_yHhlRg
https://rstyle.me/+NrQky1EHf2VW6WR7mKabsA
https://rstyle.me/+QxdE1c7unefEl13nCKKIoA
https://rstyle.me/+HbRwDq5ssHkGj67qUzKklQ

Cabinet:
https://rstyle.me/+wRV0n8ug8V0BPktrXAWiUg

Mirror: (similar)
https://rstyle.me/+wRV0n8ug8V0BPktrXAWiUg
https://rstyle.me/+RxWMvhmmIaQ_GM5qRfst7Q

Lamp: (sold out but similar)
https://rstyle.me/+Zg7XmoNgCYLj56zzl79XEQ
https://rstyle.me/+UzX6PNMFcfvIyFQlmlQaWg
https://rstyle.me/+WUl1yLqnuSIscsfWldHN2A

Accessories:
https://rstyle.me/+feCZzXaxyAMDXxVOuAsVwA
https://rstyle.me/+k6nVKUPVIBuo1YZ2L0-F7Q
https://rstyle.me/+_COYcQy5TUFCE1OUx45lGw
https://rstyle.me/+My8IhnEWANslB9h1ss-pWA
https://rstyle.me/+RSEmXDzEFEKnrY_pN1yN3g
https://rstyle.me/+-Y3g0q7zFpG9m0pR23gUPQ
https://rstyle.me/+3et-RpxHGFcZjA6v1Kup_Q

 

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Why Selling Directly from FB Ads Doesn’t Work

Why Selling Directly from FB Ads Doesn’t Work

by | Apr 27, 2022 | Facebook™ Ads

I get a lot of questions from people new to or trying to learn more about, running ads. I loooove chatting things out and helping business owners craft successful ads. There seems to be one very common question, that I get all the time and we’re talking about it today.  What’s the question…Why aren’t my ads converting?  And yea, what’s the point if they’re not converting, eh?

If you know anything about Facebook ads, you know that there are a lot of variables that make up a successful ad, but my first question is always “Are you trying to sell directly from an ad?”.

Yes, selling is one of the primary reasons you’d want to use Facebook ads, but indirectly, not directly (unless you’re an ecomm biz). Sales ads need to be part of a larger sales pathway or funnel. Here’s several reasons why…

 

FACEBOOK ADS SHOULD BE VIEWED AS A SCALING TOOL

Facebook ads should be used as a scaling tool. Here’s what I mean – it’s best to use FB ads to reach a wider audience for a product, program, or service you have ALREADY had success selling (unless you’re a retail operation). If you have an offer that you aren’t able to sell to the people who already know and trust you, you won’t be able to sell it using ads. This is a common mistake. The solution is to figure out why people in your warm circle aren’t buying and then fix that first, before you invest money into ads. And don’t be discouraged as a lot of times an offer isn’t selling because of simple tweaks that need to be made. And MOST people/businesses have to do this to get the offer just right.


SELLING TO COLD AUDIENCES IS HARD

Trust is super, super important for any business, and building that trust should be a part of your ad strategy. It can be very difficult to get people to purchase directly from an ad without having already built trust (again, unless you’re a retail operation).

Therefore, it’s super smart to warm people up with your ads first and then retarget them with an ad for purchase. Think about it this way: Would you feel comfortable going to lunch with someone you’ve never met? You’d probably have some reservations. You might even think twice about meeting up. Your audience feels the same way. Until they get to know you, they might not be keen on giving you their hard earned dollars. 

So, butter them up first. Make them see why you’re the one they want to do business with. Focus your strategy more on building an audience who loves what you do before you try to sell anything and you’ll start seeing way more success from your ads.

 

PROVIDING YOUR AUDIENCE WITH VALUE

The keyword here is value. Before you start advertising something you want to sell, you need to give your audience a reason to believe you’re as awesome as you say you are. You do this by giving them something of value that will get them talking about you and trusting your word.

You can do this in a number of ways but my favorites are with a fun and engaging video ad or an ad for a free offer. Anything that gives value and helps people along in some way will work toward building your brand recognition and trust. You can always retarget those people who acted on your free offer later because you’ll know they were interested.

And this strategy should definitely not stop once you’ve built your ideal audience. You’ll always want to keep building that audience. More importantly, you want to hold onto the people you already have by continuing to provide them with the value that got them there in the first place!

 

THE BEST SELLING STRATEGY FOR FACEBOOK

Once you start creating your sales ads, you’ll still want to keep tacking on value instead of just selling, selling, selling. When people want to buy something, they’ll go buy it. 

Depending on the price of your offer, you may need additional touchpoints there before you will be able to achieve a sale. For example, let’s say you have a $497 digital course you’re offering. You might consider running ads for a free offer (PDF download, free training, etc), and then retargeting those people to invite them to a webinar where you’ll pitch your digital course. If your offer is lower-priced (under $50), you might not need that webinar piece.

You could test running ads to a free informational video and then retargeting people to a free opt-in and then pitch your low-priced offer by retargeting them with ads while simultaneously sending emails that pitch the low-priced offer.

People get tired of hearing me say the word “test” but it’s truly the way to success with FB ads. Everyone, even the most successful of businesses, has to test. The real magic with FB ads is once you’ve done a bunch of testing and can feed the results back into your newest marketing efforts. Your results will get better and better. 

Last but not least, try to reframe your mindset to not view unsuccessful ads as a failure but to see them simply as part of the marketing process. I don’t know anyone – myself included – who gets it correct, right out of the box, every time. Marketing is a process that consistently evolves as your business grows and morphs. Everything you learn along the way is a tool for future success.

