Home > Facebook & Instagram > Follow-along Campaigns

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First Attempt at PPC Ever (29)

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So, I just joined STM this week, and I started my first campaigns today.

I'm following the advice in the get started ebook, and I'm sticking to Facebook for at least 30 days before trying anything else. I know from past experience that lack of focus is a big problem, so hopefully if I can keep my nose to the grindstone for 30 days I'll actually see some progress.

My First Campaigns
I'm doing a gaming offer through Peerfly.

The payout is < $5.

I created one campaign targeting 13 - 23 yo people in the US (because the offer is US only) who are interested in this type of game. The potential reach in this category is < 5k. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. If anyone has any input on that, I'd be glad to hear it.

I wanted to test out more images, but I ran out of time today and only got 6 different ones up. But it's already been interesting to see, just from those 6, how much difference the picture makes. At the end of the first day, my best ad is at 0.507% CTR, 2nd best is 0.219%, 3rd best: 0.117%. (Are these good numbers?)

When I first created the ads, the recommended bid price was $0.30 - $0.60, but FB is now recommending $0.10. My avg. CPC for the ads is $0.09, $0.22, and $0.23, respectively.

(The other ads in the campaign haven't received any clicks at all.)

So far I've only been testing different images; the copy is the same on all the ads.

I'm not sure how quickly a conversion will show up in Peerfly, but I'm not seeing anything in there right now. So I might well be at -100% ROI.

I created a second campaign with the same ads as the first; the only difference is I changed the age range to 24-34 yo. The recommended bid was higher for this demo, but I set it the same as the first.

For some reason, the FB ad manager kept popping up telling me my payment method hadn't been activated, so none of the ads in this campaign ran today, even though I kept clicking the link to activate payment. It's also confusing because I'm using the same account and the other campaign ran fine.

Peculiarities with PeerFly:
FB doesn't let me link directly to the offer page, but I don't want to make a landing page either, so my affiliate manager recommended I make an iframe on a page on my site. I read that this is not allowed on AdWords, but idk about FB's policy on it. They approved all my ads, so either they don't care or they didn't take the time to check.

I put the conversion tracker pixel on this page, but I'm not sure how it will work with it being on a page with an iframe. If it doesn't work I'm not sure how I will track conversions based on the ad that they came from. Has anyone else here dealt with this? What do you recommend?

Plans for Tomorrow
I'm going to tweak my bid amounts, add more images, split test copy, potentially start other campaigns.

Thanks for reading. Any feedback is very welcome.

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Top recommendation: get yourself accounts with a few other affiliate networks with the same offer if you can, and split-test between them. This is almost ALWAYS a good idea!

Tracking pixel - I may be misunderstanding here, but if you've added it to your iframe page, that's not the right way to do it. You should enter this in Peerfly's system, rather than putting it on your page. (Apologies if you knew that already!)

0.507% CTR is pretty good! Keep testing and you could be off to a very good start.

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I hadn't thought of doing this before. Could you expand on why this is a good idea?

You were not misunderstanding at all. I had it on the iframe (which I didn't think was right, but I didn't know any better). I really appreciate you letting me know about entering it through PeerFly's system.

Unfortunately the offer I'm using doesn't support using the FB pixel. Without knowing which ads are converting (if they ever do), I'm flying blind. PeerFly has a "postback" system but my AM said that doesn't work with FB.

Is there something else I can do to track this? Or should I just move to a different offer? (or see if I can find the same offer through a different network as you said above)

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@avidnetizen

Use OfferVault to see where you offer is also being offered at and sign up for those networks. Another networks might have higher payouts and sometimes it's best to rotate the same offer from different networks because some networks can be shady and shave leads.

You can enter FB conversion tracking code (basically the tracking pixel) by going to the offer page on PF and clicking Tracking Pixel on the left handside. (see below)



In this case, this offer don't allow for Tracking Pixel but uses Global Postback which you get get from Prosper is your using that to track your campaigns/ads.

