Years ago, Facebook started restricting organic reach.
Marketers and small business owners everywhere were complaining…that a FREE platform would do such a thing.
A. FREE. PLATFORM.
Over the years, Facebook has pushed the pay to play idea, which is totally understandable.
Most say their reach is about 5 – 10%.
Meaning a post would reach 5 -10% of their audience.
10% is probably on the high side, actually.
There are ways you can hack the algorithm, getting more of your audience to see your content.
Facebook frowns upon posts with links, as they want to keep people on their platform.
Posting a YouTube link is like ordering a Big Mac at Pizza Hut, not a good idea.
However, text/images posts work well, and you can use these to hack the algorithm.
A page of mine, Total Dads, consistently sees 100%+ reach on my page.
To be fair, this is not my entire audience.
It’s a smaller page with about 850 fans, but my posts often times reach 1,000+ people.
If someone shares a post, they are showing it to people in their feed, so technically it’s not my audience. They certainly could be my ideal target market, which is Dads.
Here is a screenshot for the last 10 days on the Total Dads page:
As you can see, I post quite frequently — 4 – 6 times per day.
Like with anything else worthwhile in life, it all comes down to consistency.
I understand you likely don’t have the time to be posting and scheduling this type of content. I use a piece of software that automates the process. This software will allow you to schedule a month’s worth of content in 15 – 20 minutes.
You can test out the software FREE for 7 days at the link below:
Facebook Lead ads are a great way to get a lead generation campaign up and running quickly.
Literally, it shouldn’t take you longer than 20-30 minutes.
I can get one up and running in 10 – 15 minutes as I’ve done it so many times.
However, they do have some drawbacks.
So here are the pros and cons of Facebook lead ads:
Pros:
Super simple to set up
Quite customizable
No need to set up a landing page outside of Facebook
No need to install a tracking pixel (like you do on a landing page)
You can connect lead ads to Zapier, which can connect with your email service provider and/or your CRM. You can also connect it to Google Sheets (I show this in the video below)
No worry about slow landing page load times
Cons:
Quality is the biggest issue. These forms are pre-populated with the user’s data from Facebook, making it too easy to fill out. Contrary to poplar belief, I like to make my user to “jump through some hoops” to become a lead. However, to battle this, I suggest asking more questions to “pre-qualify” them.
You have to use a third party system to follow up with your leads, unless you want to manually download the file from Facebook.
The forms are not editable. Once you save the one, that’s it. You can duplicate one and edit it that way, which is very simple to do.
If you’re clueless on how to set up a Facebook Lead Ad, I recorded a step-by-step tutorial walking you though the exact process. You can check it out at the link below:
So my parents are selling their place in California, and moving here to Sin City.
A couple weeks ago, I set up a lead ad to help them generate more exposure on their home and drive their Realtor buyer leads.
I launched the campaign on July 28th and it ran for about 12 days.
Here are the stats:
The Realtor was instantly sent the leads to her email, so she could follow up with them. Ideally, I would have an automated follow up sequence (ideally email, text and ringless voicemail) as the follow up is going to make or break the campaign. The speed of the follow up is crucial, hence why I had the leads emailed to her in real time for quick follow up. The leads were also added into a Google spreadsheet (all this is automated via Zapier).
When geenrating leads on Facebook and using an automated follow up, I always recommend a “hybrid approach” with automated follow up along with manual follow up. This is more for a service based business, and not meant for entrepreneurs in the online marketing space.
I have found the variable is without a doubt, the person following up with the lead. I have heard people complain that “Facebook leads suck!” and have seen another person close those same exact leads that “suck”.
To be honest, most people have a sales (follow up) problem, not a lead generation problem. It’s just easier to blame Facebook for the lead quailty, than it is to look in the mirror and address the real issue.
<steps off soap box>
I recorded a video of the entire process showing the campaign structure, the targeting, the ads that worked (and didn’t work), and why you always want to test multiple ads.
As always, if you have questions, please post them in the comments below. I’m here to help.
The author, Hal Elrod, outlines 6 habits that he does each & every morning. His acronym for it is SAVERS
S – Silence
A – Affirmations
V- Visualization
E – Exercise
R – Reading
S – Scribing
I took his list, and made my own list.
Although, I have not come up with a cool acronym like he has.
Not yet at least.
Below are 7 daily healthy habits that I put into place each & everyday:
Practice Gratitude
Each morning, I try and sit down and write 5 things that I am grateful for.
I try and find 5 things that have happened in the last 24 hours.
Also, I try not to repeat things.
After about a week, this exercise becomes quite difficult.
However, what I have found, is that it forces me to look for things throughout the day, so I am not staring at a blank piece of paper the following day. Years ago, I know Oprah talked about this being the case when you practice gratitude daily.
You’ll write down things your grateful for that you likely took for granted.
