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Not a day goes that I don’t get a question about Facebook, or get an email from a so-called “guru” selling me on the latest Facebook advertising strategies.

Truth be told, Facebook is one of the sexiest marketing topics of the few years, and everyone is talking about it.

The problem is, for those advertising on Facebook, most are doing it incorrectly – and inadvertently wasting money.

So, let’s talk about why most people inadvertently leak profits on subpar Facebook advertising results…

…And how to use Facebook the right way.

When you think about how most people teach you advertise on Facebook, there are three main buckets they put you in:

  1. Interest Targeting
  2. Remarketing
  3. Custom Audiences

Typically, most rookie advertisers are dumping most (if not all) of their marketing budget into interest targeting, looking for new customers and new leads.

And herein lies the problem…

Charles Kirkland of the Media Buyer Association is a great example:

Charles got his black belt in Tae Kwon Do 13 years ago. Back then, he was an active martial artist and happily invested hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars pursuing his interest.

Then, as Facebook got more popular, he liked pages related to the sport.

He was an active participant and a buyer.

Over time, his interests changed. He no longer trained, and began to lose interest in Tae Kwon Do. Now, even though he’s no longer an active participant, his Facebook profile identifies him as someone who “likes Tae Kwon Do.”

Like many of us – once your interests change, you don’t go back to your Facebook profile and change your “liked” pages. For fun, I went to my own personal Facebook page and realized that I like what appears to be hundreds of pages (and I don’t even remember liking most of them)!

Aside from the usual channels, take time to check out a few other alternative digital marketing networks that could boost your advertising campaigns (while costing you a lot less.)

So, here’s the deal:

If I was a betting man, and I took the time to go through your entire Facebook profile and all the pages you currently like – I’m guessing that, like Charles, somewhere around 50% of your “liked” pages aren’t relevant to you right now.

Heck, most of us (like me) forgot what pages we like!

However, if I were a typical Facebook advertiser, I would create a campaign for everyone who likes Tae Kwon Do and between the ages of 25 and 55.

Then Facebook would serve my ads to all these people AND I’ll pay Facebook – not on how many people clicked my ads, but rather, based on CPM (cost per thousand views).

You’re paying for everyone – including those interested, and others who might not be interested in your product right now. Regardless of their interest, they get served the ad because they liked the page.

Bummer…

And totally inefficient.

Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule… And yes, you can make this interest targeting work… However, just because it works, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better and more effective solution for you.

So, let’s take a step back and look at this from another perspective.

When you’re surfing Facebook, are you in a peak buying state? Are you “hot” and ready to make a buying decision?

Likely, you’re not.

So, when you’re targeting by interest group, not only are you targeting people who aren’t necessarily interested in you in a general way – you’re also targeting people who might not be interested in buying right now either.

And that’s why so much of Facebook advertising is wasted.

You see, if you wanted to buy a Tae Kwon Do uniform right now, what’s the first thing you would do?

Like most people, you’d jump on Google and do a search.

Initially, you’d look up: “Tae Kwon Do uniform.”

Then, as you get “hotter” and more into the buying state, you’d get more specific. Perhaps you’d type in: “black Tae Kwon Do uniform.”

Then maybe: “black lightweight Tae Known Do uniform.”

Best… Cheapest…Tiger Claw…Buy… And so forth.

The more specific the keyword, the “hotter” the buyer.

Therefore, to “strike while they’re hot,” your strategy should target these folks – first – on Google.

AND…

(This is where it gets really lucrative for you…)

For those people who visited your website and didn’t buy – because you’ve identified them as being in the market for your product or service – you retarget using:

  • Facebook
  • Adroll or Perfect Audience
  • Google Remarketing

Because you’re retargeting – now everywhere they go around the internet, they’ll see your ad.

This will make your marketing dollars more efficient, yield a better response, and bring you more sales.

We’ve done retargeting in the past, and heard people tell us: “Wow! You guys are everywhere!”

^ When you hear that from your buyers, you’re dominating the media space and increasing your odds for success.

Furthermore, in addition to using Facebook for retargeting, our best ROI to date has been from creating custom audiences (uploading email addresses directly into Facebook for targeted campaigns), as well as creating a custom campaign for anyone who opted out (yes – contrary to popular belief, this targeted audience has proven to yield a significant ROI).

So there you have it…

We use Google identify our hot buyers… Then retarget the rest to keep top-of-mind and re-engage our lost prospects.

what now?

Continue reading for more resourceful information.

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