My Big Stupid Traffic Tragedy - Why Facebook Ads Is not The Magic Pill It's Hyped Up To Be

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My Big Stupid Traffic Tragedy - Why Facebook Ads Is not The Magic Pill It's Hyped Up To Be

True story -

I had a really rough start in marketing because I listened to all the online hype about Facebook Ads and their magic.

In fact, my first campaign for a paying client was a total disaster because of it.

So here's what happened -

I was contacted by a local ad agency that did this project for a professional school that was willingly looking to get more applications for the next year.

They wanted me to do the online campaign while they took care of the offline stuff.

I was a totally sticky-wet newbie, and of all the dumb mistakes I did in that campaign, the one that hurts me thinking about (because that's what down-right created the failure and cost me the most time) was ...

I Did not Do Enough Market Research

As many newbies think, I thought back then that enough traffic can solve any problem and that everyone's on Facebook, so you can never go wrong with Facebook ads.

Boy did I get a cold hard slap-in-the-face of reality ...

I tested so many thoughts and angles in this campaign (some of 'em really good), only to ever understand that I'm 1000 miles down the wrong path because ...

The Prospects Are Not Even On Facebook!

Can you comprehend how humilated and stupid I felt for not understanding that sooner ?!

That there is a slight possibility that Facebook Ads (or any social media marketing for that matter) does not fit your crow because they're not on Facebook - Duh ?!

I mean I kept on drinking the Facebook gurus kool-aid without even understanding what's REALLY going on ... goes to show there's no one-size-fits-all template in marketing - every niche / campaign / product should be scientifically tested on its own, regardless of anyone's opinion

Had I known what I've learned since then, I would have tried other traffic sources, and that's how this ties in with practically any business -

Facebook Ads Is not Some Magical Customer Lot And Traffic Is Rarely The Problem

I mean why even limit yourself to just one traffic medium when there are so many nowdays?

It's kinda like your stock portfolio - you want to diversify it (at least in the early stages), pick the winners and drop the losers after seeing what works.

And that's the danger of counting on marketing that depends on only one medium, let alone some dude who calls himself a digital marketer who uses Facebook Ads regardless of your niche and audience.

Understanding that a marketing strategy and fundamentals trumps all tactics

So the first thing your marketing should focus on when looking for what mediums to advertise in is -

Where's my market at?

Where does my audience congregate?

If your audience is retired senior citizens - it does not make much sense advertising on Facebook is there?

Sounds straight-up simple but you would not believe how many "online marketing gurus" do not pay attention to these important things.

Only after considering the relevant possibilities you should check which traffic sources to test.

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Source by Shlomi Shraga