& how one eCommerce website grew 200% in just 3 months
Something I hear all the time from Productpreneurs and eCommerce business owners is:
“Facebook ads are really expensive and they don’t work that well. Yeah I get traffic and sales, but I’m not making any profits.”
Which, to be honest, it’s a wee-bit frustrating because, in the digital world, we need to think outside the box sometimes.
Also because I’ve watched a whole lot of eCommerce business owners see huge success using Facebook Ads. Like, MASSIVE success.
It’s true that eCommerce businesses need to take a slightly different approach than service business owners do when it comes to profiting with paid traffic from Facebook.
And we also need to take a vastly different approach to traditional online advertising (such as Google ads).
It’s about following a few simple strategies…
Let me show you how one client store grew sales 200% in 3 months…
Meet Aussie kids fashion designer, Andrea…
My client, Andrea, founder of Kapow Kids Clothing, was inspired to start her label purely so she could create some cool threads for her son.
When we worked together earlier this year, she’d already developed a strong following on Instagram and had a solid wholesale business as well.
But her online sales weren’t that crash hot. A situation she really wanted to improve on!
Not only are profit margins more attractive from online sales, but she’d also ordered double the amount of stock compared to her previous season.
Now she had to figure out how to sell it all!
Master Facebook ads for eCommerce
Andrea freely says, “I had tried to do Facebook ads before, but they never seemed to work!”
She knew her customers were on Facebook and Instagram, but her ads weren’t reaching them or convincing them to click through and buy. This is so common!
Now she has her ads up and running and kicking-ass. But not only that, she also knows how to track the effectiveness of the ads and whether they are generating sales for a reasonable price.
How did she do this?
The 3-step Facebook Ad funnel
The biggest issue I see with eCommerce businesses advertising on Facebook, is that they only run one ad (or stick to boosting posts).
And when they complain that their ads are too expensive, the problem isn’t that Facebook ads don’t work, it’s that they only ran one ad!
In reality, you need to match your ads to the different stages of your customers’ buyer journey.
That means, one ad to capture their attention, one ad to get them to your site, and one ad to convert the first sale.
Here’s how.
Step 1: The attention grabbing ad
The first ad you run should simply capture your intended audience’s attention. This kind of ad can actually be a boosted post (as long as you select an appropriate audience for it), or it could be a video.
You want to show this ad to a cold audience, meaning people who don’t know you or your brand from a bar of soap.
I like a mix of interests and lookalike audiences for this ad.
Step 2: The traffic generating ad
Once you’ve captured people’s attention with your first ad, and started building an engaged audience, you then want to re-target that audience with your second ad.
This ad needs to have some kind of enticing offer that’s specifically designed to get them clicking over to your website.
The goal of this ad is to get the click (and I would also expect you’ll make a few sales off this ad, although the cost per sale is likely to be higher than you’d like. That’s OK – we’ll bring the average cost per sale down on the next ad!)
Step 3: The sales generating ad
Once you get people over to your website, they’re much warmer leads. But it’s unlikely many will purchase from you on their first visit to your website.
The third ad, then, is designed to retarget the people who’ve clicked over to your website and entice them back to buy.
You can do this with Facebook’s really cool ‘dynamic product retargeting’ ads.
(If you’ve ever noticed your favourite brands seem to follow you around on Facebook with ads showing products you literally just looked at on their website – that’s one of these ads, and they really really work!)
Grab my free eGuide: 5 Facebook Ad Strategies for eCommerce businesses
If you’re unsure how to get started with Facebook Advertising, then my eGuide is a must for you.
Having worked with over 100 eCommerce clients just this year, I know exactly what’s working for eCommerce, what isn’t working, and how to optimise your Facebook ads to drive traffic and sales online.
Don’t lose out on your share of online sales with a poor ad campaign! Learn five of the strategies I use to help Productpreneurs and online retailers increase traffic and sales.
Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome!
Love this Catherine!
I’m glad!