Facebook dilehma

[WillS]

Most of you know we use Facebook quite a bit for advertising. As of recently things have hit the wall as eventually suspected. I read an article saying 2015 was the year of Facebook Advertising. We now have about 20 competitors advertising on Facebook in our area. Previously, it was us, and maybe one or 2 that would spend a couple hundred. We spend around $2,000 to $2,5000 a month. The results we had from this were astonishing you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

As of last week, we are having to re think things on Facebook ads. This avenue is no longer cost effective as it seems Facebook updated some sort of ad running algorithm. Before, when putting money towards an ad on FB they would run immediately until the budget ran out. As of last Monday, 5/4, something has changed. When putting $100 towards an ad, nothing happened. The ad was approved, budget was there, but no impressions, nor any reach. I have been trying everything for a week to figure out what is going on as we lose business to competitors ads by ours not displayed. Of course Facebook has no support line and a community help board that is automated responses.

So this is what I determined with this new form of FB advertising:
To not overcrowd Facebook users newsfeeds with the same type of ads (ie: carpet cleaning) they are waiting 12 to 24 hours to begin running your ad to allow your competitor ads to meet budget or be paused/cancelled. I may have found a way around this....by adding another advertising account to promote posts. Once I added another account and had to deactivate the original, it immediately began promoting our ads. No waiting! For a small business like us who has spent over 20k on Facebook just last year, you would think we wouldn't get screwed in this waiting 12-24 hours til your ad even starts running. Facebook is generating billion$ on running ads and not having to offer live customer support - the irony.

 

[WillS]

We are now testing out Linkedin Ads to see if these will have any impact. Especially since users on Linkedin are "professionals w/careers" they are more likely to have more buying power for services. You can target these ads to people in your geo area as well. I'll update with how it goes after we run our first few hundred on it.

 

[Mikey P]

Have you tried more vulgar memes?

















Sorry, couldn't resist.



Keep us up to date Will..

 

[Desk Jockey]

Will
With the money you spend you should get an account rep. Anyone that spends $750.00 a month with them gets a rep ans support.

Is this with boosted posts or ads? I have three campaigns running currently. A boost, a brand building ad and website clicks.

 

[hogjowl]

So what's the problem? If you know they're delayed by 24 hours, then operate 24 hours in advance.

 

[Desk Jockey]

To not overcrowd Facebook users newsfeeds with the same type of ads (ie: carpet cleaning) they are waiting 12 to 24 hours to begin running your ad to allow your competitor ads to meet budget or be paused/cancelled. I may have found a way around this....by adding another advertising account to promote posts.

Are you bidding on your ads? Could it be they are out bidding you for slots? Maybe you need to increase your bids so your ads show and there's do not.


https://www.facebook.com/help/527780867299597/

On the Website clicks campaign I'm running my high bid is $2.00 per web click but I'm actually only paying .67 for each web click. You have to big high enough to beat out any of the others trying to get their ad shown. Last week with the ad set we are currently running we got 344 web click for $241.00. We had a week of heavy rains and we ran and ad with the truck and two other images where it showed flooded basements.

 

[Shane Deubell]

It has become a hot topic this year with carpet cleaners.
Anything technology related is not going to stay a " secret" for very long.

I would expect far more competition over next couple years, far more.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree but like any marketing, the Facebook platform is just the vehicle. What you say and how you sell yourself is your opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competition.

How about something different like "Carousel link ads"?

You will stand out from the others and it gives you an opportunity to promote other services like "Pet Odor", "Area Rugs", "Upholstery", "Commercial", along with your carpet cleaning that's (5) services. You are allowed 5-images and web links to those pages.

https://www.facebook.com/business/a...n_id=579705038731764&placement=OnlineAdvMPACF

 

[Shane Deubell]

 

[jcooper]

I agree but like any marketing, the Facebook platform is just the vehicle. What you say and how you sell yourself is your opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competition.
How about something different like "Carousel link ads"?
You will stand out from the others and it gives you an opportunity to promote other services like "Pet Odor", "Area Rugs", "Upholstery", "Commercial", along with your carpet cleaning that's (5) services. You are allowed 5-images and web links to those pages.
https://www.facebook.com/business/a...n_id=579705038731764&placement=OnlineAdvMPACF

Who knew..... Richard is the facebook guru!

