On today’s show, we’re talking about the Facebook ads strategy that was used in a Kickstarter campaign that reached its goal of $150K in just 17 hours and went on to raise a total of $441K.
And joining me to share how he did it is Justin Richard from Convert Marketing, a Facebook ads agency in Santa Barbara, CA.
Justin is actually a student of mine and regular listener of The Art of Paid Traffic, and even though he comes from a background other than business, he’s a great example of someone who has effectively implemented the strategies and tools we talk about on this podcast.
He shares how he got started in the online marketing world (after a degree in film), and how it led to the campaign with Maluna Coolers where they smashed a Kickstarter goal of $150,000 and turned it into almost $450,000 – in just 17 hours.
As you’ll hear, Justin faced challenges and struggles in his first year of business, but this conversation with him really highlights why following the fundamentals can lead to success when it comes to your marketing.
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On today’s episode, we’re talking all about Facebook ad “Objectives”.
Specifically…
I covered Facebook ad Objectives back on episode 110, but I still get a ton of questions every week about this topic AND the Objectives have changed and consolidated since then.
So we’re gonna dive head first into it all today…
Facebook is gradually rolling out brand new feature and it’s very relevant to what we’re talking about on today’s episode, with better understanding Objectives.
You know how when you launch a Facebook ad campaign with the ‘Conversions’ Objective and you’ve selected the conversion you want to optimize for at the Ad Set level?
Well, if your Ad Set isn’t getting many conversions right after it starts running, delivery of that ad might be limited.
The reason for that is because your pixel isn’t getting enough data to learn who is converting on your ads. Remember, when you’re Objective is conversions, the pixel needs 15-25 conversions per week -- enough data to begin “learning” who is converting.
Now, with this new feature, you’re going to have the option to improve delivery.
You’ll be able to allow an Ad Set to temporarily “fall back” to optimizing for clicks (remember our Objective here is ‘Conversions’ and thus we’re optimizing for a specific conversion like opt-ins or registrations), IF Facebook doesn't have enough conversion data to optimize for the conversion on the Facebook pixel that the Ad Set is being optimized for.
Delivery will then be boosted by optimizing for link clicks in the initial stages of the Ad Set IF the Ad Set is under-delivering.
With this new feature, you’ll have two options to choose from:
Standard:
This option sets a strict end point for when Facebook will stop optimizing for link clicks -- after 15-25 conversions, 1,000 link clicks or 7 days (whichever comes first).
From then on, the Facebook will only optimize for conversions - even if that means Facebook can't find enough conversions for you and the Ad Set stops delivering before the budget is spent.
OR
Extended:
This option optimizes for link clicks and conversions until the Ad Set captures 15-25 conversions or the budget is spent.
If the Ad Set doesn’t capture 15-25 conversions, the full budget may be spent on many link clicks and few conversions.
Soooo, be on the lookout in your Power Editor and Ads Manager.
This is pretty cool stuff and I’m excited about this new feature!
As you can see from the above image, the Objectives are broken into 3 sections:
These are the 3 phases of a sales funnel.
So what is each one do? Let’s have a look...
Brand awareness:
Increase awareness for your brand by reaching people who are more likely to be interested in it. Facebook has this data from all the tons of brand campaigns that have been run, and they’ve analyzed that the longer someone spends with an ad, the more likely they are to remember it.
Reach:
Show your ad to the maximum number of people in your audience.
Traffic:
When your goal is to get people to click on your ad and go to your landing page, website, app, etc…
Engagement:
Get more post engagements, Page likes, event responses or offer claims.
App installs:
Send people to an app store where they can download your app.
Video views:
Get more people to view your video content. This is like awareness but using video.
Lead Generation:
This is Facebook’s Lead Ad -- when you want to get leads from people interested in your brand or business. NOTE: I highly recommend using a 3rd party tool like Zapier or SyncSumo to automatically bring the leads from Facebook into your email CRM.
