With the explosion of the ecommerce industry in recent years, the need to gain a competitive edge in the market has intensified as more and more companies emerge. With this incoming surge of ecommerce brands entering the market, companies are finding it increasingly challenging to compete online. They realize the need to put in more and more energy and resources to achieve the same sales volumes that they may have achieved just a few years ago. As a result, an increasing number of freelancers and agencies are emerging to meet the marketing and advertising needs of these companies.
What's also taking place; however, is a flood of "marketing gurus" who are hastily pasting together ill-conceived, incomplete courses. These slap-dash programs churn out thousands and thousands of incompetent marketers and advertisers per month, who have been enticed by the glitz and glamour of the latest biz opp pitch for a life of wealth and freedom.
Plus, these insufficient courses lead to an incomplete understanding of Facebook ads. Misguided marketers and advertisers are ill-equipped to handle implementation and onboarding as they take on clients without knowing whether or not they can actually get sales for those specific companies and hit their revenue goals or Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) targets.
Ugh.
Get Facebook Ads support by asking the right questions.
With my help, you’ll:
Ready? Let's do this.
There are a few questions and considerations that you need to ask and investigate right off the bat.
Do they specialize in your niche?
Not all Facebook advertisers are created equal. If your freelancer or agency doesn't have a specialty and claims to work with any niche, you should be concerned. From ecommerce to entertainment and nightlife, effective Facebookads require a completely different approach and methodology for each industry. Only work with Facebook advertisers who have demonstrated replicable results in your niche.
Have they made sure that you're even prepared to run profitable ads?
I'll be blunt. Results vary. Some brands can and will see stellar returns right out of the gate; others require a month or two of optimization to get there. We've garnered 5x to 42x ROAS for our brands. The reality is that Facebook ads won't have the same level of effectiveness for every company in every stage of business.
Your likelihood of garnering profitable returns in your first quarter of your build declines if you:
So, if you're going to make Facebook advertising a part of your marketing strategy, you need to be prepared for that. Especially if you're pulling in less than $30K per month from your ecommerce store, you may need to give your system, and your advertiser, a little time. If you're running on fumes, however, you're going to be panicked. You're going to be tempted to start flipping switches on and off in the ads manager which is going to drive your advertiser nuts. As mentioned in the last point, you’re much better off working one-on-one with an ads consultant who can show you how to build this on your own. Your DIY education can help you at least bootstrap intelligently without having to pay monthly ads management fees.
Any Facebook advertiser worth their fee will first conduct an internal, in-depth analysis and audit before they ever send you a contract. This analysis should be based on your store's economics to help determine if Facebook ads would be a profitable approach for you. The success of an ad campaign will ultimately come down to the numbers, and you need to be concerned if that's not the language your advertiser is speaking during the course of your initial discussions.
Facebook advertising can be an extremely lucrative option for ecommerce stores, but you need to make sure your store is prepared. If one to three of the above bullet points apply to you, I encourage you to reach out to us and let us assess if your store is actually ready for a Facebook advertising system. If you’re not ready for Facebook ads, we'll show you how to lay the right foundation and get prepared to hit the ground running. If four or more apply to you, you've got some work to do.
Things to consider before hiring a Facebook Ads professional or agency.
When shopping for Facebook ads professionals, here are some factors to consider and inquire about:
Determine what's included in their fee and what isn't.
You’ve got to compare apples and oranges when dealing with media buyers, and the only way to do that is to simply ask: What is your process? Before you compare prices, know and understand what you're actually paying for. Because clients and customers typically require multiple touch points (between 7 and 12) before they're willing to reach for their credit cards and buy from an unfamiliar brand, paying $2,000/month to get two ads out that haven't even been split-tested or have poorly formed targeting approaches is a huge money waster. Compare this scenario to paying $5,000 to $8,000/month to get out an optimized ad system made up of 12-16 accurately-targeted, split-tested ads that each resonate with and guide your audience along each step of your funnel. These ads will work together to form an evergreen, high-yield, sales-generating machine.
Even though the latter scenario sounds like a dream, realize that highly profitable campaigns require real work and real work requires real time, expertise, and effort. Always compare the value of various marketers to make your decision to ensure you’re getting quality and experience. Rates for Facebook advertising services typically range from $2500/month (bargain-bin marketers) to $100K/month (agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi.) The services and attention your brand will be getting with a $2,500/month service versus even a $5,000/month service are not even remotely alike. The rationale is simple… the less you spend, the more clients the agency needs to take on in order to pay their staff, cover their costs, and remain profitable.
How many accounts is each account manager responsible for, and is there a forced cap on the number of accounts any one manager is allowed to take on a monthly basis?
Any more than four per manager and I promise you: you've got poorly serviced ad accounts on your hands that aren't receiving the attention required for high-yield results and are not maximizing returns. In case you're wondering, at KRA our monthly account maximum per account manager for ecommerce is three.
The road to Facebook Ads profitability.
Building, maintaining, and scaling advertising campaigns for ecommerce brands requires a level of time and effort that bargain-bin marketers simply cannot provide. Think about it. You're building a system that's going to ask people to give you money for products that they can't see or touch for themselves. You want them to take your word that they'll receive what's being advertised and will experience your promised level of quality and craftsmanship. That takes some doing. An advertising agency cannot sustain a $7,000/month per customer model, hit their own revenue and profit requirements, and STILL provide the level of service and attention required to get you the high-yield returns you're looking for. At that level, they need to bring in way more clients than they can properly serve. The math simply doesn't work out.
The difference in results can be staggering. Accounts previously managed by a bargain-bin marketer garnering 7x return on ad spend (ROAS) have garnered 30x ROAS in our hands! Of course, 7x is nothing to sneeze at.
But isn't 30x so much better?
So, is your company ready? Schedule an ads campaign audit with us and let us run an assessment for you. We'll also diagnose your current or past ad campaigns and see where you went wrong and how you can get back on track. And it's all free. Just click here: https://hubs.la/H0GTJQR0