Journal: Follow My Campaign From Day 1 - Feedback Welcome!

46 replies
Hello Warriors!

I know that in the IM world it is not wise to share a successful campaign. It is understood that there is already enough competition to deal with, and to share your secret ingredients could put the bakery out of business... But as many also believe there is enough room for every average person who is willing to learn, work hard, and of course take action. I agree with that. But with successful campaigns behind lock and key, despite the wealth of knowledge being shared on forums and blogs, so many people have never actually experienced the building and testing of an actual successful campaign.

I would like to invite anyone interested to follow a journal of a facebook ppc campaign from day one.

****************
<Campaign Details>
****************
* CPA Network = Wolf Storm Media
* Offer Used = 579 Account Now Prepaid Card
* Payout = $4.25 per conversion
* Location = USA
* Description = Show your users how they can sign up for a prepaid Visa card. This pays out on a registration to receive a card.
* Traffic Sources Allowed: Social Media
* Ad Platform = Facebook PPC
****************
</Campaign Details>
****************


Day 1.

Set Up Text Ad One in Tracking202, used direct linking method. Did not cloak as there are no "keywords" to be passed back on facebook, and have also experienced slower load times lately with cloaking on.

See Text Ad One:
No Bank Account?
Get a reloadable Debit/Credit card free in 60 seconds.
No bank account or credit check!



Set Up Text Ad Two in Tracking202, also used direct link method as mentioned above.

See Text Ad Two:
Check Account Alternative
Guaranteed approval in 60 seconds. No credit check.
The perfect alternative to a checking account. Click Here!


Now I chose an image to accompany each text ad on the facebook platform. One, I believe "clipart" style images draw some attention these days because people aren't as "ad-blind" to them. For the second, I followed the traditional rule of thumb and chose a smiling woman.

While transferring the ad from Tracking202 over to the facebook platform I had to do some final brainstorming about the targeting / demographics. Thanks to a tip I got from our friend PPC-Coach, instead of just using my gut instincts to decide the demographics I would target, I went to Alexa and Quantcast to see what they said about the demographics of the offers landing page. In this case, we checked out the demographics for accountnow.com, and this showed us that most visitors to the site are females aged 30-60. So, until we see if we need to drill down further, we are setting up the targeting to US Women Age 30-60.

Bidding is essentially the last step to building out the ads on facebook. Facebook's suggested bid is $1.40 - 2.32 USD. We don't wanna burn through our budget faster than we can monitor things, so we're initially going to underbid at $0.85 per click.


Lets take a look at the ads shall we?
Attachment 6632Attachment 6633


The Ads have been approved by facebook and are now live.

Going forward we will be monitoring these two ads to identify changes that need made, as well as creating additional ad variations.
#campaign #campaign journal #feedback #journal #sample campaign
  • Profile picture of the author Kenster
    Awesome can't wait to see the results
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    I like this.. good work by getting this going
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    Kenster, Chris, and PPC-Coach,
    Any constructive criticism on the ad copies themselves? See any issues with the images used? Enough call to action in the message? Etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author mahesh2010
    Hi,
    Nice share thanks thanks for sharing
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  • Profile picture of the author Clayton Rice
    This is the kind of thread I wish more people did! Although I can understand why no one would want to share this kind of information.

    Personally, I've started a blog where I'm recording information about my experience with facebook advertising. I don't advertise the blog, though, so I have NO idea who reads it.
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  • Profile picture of the author mamu
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
      Originally Posted by mamu View Post

      very nice man,but since the payout is $4.25,that I do not think you can afford even 6 clicks without any conversation.
      I see your point there, however the offer is essentially a first page submit, so 1/6, or 0.1666 seems to be a relatively low conversion rate for something that converts on page one with no pulling out the credit card involved.

      So to take a closer look at your theory...
      After 100 clicks at lets assume 1/4 or a 0.25 conversion rate, that would be (100 clicks x 0.25 CR) = 25 conversions. Those clicks cost a max of (.85 CPC x 100 clicks)= $85. The revenue from those 25 conversions is (25 conversions x 4.25 payout) = 106.25 revenue.

      Note also, that the .85 is Max Bid, and likely will not be the actual cpc.

      106.25 revenue minus 85.00 Cost leaves us with a profit of 21.25 for every one hundred clicks, at max bid.
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  • Profile picture of the author viva001
    Thanks Very much
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    • Profile picture of the author ajensen
      Cool! Definitely curious to see your results. I think there is certainly enough room in this game to help people out.