Read for 20 Minutes
Up until 30, I would count how many books I read on one hand — not counting books that were required for school.
When I become an entrepreneur, I slowly became obsessed with reading.
I probably read 15 – 18 books a year now, which is mind-blowing as I always hated reading.
It’s such a shortcut to learn from people and the struggles they went through. I am not much of a fiction reader, moreso books on mindset, human psychology/behavior, marketing and busienss.
Walk
Such a powerful way to deal with stress.
And some damn simple.
If I am frustrated, tired, battling anxiety/stress, it’s absolutely amazing what a simple 15 – 20 minute walk can do.
Often times, I return to the house and the struggles I was dealing with pre-walk damn near melt away.
93.4% of the time, it works every time.
Not only is it a great way to reduce stress, but I come up with a lot of ideas for content — emails, YouTube videos, blog posts, etc. I try and walk without any electronics. Listening to the sounds of nature, with some screaming and yelling form the neighborhood kids.
Journal
This is another one of my favorite hobbies.
Something about jotting down all the thoughts in your head on a piece of paper really is an effective way to deal with head trash.
Have a question about life?
Pick up a pencil and grab a piece of paper and starting writing. Often times, I find the answer by putting this super simple exercise into place.
A couple times a year, I will do a “brain dump” where I sit for 10 – 5 minutes and jot down every thought in my head — The good, the bad and (mostly) ugly. It’s such a refreshing exercise.
Box Breathe
This is a form of meditation, that is very popular with athletes, Navy Seals, police officers and nurses.
It’s a very simple exercise that I have done sitting on the couch, driving in the car or sitting at the dinner table. It doesn’t take much time at all, and the benefits are extraordinary. I find it helps calm my nerves, I am much more patient with the kids and gives me clarity.
Visualize
My Mom calls me a “dreamer” and I take absolutely ZERO offense to that.
Yes, I am a dreamer!
This is another exercise you can do just about anywhere (not driving as it helps to close your eyes when doing this). Not only is it an easy exercise, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Mission
This was somewhat of a bonus one, but another important one.
Have something that you’re working towards everyday. Even if it’s only 15 – 20 minutes a day. This is a great way to fulfill yourself. This is something you WANT to do, not something that someone is suggesting you do.
Lately, I have been publishing YouTube videos (subscribe to my channel here). It’s been about 6 weeks since I started publishing videos twice a week, and I have been learning video editing — something I have wanted to learn for years, but never made the time.
Now, I don’t expect Steven Spielberg to call me for E.T. 2, but I’ve got quite a bit better in the last month and a half. All self taught with FREE YouTube videos.
Also, I use a free video editing software called Davinci Resolve.
If you want to learn how to do just about anything, Google & YouTube will show you the way. It’s how I taught myself web design & internet marketing in 2010.
A few passion projects you could pursue:
Write a book
Start a blog
Build a business
Feed the homeless
Learn a new language
Get debt free
Do you have daily habits that are non-negotiable for you?
If so, I would love to hear about them in the comments below.
So, I am not just whistling dixie, I have years of blood, sweat & tears when it comes to Facebook advertising.
With that being said…
I would guesstimate that 75% of my ads STILL fail.
Yes, even after 7 years I still fail far more often than I succeed.
I am not going to share any tactical tips with you, as you can find those in Facebook groups, YouTube (check out my Facebook Adverting Tips & Tricks playlist here or places like Udemy.
Today, I want to share with you three mindset tips that’ll drastically reduce your learning curve.
It’s more of a mindset game than a tactical game when advertising online.
Not many will tell you this though, as it’s not as appealing.
Anywhoo…
Here are three tips that I wish I knew when I got started:
Do NOT get discouraged.
This is common in all advertising — online or offline.
You have to be willing to test, test and test some more.
You will fail — a lot!
That is ok.
You’re learning what is working and what is not, and this is extremely valuable. Never, ever look at it as losing money as many make this mistake.
You’re buying data that you can use for months/years to look back on.
Often times, I reference ads from 12+ months ago.
2. Never Assume
It shocks me how many times where I think — this will never work.
More times that I can count, that ad goes on to do great numbers.
It works the other way too. This ad is going to be AWESOME!
And it straight up bombs.
One of the many benefits of digital advertising is your ability to test several variations and get damn near instant feedback. This is not the case with TV, radio and/or billboard.
Test the weird ideas.
Test the conservative ideas.
Test it all.
It costs very little money to test, and it just takes one ad to really take off.
The more at bats, the more likelier you are to hit a homerun,
3. Everything revolves around your offer
This might just be the most important tip.
This is the case for all advertising/marketing.
You need to have what I call a Godfather like offer, one your target market simply cannot refuse.
Your targeting doesn’t have to be spot on, if you have an amazing offer.
