Facebook video marketing + shopify website

[proper]

I've recently seen a lot of similar video ads posts on my Facebook timeline. They all promote some simple products selling around $10. I took a screenshot of one attached.

When I click to shop now, it will take me to a Shopify website with loads of pictures on the left and a fake stock and time counter on the right. It all looks quite dodgy. However judging by the likes of their ads, they must have a very high volume of sales. Maybe I'm too far behind the Facebook ads game. But is this some sorts of new trends to sell online? What do you guys think?

 

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[lowtek]

My hustle is AdWords for eCom businesses ( I leave the lead gen to our boy @Andy Black ) and can tell you that, most likely, Facebook is the next big thing. I think this because I've been experimenting with it, in various capacities, for months. I've started to offer Facebook ads to my customers (started last week actually) and am confident it's going to be a winner for everybody.

The reason is two fold: the cost of inventory on Facebook is so much cheaper than on Google, and the targeting options are so rich. If you're selling products, it's absolutely worth setting up a campaign for $5 a day to test out the platform. If you want help getting something set up, just shoot me a message.

One caveat I have to helping you is that you must already have sales. If your product isn't selling to whatever audience you already have, there are other fundamental issues that need to be diagnosed before you throw money at ads.

 

[hughjasle]

This is a very trendy thing to be doing right now. It's been going for a while, but exploded around mid year last year. Mostly guys hawking low quality products with viral type "as seen on tv" type videos or stolen videos from kickstarter etc.

Do it right and you can make a great company. Lots of guys doing it and cutting corners just to make a quick buck only to find out they sold themselves short after the fact.

But yes, video ads on fb (or any kind of ad on any platform) on shopify (or any kind of store) is very very effective.

 

[proper]

...with viral type "as seen on tv" type videos...

Yes! That's the words I was looking for. It is very similar to the "as seen on tv" experiences.

Also I heard that videos always convert better on FB. It's a shame that the current way implemented is more like a scam, just like the shopping channels on TV.

I'll do some experiments on Facebook Ads to see if I can get anything out it. It does feel like a great way to build audiences and brands.

 

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[LPPC]

This is a very trendy thing to be doing right now. It's been going for a while, but exploded around mid year last year. Mostly guys hawking low quality products with viral type "as seen on tv" type videos or stolen videos from kickstarter etc.

Do it right and you can make a great company. Lots of guys doing it and cutting corners just to make a quick buck only to find out they sold themselves short after the fact.

But yes, video ads on fb (or any kind of ad on any platform) on shopify (or any kind of store) is very very effective.

Don't you think that because more and more people are doing this, that in time (maybe even within a year or two) it will be much harder to have success building such a business? Sort of like what happened with Amazon: it has become really saturated.

 

[hughjasle]

Don't you think that because more and more people are doing this, that in time (maybe even within a year or two) it will be much harder to have success building such a business? Sort of like what happened with Amazon: it has become really saturated.

For sure. Not impossible. Just like Amazon as you stated. More competition, especially on the no brand stuff. The money will all flow to the creators and innovators. Copy cats will still exist and make money, but not nearly as much as those building legit businesses the right way. It's just going to take more work.

People are already "flagging" each others ads and pages to get them taken down from Facebook since that's the only way some of these guys can do to get a leg up on their competition. Instead of lifting themselves up and doing better, they turn to pushing those around them down.

However, for the guys who can come up with newer and better products, they will never be out of work.

 

[proper]

Don't you think that because more and more people are doing this, that in time (maybe even within a year or two) it will be much harder to have success building such a business? Sort of like what happened with Amazon: it has become really saturated.

I wouldn't think Facebook ads to be a business. It is a sales channel. Quite an effective one for now as it looks like. It used to be AdWords.

The business is always the same. Good products meet eager demands. Amazon is a sales platform to sell the products. Amazon platform can be saturated now or even not relevant in the future. But the business of selling good products to the real demands will stay the same.

 

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[The-J]

Gonna tell you right now, most of them are not profitable. Bunch of me-too marketers in this space, as well as the Insta and Pinterest space.

However the ones that are, have done A LOT to get there and are doing A LOT to stay there.

First, the AD must be effective in and of itself. Show the product in action and you'll get people interested in it. But making a good ad is more than that.

Second, your audience must be dialed in. Facebook uses the relevance score metric to determine relative bid position based on CPC/CPM level. Essentially, that means the higher your relevance score, the lower your CPC/CPM.

Many marketers start with information gleaned from Audience insights, then dial it in using lookalike audiences, optimizing for conversions, and continue narrowing down their desired audience based on results from those. It's possible to get very cheap clicks and conversions this way if your relevance score is high and there's less competition in your market. (Hint: leave the Anglosphere for the 'cheapest markets'.)

An aside: point 1 and 2 feed into each other. Your ad should be effective for your audience, and your offer needs to reflect on the promise made in the ad.

Third, you've got to know your average order value and customer lifetime value numbers and adjust your criteria for profitability based on that. If your store has an AOV of $20, your margins better be fat cuz it's unlikely you're gonna be able to make that work on paid traffic.

Last, and most important... you need a good offer. Your audience needs to WANT whatever you're offering. A lot of courses try to skirt by this by saying 'just sell what's hot right now'. If it were that easy, wouldn't everyone have a successful Shopify business?

I've said this before and I'll say it again: the winners tend to be the ones with the biggest budgets. If you're thinking of doing this, your competitors are easily spending 100x more than you are.

I blame Internet marketing course salesmen for this. The real 'next big thing' is something for which courses aren't being sold... because it's working really well for the biggest spenders so why sell a course on it?

All in all... it's very possible to do well with this model, all things considered. Just beware of any 'flavor of the week' that any blog, marketer, or forum personalities suggest that you do, and always read between the lines.

