Guns Don't kill people. Sales Letters Do

[Iwokeup]

Just wondering if a smart marketing type could clarify things for a total marketing newb like myself.

I realized this week that I don't know what I don't know.

So then I got a hold of some very good reading material and have started reading about what the leaders in the field of marketing (Digital Marketer) think about/have proven to work in terms of sales. Especially with the restrictions of AdWords and FB ads (content ueber alles). I'm trying to put things into a framework so that I can hang my knowledge within it.

If I understand the paradigm in 2015-2016:

• The goal nowadays is PIXELING those who click on your ad rather than a cold sales page. Therefore,
  
• We're moving AWAY from straight landing pages/sales offer pages
• We're moving TOWARDS content based websites that give lots of content away AND don't try to hard sell someone right off the bat.
  • (I mean, you can try but it would have to be a soft sell, yes?)

• You want to provide lots of high-value (depending on the phase):
  • viral versus discover
  • considering versus customer

Plan on re-targeting (via your pixel) those who don't purchase straight off/bounce and bring them back with a discount offer/loss leader offer.

So my question is then, if using FB ads to start:

1) Do you send your FB ad clickers to your content (where there isn't a buy button)?
2) Where does the sales page come in?
3) How do you get them to the sales page?
4) Should your re-targeting offer now be your sales page?

Or am I even asking the right questions. Thanks!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[theag]

I'm not yet sending people to content for my own offer, but I'm building a whole seperate content site for this purpose (which will become a 7-8 figure business in itself and my umbrella brand).

So I'm just doing ad -> lp -> profit. Still works great.

The restrictions that the DM guys talk about are mainly for niches that are known to be spammy, like IM, diet, skin, muscle, etc and opt ins in general. FB loves whitehat/legit straight sale advertisers.

Retargeting is 1/4 to 1/3 of my daily revenue, so yes, definitely do that.

I'm doing the content/pixeling model for clients though. Works great

 

[Mattie]

Yes, I just heard today from some people, they're tired of filling in emails, and copy writing, and I think people are aware of they're being sold. I've listened to many people elaborate on this the last few months. I hear from the other end you need to do this, cause this is what business people do. It sells. I'm with you, I'm just learning myself, but when you're actually hearing it from people buying, it sucks to ignore what they're saying.

 

[Iwokeup]

I'm not yet sending people to content for my own offer, but I'm building a whole seperate content site for this purpose (which will become a 7-8 figure business in itself and my umbrella brand).

So I'm just doing ad -> lp -> profit. Still works great.

Nice. Thanks for posting that.

The restrictions that the DM guys talk about are mainly for niches that are known to be spammy, like IM, diet, skin, muscle, etc and opt ins in general. FB loves whitehat/legit straight sale advertisers.

Good clarification. So then I need to see if skin care/cosmetics is considered spammy, though I think likely not.

Retargeting is 1/4 to 1/3 of my daily revenue, so yes, definitely do that.

I'm doing the content/pixeling model for clients though. Works great

Good to know and I definitely appreciate the comments.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Iwokeup]

And yes, I am changing the titles to see what gets a better response. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Iwokeup]

Yes, I just heard today from some people, they're tired of filling in emails, and copy writing, and I think people are aware of they're being sold. I've listened to many people elaborate on this the last few months. I hear from the other end you need to do this, cause this is what business people do. It sells. I'm with you, I'm just learning myself, but when you're actually hearing it from people buying, it sucks to ignore what they're saying.

I would *think* that there is a large difference between what people SAY that they will do and what they ACTUALLY do. Hence the need to test/test/test

 

[Silverhawk851]

Testing is the holy grail

Been implementing this new method lately...
Let's see how it goes

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JasonR]

So I'm just doing ad -> lp -> profit. Still works great.

The restrictions that the DM guys talk about are mainly for niches that are known to be spammy, like IM, diet, skin, muscle, etc and opt ins in general. FB loves whitehat/legit straight sale advertisers.

