Facebook Ads Gurus, can I get your input.

[wilddog]

I've been driving forward with FB ads to validate an idea by capturing leads for a "Coming Soon" page. So far I'm not having much success.

I've already been actively optimizing the ads and LP copy to have a clear CTA and sense of urgency. And PLENTY of split testing. 5 copy variations and 10 image variations for the creatives, and 7 Landing page variations.

The only issue I can think of is I don't know who my demographic is other than the fact that I'm targeting women. My current demographic age is 21-50 and my reach is 3.4 million people based on 3 interests. I'm also sticking to desktop newsfeed ads since I'm getting more clicks there than on mobile or right side ads.

A couple of questions I have:
How much time/money did you spend until you started seeing positive performance with your ads? What proved to be the defining factor you? ad copy/audience interests/ad bids/etc?

Are you guys using lead magnets to boost conversion rates?

Cheers

 

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[JasonR]

You have waaaayyy to much variation for testing an idea. The way you're doing it you'll need to spend thousands of dollars to get any significant data.

Get what you think is your best creative, and best landing page, and your best copy and test ONLY that.

The idea you are testing is the most important part of your test, so forget the other noise.

Forget a lead magnet for how, you're nowhere close to needing one.

Test the product and idea first before you do anything else. Everything else is a waste of money.

 

[wilddog]

Thanks for the reply Jason.

I figured the more variations I threw out there, the more likely I would get bites. But what you said makes perfect sense, especially since I'm not generating revenue. If I understand you more analytically, testing an (ad pic)+(ad copy)+(LP) combo requires "Y" dollars to collect enough data to vett. So if I'm testing 50 combos then it typically requires 50 x "Y" dollars?

How long does it typically take you to narrow down your demographic and see positive results? I'm starting to see trends in ages but I think 1 of my audience interests is too broad and negatively impacting my results.

Cheers

 

[JasonR]

f I understand you more analytically, testing an (ad pic)+(ad copy)+(LP) combo requires "Y" dollars to collect enough data to vett. So if I'm testing 50 combos then it typically requires 50 x "Y" dollars?

Yes, exactly. When I started I just wrote my best copy with my best landing page and a simple creative.

It took me a while to narrow down my demographic. What really helped was the Facebook conversion pixel - which you should be able to implement if you have an email opt in.

 

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[wilddog]

Yes, exactly. When I started I just wrote my best copy with my best landing page and a simple creative.

It took me a while to narrow down my demographic. What really helped was the Facebook conversion pixel - which you should be able to implement if you have an email opt in.

Yes, I've been tracking with the FB conversion pixel. I'll go the method you recommended and also tighten my audience interests.

In your experience, what kind of CTR's are you used to? And once you pegged good CTRs+conversions did you just scale up balls-to-the-wall on that ad?

 

[JasonR]

In your experience, what kind of CTR's are you used to? And once you pegged good CTRs+conversions did you just scale up balls-to-the-wall on that ad?

You're still worried about all of the little things!

If you can break even on your ad tests, you have a good shot at building a business around your products/services.

CTR literally does NOT matter. If your EPC > CPC you win.

Granted, the better you get at advertising the better ROI you will see, but right now all that matters is EPC > CPC.

 

[wilddog]

I'm going to continue using this thread to lay down my experiences. Others on the same journey can learn from my mistakes. And hopefully FB masters can drop some golden nuggets for everyone along the way.

Based on advice from @JasonR I picked my best performing ad and LP to collect leads on my product idea. With the larger ad reach I was finally starting to see some traction. This is a testament against the whole "try 3,000 different ad images and see what sticks" method you read everywhere. THIS IS BS. Good Data comes from sample SIZE. The bigger the sample the more reliable the data. Unless you have deep pockets, stick with fewer ads. Big thanks to JasonR on this one.

I was seeing a CTR of about 1.7%. and a conversion of 25% on my LP. 25% seemed kind of low for collecting a lead (based on no relevant info but my own intuition, LOL). So I decided to revamp the LP, removed a countdown timer and modified the copy. This led me to switch up my ad copy and image (Big Mistakes). At the end of the day CTR dropped to 0.5% and LP conversions dropped to 0%!! Ouch!

Lesson here, if something is kindda working, DON'T F*ck WITH IT!
Ads are like starting a fire. When the kindling starts to light, you don't huff on it like a balloon. You gently blow from one angle, shift the kindling a bit, gently blow from another angle. Soon enough the fire gets stronger and stronger. Make small tweaks to your ads and observe the resulting data. Then adjust.

I also think that the countdown timer on my LP was a driving force for lead conversions. Just the visual cue of a clock ticking down forces people to act. All of the free ones out there suck big time. I ended up using the countdown timer from power.io . $3 a month isn't too bad.

In the near future I'll be switching LP providers from Instapress to Unbounce. Instapress is a cheaper and stripped down version of Unbounce and works alright. But after playing with Unbounce, the extra price is well worth the added features (Page weighting, stats clearing, etc). Also, Unbounce will give you a 60% discount for 4 months if you are a startup.

Now back to the grind.
Spend Money. Collect Data. Adjust. Repeat.
That's how we Roll.


Edit: @AllenCrawley Is this worth putting on the Inside in case sensitive information comes up?

 

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[Stu_Hefner]

The main thing you should be testing is your product and service. You should not be looking to make the ads "Work", you should be gaging the interest you receive. That will tell you if it's worth moving forward with your idea.