Does this post resonate with you? Do you think you’ve been trying to sell too much in your ads instead of providing value? I’d love to hear about your Facebook advertising strategy so far and how it’s working for you – drop me a comment below!

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What Copy Do I Need In Ads?

by | Apr 19, 2022 | Uncategorized

How important is ad copy? What details, angles and points should I include? What will compel people stop scrolling and take action?  These questions are so, so important for anyone thinking of creating a Facebook ad because copy is a huge component of how well an ad works. 

Q: How do I know what kind of copy my audience wants to see in my Facebook Ads?

A: Split-testing! (Okay, I know, this comes as no surprise!)

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Split-testing is one of the best things you can ever get into the habit of doing when you’re creating Facebook ad campaigns. The same holds true for testing your Facebook ad copy

The thing is, ad copy comes in all shapes, sizes, and creativity levels. There’s:

  • Short copy (perfect for getting the point across quickly and making people take action)
  • Long copy (I really only recommend this if the copy is more story-like or super engaging)
  • Stories (meaning, tell a story in your copy to lead your audience to the conclusion that they need what you have because it has worked for you or others)
  • Engaging, eye-catching copy (like those with a bunch of emojis or special fonts that help catch someone’s eye and stop the scroll)

Before you start split testing copy, first consider the audience. Do they have time to read something super long (or are they busy people, like surgeons, who have little to no time to read a long post)? Do they NEED something long (i.e. they need to feel like you understand them in order to take action)?

You’ll also want to consider your brand voice. Make sure that it sounds like you speaking directly to your audience. There are obvious ways of doing this, for example, “Hey Photographers!”, but there are also more subtle ways of doing this by speaking to their direct pain points, and narrating how you can overcome those setbacks with your guidance. It’s also handy to add your personal sayings. For example, some greetings you might typically open your marketing emails with “Hey Friends”, “Hi Gals”, etc. can work well in ads as well for brand cohesiveness.

Another tip is to lean in on the benefits. Facebook ads actually flag copy that is too directive with the use of the word “you”. If you’re often saying “you feel this”, “you should do this”, or “you need this” it can come off as singling your audience out. You want to express how you understand your audience, and how you can help them. Outlining the benefits and what is included in your offer in a bullet list helps people see the value at a glance!

Beyond those tips, start testing different versions and you can decide what content types might work the best and go from there. But split-testing can usually help you decide between two or more content types, especially when you literally have no idea what copy your audience might prefer.

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What Creative Do You Need for a Launch?

by | Apr 13, 2022 | Uncategorized

When you’re prepping for a launch, a key part of the overall launch strategy is the ad strategy you’ll deploy.

(I mean, of course! Right?!)

And while there are many pieces to every launch ad strategy, one of the most important is the creative. So, what creative DO you need for a launch?

This, friends, is an excellent question to ask — and an important one. It’s one that I get all the time. After all, the creative (AKA, the copy, the images, the videos, and everything else) is what makes prospects stop and take note. In a very busy world, this is huge! Without your creative, your ads will be passed by. It prevents people from moving to the next step in your funnel.

However, here’s the thing about ad creative…

Ad creative — and what you need — is always going to differ depending on the type of ad campaign you’re running. This goes for a launch, too! Some launches are going to be webinar-style and some launches are going to be challenge-style, a lot of launches follow the simple process of webinar/challenge/freebie opt-in —> retarget to sale.

So, when you’re tailoring your ad creative for a launch, you first need to get really clear on what type of launch it is that you’re doing in the first place. We’re a big fan of asking the following questions:

  • What are the KPIs for your launch?
  • Who are you targeting for this launch? An existing, warm audience? A cold one? Something in between? Both?
  • What does your target audience want to see? What do they resonate with?
  • Do you want to focus on relationship-building engagement, or does this launch go more in line with a direct, straightforward sales approach?

Once you’ve gotten clear on that aspect of your launch, you can move forward with the right creative — and I’ll share our go-to creative launch formula (as well as some examples!) below.

 

 

 

 

What Creative Do You Need for a Launch?

Over here, we’re big testers — and so we continue to tweak and adjust during launches for all of our clients! However, our base formula — for a webinar-style launch — always follows the same cadence and map. Plus, this formula can be easily adjusted for any type of launch you’re running.

Here’s the kicker, though: since we’re big testers, we place a huge emphasis on creative testing, as well. We’d recommend that you try out 3 pieces, or versions, of creative for each step in the formula (images, videos, Reels, or gifs are always worth testing).

The creative formula we use for webinar-style launches:

  • Ad/creative #1: Invite!
  • Ad/creative #2: Reminder — “Your free class/challenge/etc. is happening today!
  • Ad/creative #3: Replay — ”Did you miss it? Catch the replay.”
  • Ad/creative #4: Cart open — “Enrollment/doors is/are open!” (this is one where you could test even more than 3 versions of creative)
  • Ad/creative #5: Mid-cart bonus (we typically do 2 versions here)
  • Ad/creative #6: Cart close — “Doors are closing/time is running out!” (for these, test at least 3 — and try out a testimonial version, too. They can be super powerful in this stage)
  • Ad/creative #7: Final day — ”LAST DAY to sign up/enroll!” (we usually shoot for 2 versions here)

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It’s really that simple — we promise. In fact, this is why we love the creative strategy behind a Facebook ads launch SO MUCH… because there is so much room to play around, to test the waters, and to try new things. And mark my words – the more you do it, the more quickly you’ll be able to do it for each future launch. Bookmark this one for your next launch, ok?!

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