Conversions:
When your goal is to get people to convert on your landing page (opt-in, sale, etc…) NOTE: I wouldn’t use this for high-priced products/services.
Product Catalog Sales:
Create ads that automatically show products from your product catalog based on your target audience.
Store Visits:
Promote multiple brick-and-mortar business locations to people who are nearby.
First and foremost, use the Objective that most aligns with your goal.
This is exactly why you need to do the upfront work of being crystal clear on WHY you’re running your Facebook ads -- what’s your goal?
And unfortunately, as critical as this step is, this is the work that most people don’t want to do. Back in episode 109, The Critical Work Needed for Successful Facebook Ads, I talk all about this.
When you’re clear on what the goal of your campaign is, you can select the Objective that aligns with it.
Here are some examples:
If your goal is to get people to opt-in for a free download or register for a webinar or event, I’d go with Conversions.
You could also test Lead Ads, but again, make sure you’re using a 3rd party tool to ensure those leads are automatically getting sent from FB into your email CRM.
If your goal is to send people to a piece of content so you can build an audience that you can then retarget to, your Objective in the initial campaign would be Traffic and then in the retargeting campaign, it would be Conversions.
If you’re running a video ad with the intention of building engagement audiences so you can retarget viewers of your video with an offer, I’d still recommend going with the Objective that aligns with wherever you’re sending traffic, like to an opt-in/registration (Conversions) or a piece of content (Traffic).
But you also might want to test Video Views as your Objective since your real intention is to build those engagement audiences so you can retarget.
Exceptions When Choosing Your Facebook Ad Objective
There are always exceptions and different things to test when it comes to choosing your Objective.
For example, if you’re a local business and you’re simply trying to reach as many people as possible in your small market, even though you might be trying to get people to download a coupon or special offer, you might want to try the “Reach” Objective because that sets you up to reach as many people as possible.
Or, if you’re retargeting a small yet targeted audience, you also might want to use Reach as your Objective for the same reason -- you want to get your ad in front of as many of those people as possible.
Another exception might be where you’re sending traffic to a sales page and you’re selling a higher priced product or service.
Even though your goal IS to have people buy/convert, I’d recommend using traffic as your Objective.
This is because when you’re using the Conversions Objective, you need to tell Facebook what conversion you want to optimize for.
Remember that when we use the Conversions Objective, the Facebook pixel is used to track conversions. The pixel is optimizing (meaning, it’s learning and getting smarter) the more conversions you get so that it can find you more of those people who are converting.
If you’re sending people from your ad directly to a higher priced product or service, you’re likely not going to have a high percentage of those people converting.
Thus, go with Traffic as your Objective to simply drive people to your page.
How Your Facebook Ad Objective Affects Optimization & Delivery
At the Ad Set level you have the Optimization & Delivery section.
The default settings here are affected by the Objective that you choose.
For example, if your Objective is Conversions, you’ll notice that the Optimization for Ad Delivery field defaults to Conversions.
Likewise, when you’ve chosen Traffic as your Objective, the default will be link clicks (see the image above).
I recommend going with the default which is what we normally do in my business, like optimize for conversions.
When you go with the default settings, you’re letting Facebook’s algorithm, which has gotten very advanced and much smarter, do the work for you.
It’s actually this optimization option, in conjunction with your Objective, that tells Facebook what to value when showing your ad to your target audience.
The bottom line is Facebook’s algorithm is set up to help you get the results you want for the lowest cost. After all, when you have success, what are you going to do? You’ll spend more money!
The key here is to always be testing to see where you get the best results.
I’m super pumped to announce a brand new coaching program that I’ve put together, called ADvantage Plus.
ADvantage Plus is an application-only 12 month coaching program which begins this July (2017) and it includes the following:
ADvantage Plus is for you if you’re looking for an accelerated path in growing your business and you think accountability, community and support will be helpful to you.