This can make the difference between a wildly profitable campaign and one that makes you want to sprint to the liquor store and drown your sorrows in cheap $5 whiskey.
Your offer is something that’ll you’ll constantly refine. It’s not something that is ever really done or complete.
How do you improve your offer?
Ask your market what they want.
If the thought of setting up a Facebook ad makes you quiver and tremble, recently, I recorded ashockingly simplestep-by-step training on how to create a Facebook ad.
These are three things I wish I knew back in 2012 when I got started.
It would have saved me many sleepless nights, yelling at the neighbors and frequent trips to the liquor store.
I ended up creating a video around these tips, and added a fourth tip that it is often times overlooked:
If you ave any questions, please post them below and I will do my best to answer them.
😮 97% of the people leave your website without taking action
Never to be seen ever, ever again.
They were there…
And now they’re gone.
And getting them back to buy your products or services might leave you feeling like this:
However, there is a much easier (and more effective) way to advertise to the ones who “got away”.
We’re going to do this by leveraging the power of Facebook’s custom audiences.
Without a doubt, custom audiences can be the difference between a wildly profitable campaign and a campaign that forces you to sprint to the liquor store and drown your sorrows in cheap $5 whiskey.
So you might be asking yourself…
What are Facebook Custom Audiences?
A custom audience is an audience that you can create inside the Facebook platform of people who are already familiar with your brand. These people might have visited your website, online store, engaged with an ad, watched a video or liked your page.
You’re able to get your message in front of someone who’s already expressed interest in your product or service.
For example, let’s say someone reads a blog post on your website about how to get rid of their Dad bod. You can then show an ad to those specific people selling an online training program for exactly that — Shredding the dreaded Dad bod.
The audience is likely going to be much smaller, however, much more targeted as they’ve already expressed interest by reading the blog post. This is considered a “warm” audience, as they’ve already consumed content from you. Since they are familiar with you, they received value, they are much more likely to purchase whatever it is you’re selling.
What Types of Custom Audiences Are There?
I am going to cover 8 of the most popular custom audiences you can create inside Facebook.
Custom Audiences from Customer Lists
You must have permission for these audiences, but you can upload a customer list into Facebook to advertise to them. You can also create a look-a-like audience with this, where Facebook will go out and find more people who are similar to the customer list you uploaded.
For example, you upload a list of 1,500 customers. This list of customers seem to be male, 42 – 47, who like Tom Brady, Michigan football, the San Jose Sharks, The Office & Metallica. Facebook is going to go out and create a look-a-like audience of people who are similar to that.
Website Custom Audiences
Facebook allows you to advertise to anyone who’s visited your website in the last 180 days, if you have the Facebook pixel installed.
You don’t have the Facebook pixel installed? The link below is to a training I did on how you can do that:
You can get very creative with this one, and this is by far, my favorite type of custom audience. You only limited by your imagination.
For example, I could create a custom audience of anyone who’s read one of the 8 blog posts I have dealing with Facebook. With this audience, I could run an ad for a digital training program on Facebook advertising. Or I could run an ad promoting my Facebook advertising services, if that was something I offered.
If you need help on how to properly set up a Facebook ad, a few weeks ago I recorded a step-by-step training that you can see below:
This is a powerful one, and a must have if running video ads.
It seems Facebook favors video, and cannot recommend it enough to be a weapon in your online advertising arsenal.
With this one, you can create an audience of people who have watched a certain video or a group of videos. You group these audiences into the length they watched your videos. 25/50/75/95/100%.
For example,. let’s say you have 13 videos on how to potty training a Husky dog. You could group those videos together, and create an audience for anyone who’s watched at least 50% of any of the videos. You can then run an advertisement to these specific people selling an online training program regarding Husky dogs.
Lead Forms Audiences
If you’re generating leads inside Facebook using lead forms, you can create audiences for this, too.
Not sure what Facebook lead forms are?
I recorded a complete step-by-step guide on leads ads that you can access below:
With lead forms you do not have to tinker with landing pages or installing the pixel, bu can benefit from custom audiences.
For example, you could create a custom audience of any of the leads that were generated in the last 7 days and show them an ad (or multiple ads) or testimonials for happy customers.
Facebook Page
If someone has visited, engaged or saved a post on your Facebook business page, you can create an audience for this.
Instagram
Very similar to the audience above, just over on Instagram.
Mobile Custom Audiences
If you have a mobile app, you can create a custom audience of anyone who’s downloaded the app or engaged with it. I have absolutely zero experience with this audience.
Offline Activity
If someone has interacted with your busienss offline, you can create an audience for them.
According to Facebook – “Create a list of the people who interacted with your business in-store, by phone, or through other offline channels.”
Those are the types of Facebook custom audiences with a few examples on how to USE them.
If you’re looking to a step-by-step guide on how to create them, down below is a training walking you through the exact process:
