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Do they work?
Let's say I have a small local business for which I am trying to build recognition in the community. Does anyone on here have any experience of using FB ads to do such a thing? What about other social media ads like Twitter?
I am just wondering about the most effective way of communicating the existence of something in the community to the community shy of erecting billboards (or whatever).
I would appreciate hearing about people's experiences.
Do they work?
Yep.
Friend is a cycling / triathlon coach, whenever he gets quiet he just throws a few £ at FB ads and gets a bunch of work / new clients in return.
Our local "Spotted" page on FB is predominantly posts for local businesses, and others within a 5-10 mile radius. There's occasionally a discussion about about how local their range should be.
Presumably that route gives local coverage without incurring proper advert costs?
No help what so ever, but I dont use Facebook apart from my sons sports club and my cycling.
Last weekend we were out and went past a steam railway. Following day an ad appears on my FB for the said steam railway.
Spooky or what
I know of a business that reckons they have a direct correlation with FB ad spend and turnover. I see their ads a LOT.
I tried it a few years ago, butFB wouldn’t allow me to filter down the potential audience enough to make it worthwhile. Maybe they’ve improved their filtering. Also, their ‘free’ offers were deceptive - you had to pay a fair bit up front, you couldn’t just have a tenner’s worth. Ended up paying something like a quid for every click-through, which when you’ve got a typical conversion rate of 2% means it’s potentially costing you £50 for each new order, but when your average order value is £30 the numbers don’t just add up.
I’ve also found FB traffic and engagement has died-off in the last few years - I get more interaction with Insta.
Do they work?
Yep
The beauty of it is that you can get really, really specific about who you're targeting your advertising too - what age, location, interests etc etc - with decent analytics afterwards about who's actually responding. So you can try different things and see what works for you, and tailor it over time to make it very very effective indeed
Its cheap as chips too, for the exposure it allows you
I do the odd 'promotion' on Instagram.
Usually am a bit tight so only spend up to about £20
Normally I'll get several new followers.
How that translates to work though I'm not sure.
I often suspect the only followers I'm getting are people who do a similar thing to me.
More cost effective than Google ads. You can just chuck a few quid at them and see a result. Google costs a bucket-load in comparison.
More cost effective than Google ads. You can just chuck a few quid at them and see a result. Google costs a bucket-load in comparison.
Agreed - and we have a *lot* of free Google ads as a charity (£000's), but our few hundred quid on FB gets better results.
Yep
The beauty of it is that you can get really, really specific about who you’re targeting your advertising too
The same. It's really difficult to 'spend' the free allowance from Google. The FB spend is worth it
But remember, it's not just about spending money to aim people at a website. Make sure the website or landing page matches what you are pushing in your ads. Don't make them land on a generic front page and they have to hunt for what you advertised. Do as much of the work as you can for them
Based on responses so far: Sounds a lot like Yes and No ...
So is it people "chucking £50 or £100" in the wrong place, in the wrong way or what they are selling etc.
The beauty of it is that you can get really, really specific about who you’re targeting your advertising too – what age, location, interests etc etc – with decent analytics afterwards about who’s actually responding. So you can try different things and see what works for you, and tailor it over time to make it very very effective indeed
Its cheap as chips too, for the exposure it allows you
So from MY end it doesn't look very targeted.
I can pretty much work out how I got these inserted into my feed (personal account) but for the life of me can't think how any of these would be repaid by me purchasing anything ever.
NOCO Lithium Batteries outperform lead-acid batteries
Olight (torches not bike lights)
Luminor Marina eSteel watches
TEAGUE Precision Chokes (application not given)
James Pendleton Estate Agents (A london estate agency by the bumf)
Honda EHRV
Soneone's Custom Road, Gravel, CX & Track bikes
SCOR MTB WE'RE GONNA SEND IT... straight to your inbox. Join our email list if you're all about playing the mountains and insider info and deals.
I just listed the ads in order ... I could keep going on but this is pretty representative of what's in my feed most times but it seems to have at best zero correlation with what I might buy and quite a few a fairly strong negative correlation that might put me off a brand forever.
From memory I occasionally get someone I'd buy from but that VERY rarely has any specific affect on my buying. Lets say CRC/Wiggle etc. I'm going to buy something if its cheaper or faster than elsewhere if I need something and if its say 50% off or more if it don't need it right now but know I will (chains, brake pads, sealant)
I'm struggling to see how these companies ALL got it wrong targeting me and yet make money from the ads?
I guess Honda might think I might for the first time in my entire life buy a NEW car and if I did then the cost of 1000x or 10,000x people who won't makes up for it but how do these low value items ever pay off?
Shame this stalled as there seems to be a dearth of any factual or reliable "evidence" on t-interweb.
I can't see what I'm missing ???
Is it the ads that get served to me personally are so badly targeted or ??
I'm struggling with exactly this...
DoveBiker
Ended up paying something like a quid for every click-through, which when you’ve got a typical conversion rate of 2% means it’s potentially costing you £50 for each new order, but when your average order value is £30 the numbers don’t just add up.
which seems even more dire if your item has a cost (say 50%) then you are making £15 for each £50 and a conversion rate of 4% gets you £30 ... etc. so your conversion rate needs to be >>6%
tomhoward
I know of a business that reckons they have a direct correlation with FB ad spend and turnover. I see their ads a LOT.
I terms of matt_outandabout and a charity then I can see turnover = profit.
If its a virtual product the same to a large extent
If its a very high value product or huge markup
Anything else the balance between conversion rate and advertising cost just seems a pretty fine line with it being really easy to pay more per sale than the profit.
Weirdly my ads right now are
Achieve your goals with Google Ads, by reaching new customers on Search, YouTube and more
Become a Champion this September and ride the London to Brighton Off-Road Bike Ride all to fund life saving research
CNC milling and turning quotes in seconds
finally getting to something I *MIGHT* BUY with Melon gloves at £20 that puts me back in the cost and markup
*I'm not going to but potentially I might...
Using another FB account linked to a completely seperate email and strictly no interaction.. this FB user is subscribed to nothing and a member of 1 FB group, has No friends etc.
Muffin man
You can just chuck a few quid at them and see a result.
But what does that mean? i.e. What is the "result"
I know someone who does social network marketing as a job and on the few occasions they have spoken about it they babble on about clicks and views etc. but nothing about bottom lines.