Like I mentioned, this is an application-only coaching program so if you’d like to learn more and apply, just visit: rickmulready.com/plus
On today’s show, my good friend and entrepreneur Amber McCue joins me to talk about how her local photography business lowered their cost per sale with Facebook ads.
Specifically, we talk about how she markets her boudoir photography business on channels like Groupon and LivingSocial but also started testing Facebook ads.
After months of frustrated testing, she finally started getting the results she was hoping for, lowering her cost per lead by two-thirds and also cutting her cost per sale.
Amber shares what she’s doing to get such good results, including a discussion around her offers, the importance of upsells, the challenges her specific business faces in terms of Facebook compliance and a lot more.
If you’re a business who is marketing using a variety of channels, you’re going to love this episode.
It may have taken Amber a while to gain traction with her Facebook ads, but her results speak for themselves. She’s a great example of how sticking with testing pays off.
It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about copywriting here on The Art of Paid Traffic -- how to write better ad copy, copy for your sales pages, emails, opt-in pages...
Well, that changes today because I’m pumped to welcome my friend and copywriter Kira Hug to the show.
Kira is the host of The Copywriter Club podcast and an amazing conversion copywriter.
These days she focuses on launch copy, but as she says, all types of copy are about storytelling and getting the sale (while tracking results)…
In the episode today, she reveals her three-step process for writing high-converting copy and shares the importance of finding out what your ideal customers are saying about your niche.
You’ll Also Learn:
You’ll notice this episode goes a bit longer than our usual ones, and that’s because it’s jam-packed with useful information that you can immediately start using in your business today.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast and gain as much as I did from my conversation with Kira Hug.
Want My Help with Your Facebook Ads Strategy?
If you would like my personal help with your Facebook ads strategy, I’m pumped to announce I’m doing another live event in May, here in San Diego.
This is my FBA Live event which is limited to just 40 people.
FBA Live is a 3-day intimate workshop experience where you’ll learn cutting-edge online business building strategies, tips and tactics that are working right now to grow and automate your business.
This is an opportunity to IMPLEMENT, with the help of our team, your Facebook ads strategy to grow your business.
My team and I will be personally helping you — looking over your shoulder — to make sure you’re walking away with an active, high converting campaign.
You’re going to walk away from the event with stuff DONE… the RIGHT way.
We’ll help you discover the blind spots, the things that may be getting in your way of effectively marketing your business online, and fix them on the spot.
At FBA Live you’ll also have rare access to and learn from some of the smartest and best online entrepreneurs around — people like Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn, Jasmine Star and more…
You’ll be surrounded by other like-minded entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their business, just like you.
To learn more and secure your spot, go to rickmulready.com/live.
This episode is Part II of my interview with YouTube ads expert Tom Breeze, where today we continue the conversation around what’s working right now with YouTube Ads.
If you’ve not yet heard Part I in last week’s episode, make sure to check it out because we discuss:
Today, we pick up where we left off in Part I and you’ll learn:
Want My Help with Your Facebook Ads Strategy?
If you would like my personal help with your Facebook ads strategy, I’m pumped to announce I’m doing another live event in May, here in San Diego.
This is my FBA Live event which is limited to just 40 people.
FBA Live is a 3-day intimate workshop experience where you’ll learn cutting-edge online business building strategies, tips and tactics that are working right now to grow and automate your business.
This is an opportunity to IMPLEMENT, with the help of our team, your Facebook ads strategy to grow your business.
My team and I will be personally helping you — looking over your shoulder — to make sure you’re walking away with an active, high converting campaign.
You’re going to walk away from the event with stuff DONE… the RIGHT way.
We’ll help you discover the blind spots, the things that may be getting in your way of effectively marketing your business online, and fix them on the spot.
At FBA Live you’ll also have rare access to and learn from some of the smartest and best online entrepreneurs around — people like Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn, Jasmine Star and more…
You’ll be surrounded by other like-minded entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their business, just like you.
To learn more and secure your spot, go to rickmulready.com/live.