I've tried a few times years ago with absolutely NO success... The tracking and targeting sucked BAD. Was kinda a bummer, I actually liked/used facebook at the time and really wanted it to work... When I tried all they had were the "on the side" of the page ads. However, it appears they have all sorts of advertising to choose from now.

The story ads are compelling at times, I wan't to click on them... Until I see sponsor message(whatever) in little tiny text next to the ad.

Really Richard, that's some good insight into fb ads. Thanks! It's WAY cheaper than the google man... Feel free to share MORE of your little tips and tricks.

 

[Desk Jockey]

No guru. Just a marketer.

We use Facebook in many different ways. We run branding campaigns, Web Click campaigns, Claim offer and boost posts to educate.

As far as ads, you can place them on the side, in news feeds or as a boost in news feeds. Make sure its designed for mobile, a great majority of the ads are viewed from mobile. As far as the demographic, we some of all ages but the majority are women age 35-55.

Here are a few more of the ads for various services we run. Usually in groups of three but we review them weekly and make adjustments. If we find one ad in the ad set is doing poorly we may turn it off and focus on the one that is connecting with the people.





We ran a boost that finished up last night. For $129.98 it reached 19,600 people, it got 48 likes. 3,129 post clicks, 2,227 photo views and 896 other post clicks on the page. Economical way to get in front of people.

 

[mirf]

Sometimes I miss yellow pages. Took your best guess, done for one year.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Crooks is what they were. The end for them was so gratifying!

 

[WillS]

We don't run the ad campaigns for conversions to your site option. It is usually posts that are promoted.

The reason why we can't allow our ads to be delayed for 12 to 24 hours like mentioned above is, if we have a cancellation the day before, or need to fill up the 3rd truck, facebook is the easiest way to do that. Run an ad that starts in 15 minutes and we get 10 phone calls. So... being able to instantly run ads is very important for us.

I have fixed the issue, I deactivated the ad account and reactivated another one. Now my new one is only giving us a $25 budget at first because it is treating it as separate from our main page. I just put in the request for them to up the budget to $2,500. This has been a pain in the ass but our ads are running instantly again.

Note to self: You can't always rely on few sources of marketing. Social Media, Referrals are a big deal for us, but we have hit the phones, began email marketing campaigns, visiting businesses a lot more in the last week because of the fb problem. Even started using google adwords which I said I never would. All is good now and we are back on pace. You know that stress any business owner gets when something fu*ks up and your scrambling for business to keep all the trucks running at full speed. #encouragement

Richard - our demographic changes based on the type of ad. If it is a tile ad - age range goes to 35 to 65. Carpet it is 24 to 65. We don't bid for ads - impressions only.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Even started using google adwords which I said I never would.

I like adwords, not a big budget but just because its a second listing on a search. It also puts you on even ground with the larger firms. If you can be creative with the copy then you have a chance to beat out the competition.

For the money you were spending you could do EDDM to specific high end neighborhoods. What about radio? Are there stations that cater to your demographics?

Will
Your engagement remains very high, 250-300 range. Are the boosts not working or they were just not being served?

 

[WillS]

Your engagement remains very high, 250-300 range. Are the boosts not working or they were just not being served?

Not being served. They work fine when running, like they are now. It was just since last Monday something was going on.

ZeroRez has taken over radio here. It would be hard to compete with them. When one of the reps called us for radio ads, it was around 5k a month.

EDDM is what I am working on now - only to high end zips and commercial properties w carpet.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I thought since I talked the talk I better walk the walk.

This is a carousel ad set i just put up. It has 5-images you can scroll through, each service with a link to the corresponding web page. The advantage is you can advertise 5-services at once instead of 5-separate ads.

 

[WillS]

Get your phone number in your ads!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I was thinking it might be wise of you to split a portion of your budget towards EDDM. I know cost is like 20 times that of impressions but I think a sharp card may just pull in as good or better results. You define your targets just by homeowners and income so less waste.

I'd calculate how many you'd in a month and print 3-months worthto get best pricing. Break your drops to go out every week so you don't overwhelm yourself. If you like the results add new zips and change the card. Even if you keep the same message you can go with a larger or small card.

 

[Able 1]

$2,500 a month! !! Holy shit! That is alot of free cleanings! I don't advertise much at all and still gain 25% a year.. killing it this year for FREE!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

That is a lot but I think they are spending the majority of their ad budget there. Plus I believe they are getting enough business from the expense that it makes it worth the trouble.