Retargeting is 1/4 to 1/3 of my daily revenue, so yes, definitely do that.

Yup - this is spot on in my experience as well. I ran a LOT of traffic to a straight sale landing page, was very clear what I was selling, and it did very well.

Content marketing without a direct sales pitch is usually for more experienced marketers, as it's pretty difficult to set up properly (managed email campaigns, opt ins, retargeting, multiple landing pages) and usually requires a well built out funnel

Edit: Oh - and great job on the title. Made me click (although I'm a Gun nut). As you know, headlines are one the most important aspects of Copy Writing

 

[theag]

Edit: Oh - and great job on the title. Made me click (although I'm a Gun nut). As you know, headlines are one the most important aspects of Copy Writing

He even split tested the headline haha.

 

[Andy Black]

Definitely different rules for different verticals.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Iwokeup]

Content marketing without a direct sales pitch is usually for more experienced marketers, as it's pretty difficult to set up properly (managed email campaigns, opt ins, retargeting, multiple landing pages) and usually requires a well built out funnel

Thanks, @JasonR. Good to have another example of real world experience.

 

[Iwokeup]

Edit: Oh - and great job on the title. Made me click (although I'm a Gun nut). As you know, headlines are one the most important aspects of Copy Writing

He even split tested the headline haha.

Thanks! This is all new to me but it was fun to see the massive increase in views/responses/likes with a change of headline.

 

[Andy Black]

^^^ Lol... careful with that though if you're using paid media.

With paid media, you don't want to entice clicks that aren't going to convert.

For me, when I'm running paid search campaigns and am focused on getting a tight "search-term -> ad -> landing page" funnel, I'd prefer the "ad -> landing page" being more related (so the ad doesn't appeal to people who wouldn't be interested in the offer), than the "search term -> ad" being more related but a non-relevant landing page (which would attract clicks, but not sales).

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Iwokeup]

^^^ Lol... careful with that though if you're using paid media.

With paid media, you don't want to entice clicks that aren't going to convert.

For me, when I'm running paid search campaigns and am focused on getting a tight "search-term -> ad -> landing page" funnel, I'd prefer the "ad -> landing page" being more related (so the ad doesn't appeal to people who wouldn't be interested in the offer), than the "search term -> ad" being more related but a non-relevant landing page (which would attract clicks, but not sales).

Good point.

 

[Kevin Peter]

Marketers are going the content way due to search engine updates. They'd still be doing the same old tactics which does not help consumers of that product, but help them stand out of the crowd on search engines.
Its a great move by Google to ensure the content on the web, is actually relevant to what is needed.
We as a company always look out to drive better education to our suspects, to convert them to prospects by having them visit our website and then direct them to the landing page that we want them to take action in, and then it is opt-in contact recorded.

 

[Iwokeup]

Interesting approach. How is it working out for you?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Tyler Ellison]

There are other reasons to go for the content model.

Remarketing isn't the holy grail, it's just the new way to built a list of targeted prospects that convert better. Email marketing has gotten a lot harder so to build a list it's easier to just pixel the folks onto the list than get them to optin with their email.

Ads that link to content are rarely flagged as spam - which breeds more user trust and less negative feedback. You can go mass market like this because you can reach more people that are in the cold stages and unfamiliar with your brand/product.

The ad networks LOVE ads that go to content because it's what they think their users want. They don't like ads that go to 'BUY NOW' unless you're a major brand store or something. For small businesses to go mass market on a network like Facebook, advertising pre-sell content to mass market builds a funnel that is scalable and profitable.

Oh and the ad networks tend to reward this kind of content with lower CPCs, more serving of the ad impressions, and less scrutiny.

 

[Iwokeup]

Thanks, Tyler. Especially

the ad networks tend to reward this kind of content with lower CPCs, more serving of the ad impressions, and less scrutiny.