      However, I am a little concerned if you give out all the details before the campaign is over, people are going to copy it (image for image word for word) and that might screw up your CTR, volume, and lifetime. Hopefully, you're targeting some "interests" you haven't yet divulged or maybe testing some other images.

      Hope it goes well! I'll be reading along. Best.
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  • Profile picture of the author ukbuddy2
    looking forward to an update already!!!
    happy to assist if you get stuck
    uk
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonWestwick
    Congratulations on taking action and getting a campaign up and running. I applaud your bravery and generosity with sharing every detail and step you are taking and certainly hope this post will act as an inspiration and motivator to indivuals who are still on the fence and haven't started yet.

    We often see posts like this here but they very quickly die because of lack of success/commitment/determination e.t.c.

    Keep us updated and we'll do all we can to make this a success for you.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author topnotchservices
    This is great and i'll definitely be watching. Problem is, there will definitely be a few copycats lifting this campaign in its entirety as you are doing it so you figures will be skewed.
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  • Profile picture of the author williamrs
    Nice start, buddy!

    If your campaign produces good results we will have at least a thousand guys doing the same thing tomorrow, so you may be killing your own campaign by doing this, but your willines to help is awesome!

    The only thing that I would change is the way you're split-testing ads. Only 2 ads can be not enough. I would get 10+ images and create a bunch of ads by combining all of them with your 2 ad copies.

    1 out of 6 wouldn't be a bad conversion rate for your offer even if it's a 1st page submit, so you will need to reduce your CPC drastically to get profitable. It's possible, you just need to get a good CTR (not sure on how complicated it is in this niche) and switch your best ads to CPM. It depends on your demographics, but you can probably get clicks for $0.30 - $0.40 if you reach a CTR above 0.1%.

    The best way to get ads with a high CTR is by testing many ads, so this is the reason why I would upload more ads during the testing phase.


    William
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    Thanks William, if you re-read the last sentence of the OP, it says I will be creating more ad variation, so that is indeed at the top of the to-do list for day two.

    It's Now Day 2! I'll be keeping everyone posted.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeMorgan
    Cool Idea ! Keep going .

    I am on your side to help you .

    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author azmanar
    Hi,

    I'm following this thread.
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    • Profile picture of the author tehering
      Very impressive and selfless...just what the holiday season should be about...thanks for sharing!
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  • Profile picture of the author Vegaed1
    Good to see fellow warriors helping out in the giving season. I see your offer is around $4. Does anyone here with experience in facebook ads suggest low paying offer like this one that ask less of the potential customer? How well do high $ offers that ask for credit card info convert on facebook?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    I'd run this with the Yahoo/Bing Adcenter instead. Like someone said, you need a conversion in 6 clicks. With Yahoo and Bing your traffic will be more targeted and clicks should be cheaper.
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    • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
      Originally Posted by Cash37 View Post

      I'd run this with the Yahoo/Bing Adcenter instead. Like someone said, you need a conversion in 6 clicks. With Yahoo and Bing your traffic will be more targeted and clicks should be cheaper.
      Unfortunately, Social Media is the only traffic source allowed for this particular offer.
      As always, I talk with my account managers when preparing to launch a new campaign; and, I did ask if the advertiser might make an exception and allow search PPC. This again was not allowed.

      So why am I making my journal with THIS OFFER? Well, as so many of you have pointed out, the exposure will make it easy to copy... So I did not use one of my existing campaigns.

      This offer is much different than other offers I am currently running, and I was interested in the learning experience by testing out a new vertical, and gave me the ability to begin sharing right from day 1, including all trial and error beginning from scratch.

      Bear with me if there's not a whole lot of new advancements heading into this weekend per the holiday.

      BTW, If you act quick you can get creative using new years resolutions in ad copies!! I already have!!$!
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  • Profile picture of the author lawrencewyp
    Hi, from your post above, you said that you are doing direct linking to facebook ads! But according to what i experienced, facebook will not allow direct linking to CPA ads as the landing pages. Hope you can elaborate on that. Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
      Originally Posted by lawrencewyp View Post

      Hi, from your post above, you said that you are doing direct linking to facebook ads! But according to what i experienced, facebook will not allow direct linking to CPA ads as the landing pages. Hope you can elaborate on that. Thanks.
      Yes, there are many ads that are virtually impossible to direct link on fb. However, many you can if you follow the facebook advertising guidelines very closely.
      Advertising Guidelines | Facebook
      Help Center | Facebook
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      • Profile picture of the author lawrencewyp
        [quote=CPApromoter;3065756]Yes, there are many ads that are virtually impossible to direct link on fb. However, many you can if you follow the facebook advertising guidelines very closely.


