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Get subscribers FAST using PPC

by patfl
15 replies
Hey friends,

few months ago, I started a newsletter and I wanted to get subscribers fast to test the market.

That post is just a summary of what I did and the result I got.

I'm selling nothing here, there are better methods than this one, but if some of you wonder what could be done with PPC in regard of building a list, that may give you some indications.

Squeeze Page:
I designed a quick squeeze page for a double optin list on aweber, explaining what was the purpose of that list and what they could expect as subscribers... In that case, one e-mail a day in the niche market.

PPC Campaign with Adwords:
I created a pretty simple campaign at that point. 2 groups of around 500 words per group, and 2 Ads with a simple variation around the main keywords.

-MAX CPC=0.50
-Search and Content Network.

The thing was online in half an hour. I don't like to over think my campaigns at first. The reason is it's so hard (for me at least) to imagine what could work or not that I prefer to throw something fast and to change based on testing.

That first shot was not too bad, here are the results after 1 week:

- 300 clicks at 0.24 per click.
- CTR 1.5% on the Search Network.
- Conversion around 35%

At the end of the first week, I got 80 subscribers.

Cost: $0.90 per subscribers. A bit pricey I know but it was a first shot.

I ran that campaign for one month, tweaking the keyword list, the ads and the squeeze page. After those 30 days, here are the result I got:

- CTR improved to 3.6% on the third variation of the ads.
- Conversion: dropped a bit to 30%.
- CPC= $0.14 at the end of the month, but $0.19 on average because of the CTR increase.

- A little bit more than 496 subscribers
- Campaign cost: $300 => around $0.60 per subscriber.

The conclusion is it works, it's fast, and the list generated is targeted. It's a bit pricey but because the list has been pretty responsive, I got my investment back in a little more than 2 months by promoting some affiliate products to it.

Hope it helps!

Patrice
#fast #ppc #subscribers
  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    That's a nice one.

    Did you set any countries targeting?
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  • Profile picture of the author sjames23
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author patfl
      Originally Posted by sjames23 View Post

      This is great. Some people say keep on content network. Some say take it off.

      I just keep it off my results seem to work in that favor
      In that case, the percentage was approx. 60% for search network, 40% for content.

      Patrice
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  • Profile picture of the author patfl
    Hi Joseph,

    Indeed, here's a list:

    -US/Canada
    -UK
    -Ireland
    -Australia
    -Japan
    -Few north of Europe countries (Suede, Denmark etc)
    -New Zealand

    That's pretty much it.

    For the stats, around 80% came from US/Canada.

    Patrice
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  • Profile picture of the author indexphp
    Building a list with PPC is pretty much common sense, but it sure helps the n00bs. +rep would read again.
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    • Profile picture of the author patfl
      Originally Posted by Garrett Aren View Post

      Building a list with PPC is pretty much common sense, but it sure helps the n00bs. +rep would read again.
      Well, it's not so much common sense actually, the proof is when I ran that ads, the only competition I had was for affiliate products, not list building...

      That explains, I think, the pretty high CTR and conversion rate for the very competitive keywords I used.

      Patrice
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        You are demonstrating the effectiveness here of a 2-stage
        marketing process.

        A 1-stage is where you send out your stuff and ask for the
        sale in one shot. Works great for consumables, paper-back
        novels, clothing even. If people can quickly see what it is
        you are selling and they are able to make a decision on the
        spot it works well. The difference with the internet is once
        they leave your site they are gone. When you run a 1-stage
        ad in a magazine it sits around... maybe readers even clip it
        out.

        With 2-stage you say ,"write for more information, free
        sample, free guide," etc...

        If most of the competition is doing 1-stage marketing and
        you go to 2-stage and say ,"don't buy - I'll send you more
        information and you can put off making the decision," well,
        people prefer to put-off making decisions most of the time.

        That's one reason 2-stage is often a better way to go.
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        • Profile picture of the author patfl
          Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post


          If most of the competition is doing 1-stage marketing and
          you go to 2-stage and say ,"don't buy - I'll send you more
          information and you can put off making the decision," well,
          people prefer to put-off making decisions most of the time.
          You're absolutely right, I don't think my competitors who were selling affiliate products had the same kind of CTR or conversion rate than I had, asking only for their email.

          That's a very good point.

          Patrice
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          • Profile picture of the author FrankRumbauskas
            Good job!

            PPC is amazing. Many IMers though avoid it out of fear, or because they hear people on here telling them they don't need it.

            I've generated millions in revenue with PPC and so have lots and lots of other marketers. You just need to take it slow, learn as you go, and before you know it you will be making a killing with PPC.