 

[proper]

Gonna tell you right now, most of them are not profitable. Bunch of me-too marketers in this space, as well as the Insta and Pinterest space...

Very insightful, thanks a lot! As a guy who is very new to Facebook Ads, I will need to dig a lot to understand some of your points regarding the score metric. I am in the process of going through a Facebook Ads course and plan to throw some cash into the experiments to see how it works.

I'm not interested in building that business model. I just want to see if Facebook Ads can serve as another way to build my brand on Amazon.

 

[The-J]

I'm not interested in building that business model. I just want to see if Facebook Ads can serve as another way to build my brand on Amazon.

Spend and see. Brand building is done by delivering excellent experiences that people then talk about. By using Facebook+Shopify model as an added sales channel, you can extend your reach and make it more likely to happen.

 

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[LPPC]

(Hint: leave the Anglosphere for the 'cheapest markets'.)

Thanks man, very helpful. What exactly do you mean with the above sentence?

 

[The-J]

Thanks man, very helpful. What exactly do you mean with the above sentence?

Non-English speaking markets generally are the cheapest. Generally. Not always.

 

[LPPC]

Non-English speaking markets generally are the cheapest. Generally. Not always.

Got it, thank you!

 

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[notig323]

I've recently seen a lot of similar video ads posts on my Facebook timeline. They all promote some simple products selling around $10. I took a screenshot of one attached.

When I click to shop now, it will take me to a Shopify website with loads of pictures on the left and a fake stock and time counter on the right. It all looks quite dodgy. However judging by the likes of their ads, they must have a very high volume of sales. Maybe I'm too far behind the Facebook ads game. But is this some sorts of new trends to sell online? What do you guys think?

View attachment 14265

Phonebibi is one of the biggest dropshippers using shopify. a lot of other stores are being sued and shut down for copyright violations and stealing video ads. I went to a bootcamp where they were teaching these illegal tactics, they made about 2$Mill before facebook and those companies caught on.now they might go to jail. I was about to do the same thing, like most people start off this way anyhow until you get your FB ad Account banned. It's tricky waters, but for some reason phonebibi gets away with it.

 

[LPPC]

Phonebibi is one of the biggest dropshippers using shopify. a lot of other stores are being sued and shut down for copyright violations and stealing video ads. I went to a bootcamp where they were teaching these illegal tactics, they made about 2$Mill before facebook and those companies caught on.now they might go to jail. I was about to do the same thing, like most people start off this way anyhow until you get your FB ad Account banned. It's tricky waters, but for some reason phonebibi gets away with it.

Interesting. So phonebibi infringes copyright too?

 

[ddzc]

Gonna tell you right now, most of them are not profitable. Bunch of me-too marketers in this space, as well as the Insta and Pinterest space.

However the ones that are, have done A LOT to get there and are doing A LOT to stay there.

First, the AD must be effective in and of itself. Show the product in action and you'll get people interested in it. But making a good ad is more than that.

Second, your audience must be dialed in. Facebook uses the relevance score metric to determine relative bid position based on CPC/CPM level. Essentially, that means the higher your relevance score, the lower your CPC/CPM.

Many marketers start with information gleaned from Audience insights, then dial it in using lookalike audiences, optimizing for conversions, and continue narrowing down their desired audience based on results from those. It's possible to get very cheap clicks and conversions this way if your relevance score is high and there's less competition in your market. (Hint: leave the Anglosphere for the 'cheapest markets'.)

An aside: point 1 and 2 feed into each other. Your ad should be effective for your audience, and your offer needs to reflect on the promise made in the ad.

Third, you've got to know your average order value and customer lifetime value numbers and adjust your criteria for profitability based on that. If your store has an AOV of $20, your margins better be fat cuz it's unlikely you're gonna be able to make that work on paid traffic.

Last, and most important... you need a good offer. Your audience needs to WANT whatever you're offering. A lot of courses try to skirt by this by saying 'just sell what's hot right now'. If it were that easy, wouldn't everyone have a successful Shopify business?

I've said this before and I'll say it again: the winners tend to be the ones with the biggest budgets. If you're thinking of doing this, your competitors are easily spending 100x more than you are.

I blame Internet marketing course salesmen for this. The real 'next big thing' is something for which courses aren't being sold... because it's working really well for the biggest spenders so why sell a course on it?

All in all... it's very possible to do well with this model, all things considered. Just beware of any 'flavor of the week' that any blog, marketer, or forum personalities suggest that you do, and always read between the lines.

Solid advice right here!

These guys who sell crap like this and knock off real brands are nothing but a bunch of money chasing losers. I classify them in the same category as the aliexpress drop shippers....these guys are like ants, they'e everywhere. What a complete and utter joke!

Build a real business people, put the money and time in and stop trying to chase money and become an overnight success. All of the resources are on this forum and in the book, read, and take action.

 

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[notig323]

Solid advice right here!

These guys who sell crap like this and knock off real brands are nothing but a bunch of money chasing losers. I classify them in the same category as the aliexpress drop shippers....these guys are like ants, they'e everywhere. What a complete and utter joke!Build a real business people, put the money and time in and stop trying to chase money and become an overnight success. All of the resources are on this forum and in the book, read, and take action.

Sure i agree. That's true but it's more attractive for these people to try and get fast cash by doing illegal actions becasue they are starting from nothing with no investment in a scarcity mindset. the thing is the people teaching this stuff are victims too. But companies are starting to take notice, I don't think facebook can will do anything about it until a company notifies them. Asian shopify dropshippers are making big bank from this becasue their country do not have rules and regulation in place. I'm trying to make some money too but in the most legal way, it's takes way more work and resources of course.