        Sorry, if you please elaborate on this. Does this mean that in the URL you put the destination URL and not the CPA network URL? If yes how would you get the payout since the direct URL does not refer to your CPA Network affliate number?

        Thanks so your reply.
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        • Profile picture of the author Biowza
          Great post, looking forward to seeing some numbers. Your conversion rate of around 17% seems pretty ambitious, I'm not sure you'll get that with direct linking.

          Here's hoping you do though, Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    Cool. The advertiser is weird to me. That's a hard offer to convert on social media. How many people are going to randomly want a debit card?
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    DAY 3
    OK... Looks like people are curious about the stats already even though it's only been 2 days for half of the ads and 1 day for the others.

    The BAD NEWS So Far?
    I'm Not Getting Clicks.

    The GOOD NEWS So Far?
    One Conversion So Far Has Me In The Green.
    3 Clicks to Ad Copy "No Checking Account" has Produced .3333 CR

    Attachment 6651
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  • Profile picture of the author bestbuddy1986
    Great post will be tracking.
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  • Profile picture of the author sethm
    Following
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  • Profile picture of the author tclo43
    Cool read!
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  • Profile picture of the author lesterlim85
    I will be following this thread too! All the best in your campaign!

    Cheers,
    Lester
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    • Profile picture of the author ukbuddy2
      still following
      if you need any help let us know
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  • Profile picture of the author WFParadise
    With current bid you may not get any impressions. You may start bidding suggested, then if all goes well with your ad lower it.
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    • Profile picture of the author wanna-succeed
      CPApromoter, this was a very fun read.
      I am really impressed at how simple this is, especially since I haven;t got any real experience yet.
      Hope if works out, happy to hear you are in the green already, always a good feeling.
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      No sig, good day m8...

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  • Profile picture of the author angel21
    Looking farword to your post!
    You never fail until you stop trying. Albert Einstein
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  • Profile picture of the author harryhumph
    Cant wait!!
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    OK Gang,
    As of this morning I have paused the ad variation "No Bank Account" because it started getting away from me.

    I'm not getting enough impressions on ad variations "Monitor Teen Spending" or "Watch Their Spending". Before I increase the bid on those ad variations, I would like to expand the targeting.
    Obviously those ad copies are written to appeal to parents of adolescent children, does anyone have TARGETING suggestions to help me reach a larger portion of that demographic? I'm struggling to think of "Likes" other than "Parenting" or "My Kid", since facebook doesn't have a direct "has children" targeting option.

    THANKS!
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  • Profile picture of the author sethm
    What about "Safe alternative for online shopping" or "alternative to PayPal". I bet there are a lot of people that would feel safer using a card thats not connected to there bank account because of identity theft. Hope that helps getting the wheels spinning again.
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    • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
      Originally Posted by sethm View Post

      What about "Safe alternative for online shopping" or "alternative to PayPal". I bet there are a lot of people that would feel safer using a card thats not connected to there bank account because of identity theft. Hope that helps getting the wheels spinning again.
      Thanks Seth, I think I will try spinning that one some of the next ad variations.

      I do still need help with targeting parents of young teens.
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    OK, I have been able to expand the targeting for those last ad groups! Hopefully we'll see some better numbers coming in.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketwarrior06
    Banned
    thanks for sharing this kind of important information. have started working on it and waiting for the good result. wish me luck guys.

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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    Added 2 New Ad Variations To Target Different Uses Of This Product.

    Attachment 6692Attachment 6693


    I will not be sharing the targeting of these new ad variations.

    Also, you may like to know that after I receive a little more data; 2 or 3 of the 7 may be ready to try going for CPM.
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  • Profile picture of the author ukbuddy2
    try typing your search term in the google keyword tool and the lsikeyword tool
    they always mange to give some good ideas on variations
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  • Profile picture of the author CPApromoter
    Hey everyone. Between the holidays and a few other campaigns which I am running at a much higher volume, I am going to at least temporarily stop this journal.

    If you found this thread helpful or would like me to do future case studies similar in nature to this, please feel free to thank the op, and reply and let me know what kinds of things you guys might want to see next...

    Some things i'm considering focusing on writing up based on frequent questions to the forum:
    -tips to getting facebook ads approved
    -how to get those infamous sub .15cent usa clicks
    -using fb to build a list
    -your suggestion here
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