            On the search vs. content thing, most of my sales & signups come from the content network - Amazon, LinkedIn, and other sites showing my ads.
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            • Profile picture of the author fthomas137
              Thank you for posting your experience plus the comments from other posters! 5 Stars!

              I do have some questions,

              Have you been able to continue to make that list profitable? (Sorry very new to list building.) In other words, does your list buy less and less as you canvass to them more and more?

              Second, would you consider adding more subscribers onto the list with ppc to continue to build it?

              Thanks!

              Frank
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              • Profile picture of the author patfl
                Hi Frank,

                Have you been able to continue to make that list profitable? (Sorry very new to list building.) In other words, does your list buy less and less as you canvass to them more and more?
                I probably made a thousand dollars with that list in 3 months. As you can see, no big deal, but I sent very few offers too.

                That's the opposite, the list was becoming more and more profitable, more and more people was opening the mail and more and more were clicking on the links. The problem, it was consuming much more time than I was able to provide at that time so I pretty much abandoned it.

                Second, would you consider adding more subscribers onto the list with ppc to continue to build it?
                Maybe in the future yes, or maybe creating another list where there's less work involved.

                It was really a test, a very instructive one I should add
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                • Profile picture of the author Louis Raven
                  Originally Posted by techymarketer View Post

                  Hi Frank,



                  I probably made a thousand dollars with that list in 3 months. As you can see, no big deal, but I sent very few offers too.

                  That's the opposite, the list was becoming more and more profitable, more and more people was opening the mail and more and more were clicking on the links. The problem, it was consuming much more time than I was able to provide at that time so I pretty much abandoned it.



                  Maybe in the future yes, or maybe creating another list where there's less work involved.

                  It was really a test, a very instructive one I should add
                  Congratulations but.. I don't get it?

                  You made $700 profit NET and didn't put at least 80% profit straight back into the campaign?

                  Also, "Time consuming", You write the responses ONCE and it does the work for you for life right?

                  If you invested $300 and made $1000 from it you need to contact me so I can make you a nice 6-figures.

                  Louis
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                  • Profile picture of the author Alibubble
                    Originally Posted by Louis Raven View Post

                    Congratulations but.. I don't get it?

                    You made $700 profit NET and didn't put at least 80% profit straight back into the campaign?

                    Also, "Time consuming", You write the responses ONCE and it does the work for you for life right?

                    If you invested $300 and made $1000 from it you need to contact me so I can make you a nice 6-figures.

                    Louis
                    Yea really, thats over 300% return. You would be crazy to not use that money to get more subscribers...

                    I only wish that I could do this in the niche I am trying to build a list in. The main problem is that keywords literally cost $8 per click in this niche.That's a bit much for me, as I am only trying to grow my list.
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                    • Profile picture of the author patfl
                      Originally Posted by Alibubble View Post

                      Yea really, thats over 300% return. You would be crazy to not use that money to get more subscribers...

                      I only wish that I could do this in the niche I am trying to build a list in. The main problem is that keywords literally cost $8 per click in this niche.That's a bit much for me, as I am only trying to grow my list.
                      Wow, I'm surprised you can't get cheaper click if you optimize your keywords for subscription and not selling product.

                      I don't know your experience for that kind of campaign, but if I can help you based on what I wrote above, let me know.

                      Patrice
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                  • Profile picture of the author patfl
                    Originally Posted by Louis Raven View Post

                    Congratulations but.. I don't get it?

                    You made $700 profit NET and didn't put at least 80% profit straight back into the campaign?

                    Also, "Time consuming", You write the responses ONCE and it does the work for you for life right?

                    If you invested $300 and made $1000 from it you need to contact me so I can make you a nice 6-figures.

                    Louis
                    Thanks Louis, I will contact you by PM.

                    Patrice
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            • Profile picture of the author patfl
              Originally Posted by FrankRumbauskas View Post

              Good job!

              PPC is amazing. Many IMers though avoid it out of fear, or because they hear people on here telling them they don't need it.

              I've generated millions in revenue with PPC and so have lots and lots of other marketers. You just need to take it slow, learn as you go, and before you know it you will be making a killing with PPC.

              On the search vs. content thing, most of my sales & signups come from the content network - Amazon, LinkedIn, and other sites showing my ads.
              Thanks Frank.

              That's very good feedback, do you sell your own products or affiliate ones?

              So far, I think I have been too dumb to make any serious cash by promoting affiliate products with CPC, I always fall into that trap:

              - keywords bid always between 0.20 and 0.30
              - Conversion around 1%
              - Commission usually between $20 to $30 bucks.

              At the end of the day, only google make profit

              But I know it's me... anyway, I keep using it for list building which is less competitive and allow to build fast.

              Patrice
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