Getting The Most Out Of The Latest Technology

I’ve been hearing a lot about facebook ads lately.  Just last week I heard about a company who was pulling $130k a year in sales and they jumped to $700+ thanks to a large part in Facebook advertising. That is a ridiculously large amount of change in just under a year. That sort of connection can mean the livelihood of some businesses and even keep some from going completely under.

But Do They Really Work?

We have been testing $5 ads here and there to see what ones are effective. We just ran some simple test ads to see what kind of responses we could get and what was really possible. The Facebook ad platform has become easier to use and setting up an account is fairly easy. Getting  approved for your ad takes just minutes and before you know it you could be in front of thousands of hungry prospects.

The good news is that out of all of the options that are available – Facebook advertising is actually pretty awesome. We lost out big time on a couple of recent postage campaigns. I had sent out over 200 marketing pieces through traditional snail mail and had received zero response. These were sent to a highly targeted mailing list and there was a special offer included and even a bonus. I had done this a couple of times and received no response. After such a dismal return I went back to cold calling and made a few sales that way.

Compared to snail mail the Facebook option is much easier on the wallet. The only thing is that you have to be interesting on Facebook. If you want to get in front of people you have to inform them or educate them on something.  I still see a lot of home improvement guys wanting to push the dreaded 10% coupon on people. In that case, you are better off knocking on doors.

What Were The Results Like?

Do you know what kind of video actually works on Facebook? Non-professional videos that are homemade with everyday people talking about real experiences. Nothing I ever release is scripted. I tend to talk directly and frankly about whatever it is I am pitching. Reality is very big on the web and people like to snoop around on the web and get real information. Authenticity is everything and that is what you must understand before you start shelling out money on this kind of marketing.

People respect realism and will tend to pass that video or message off their friends. They like to hear real stories and real experiences. You will build rapport and people will be able to understand and appreciate you better. That is why I don’t like to work off a script. I can usually tell when a video is scripted because it sounds so canned and the language is too clean and polished.

The returns are what is most important right? So let’s talk about that for a minute. For a small $10 investment I actually got 19 people engaged in my ads. For another $10 I got another 20 people that engaged with my ad and shared it with their list of people and 11 video plays.  That is not bad and my ad actually got included in a Google index. We popped up on a Google SERP, (search engine result page) in the number two spot for our city, location and our services. I didn’t see that coming. So in addition to the people that interacted with our ad we have some value by having the Google placement in view for the public. That is a permanent placement.

Plus in just a few days I actually got my phone to ring….. and got some business prospects out of the whole thing. People wanted to call and reach out and talk to me live one on one. Some of those conversations turned into real sit down meetings and I was able to land some business.

So I put together a little checklist of what you need to do on your Facebook ads.

1.       Come Up With An Eye Grabbing Headline

2.       Make Sure The Headline Is About Your Prospect

3.       Identify A Problem or Become The Solution For Your Prospect

4.       Create Need And Urgency

5.       Include Your Phone Number

The math gets really interesting. Because you can not only bring traffic to your post but you can also direct people to your Facebook page. From here you will want to get out a calculator and a notepad and take good notes.

Spending $20 dollars a day will get you about 19 likes. Ideally you can get 78 people but keep in mind that you have to be really interesting and will have to connect to your audience. Some businesses will want to spend $50 a day and that will get you even more exposure. Double check  your control panel to see just how many people you can physically reach. There is a potential to get in front of 11 thousand people a day in your local immediate area.

Now keep in mind that not all these people are going to buy from you. But they will look at your product, and interact with your brand. There is a lot of noise and competition out there. People are often selling the exact same thing. You will have to put your own spin on your products and services and differentiate on how you are unique. Maybe you are going to offer a business building tip, or a weight loss idea, or maybe you will talk about how to get rid of moles in your backyard. There are a lot of things you can talk about and somehow tie it back in to your product.

People are news junkies and many times will get their daily dose of news from Facebook. This is true when someone dies in Hollywood. I heard about the death of Mickey Rooney and Anne B Davis from the Brady Bunch on Facebook. I knew about them passing before I even made it to my TV to catch CNN. The news was so immediate and so fast. So my suggestion to you is to be topical and to stay with current times. Be on top of what is happening and somehow relay that news to your product and get in front of as many eyeballs as you can.

My favorite time to release news is anytime. But if I was going to release something business related then I would stick to the Wednesday and Thursday routine. Business people tend to pay more attention during the middle of the week for special offers and webinars. That is the way it’s always been.

Is Facebook advertising really effective for your business? Hot Metro Finds spells
out the steps you need to get customers

Ted Cantu
May 2014  -- HOT METRO FINDS

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“A VISUAL ASSAULT: REM Dissected Scene By Scene

The bottom video was shot in 1989 and is the closest thing I could find to what the original show opener was like in 1987. This was a departure for REM as much as it was for the audience. Just when you thought you knew the band they changed on you in a new and exciting way. It would take some time to recognize them once again. In the case of, “Document” the album had to grow on me. I noticed this sort of thing happening with the Smiths too.

There was one sequence in the video, not shown in this edition, when the words – “Want” and “Need” come on screen. The words flipped interchangeably and morphed into a strobe that said, “Need Weed” and I remember the crowd going a bit wild over that. This was Ann Arbor after all. There is some talk about the set list being accurate. I do not believe, “Orange Crush” or “Pop Song 89” was performed in 1987. Those songs were released after REM went to Warner Brothers. “Document” was the last album created under the I.R.S. Records label.

There is another version of, “The One I Love” done on the live tour. Stipe starts out with a slow intro and for a minute I thought the whole song would be done slow. It then kicks into the tempo we all know. The stage was also bathed in an eerie red light. How this song got perceived as a love song I’ll never know. It was about a sick love obsession.

Over the years I hear the young kids go, “Oh who cares about that stuff, REM was long before my time.” Trust me, you wish you were there. This show was nothing but historic.

REM: AND THE BIRTH OF ALTERNATIVE RADIO --- ANN ARBOR, MI 1987

Read about it here....