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Different networks convert at different rates. Exactly why that happens is a hell of a complex question - I'd start spouting about database structures, server loads, redirect times and similar things - but the short version is that it's entirely possible the same offer on two different networks will convert at massively different rates - I've seen +-50% in the past.

Peerfly should have a system where you can view converting subids in their tracker - ask your AM. It's not the best way to go - get yourself a tracking server set up as soon as possible - but it'll do in a pinch.

In the medium term, you should definitely get yourself a dedicated tracking server. Beyond Hosting do a deal for Stack That Money members which is very affordable, and worth its weight in gold.

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The US can be a pretty tough place to start running gaming offers on FB. Typically the click costs are fairly high and it's hard (not impossible) to get them down low enough for a game to be profitable. How specific did you make your targeting? <5k reach is not much at all and the campaign will burn out pretty quickly.

It should show up instantly when the conversion occurs. Most offers on most CPA networks provide real time tracking.

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Thank you everyone for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

@punkcash

yeah I looked there but the offer I chose doesn't support the tracking pixel

@caurmen
That's crazy! I found another network with the same offer, so I applied with them too. They also have a larger payout.

@coop
I think you're right. I started a new campaign for a different offer in New Zealand.

I'll fill in more details soon.

Thanks again.

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I targeted people who like the game genre, the location (i.e., USA), and the age. Perhaps that's too targeted?

What kind of reach should I be looking for?

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Day 2
With the information I got from my first day, I identified the best two pictures of the first campaign. I found/created 4 additional pictures and I wrote two pieces of copy to split test on each picture. I also opened up the age range to 18 - 40 yo.

The only ad of that group that got any clicks wound up with a 0.546% CTR and 16% conversion rate. Subtracting the avg CPC from the payout, if I could continue with this conversion rate I would have a $0.35 EPC -- that's 100-140% ROI.

All this would be great except that those numbers are based on one conversion, so the data may not even be statistically relevant.

I'm still waiting for approval from the other ad network so I can split test the networks.

I also started working with a new offer. It's also gaming, but it's open to more countries besides the US, so I decided to give it a try. I started a campaign in New Zealand and one in Canada.

When I tried targeting the specific game genre, I wound up with a potential reach of 20 people, so I expanded that out to anyone who likes video games. The offer is just an email opt-in, so I didn't filter by age. For my Canadian campaign, that means I have a potential reach of 3,000,000. The demo settings are the same for New Zealand, and I have a potential reach of 360k.

Question: What kind of reach should I be looking for?

Results: No clicks on any of the ads in my NZ or CA campaigns yet. I think I need better pictures.

Day 3
I started a new campaign for a health supplement. The offer is limited to the US, so I set that as a target and also anyone who likes Weight Watchers who is 18 or older (if the offer sells anything, targeting 18+ seems like a good idea to me because they would be more likely than a minor to actually convert -- is this accurate?).

Potential reach: 3.6 million.

I think perhaps I should come up with different angles for men and women.

Question: Starting out, do you think it is easier working with an offer that converts on opt-in instead of one that requires an actual sale?

So far this campaign has received 2 clicks - no conversions: CTR = 0.101%

I need to solidify my angle, write better copy, perhaps find better images

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Same Offer; New Network

My application to Lead Kitchen was approved, so I can start split testing them against PeerFly. Their campaign also let's me use my Facebook tracking pixel, which is another plus.

My So Far Disappointing Results
Since I started my ad campaigns last week I've had only one conversion.

My first MMORPG offer only has one ad that's getting clicks. That ad currently has a CTR of 0.322% and an avg CPC of $0.18. This is the ad that made a conversion, but it works out to -41.5% ROI. If I factor in my ad spend across all my campaigns, it's an ROI of -97.5%.

Results in Tweaking Copy
I started a new campaign on Saturday for a weight loss supplement. I studied some other ads and adjusted my headline and the body text of the ad. The original ad had a 0.1% CTR. The new ad has 0.116% CTR.

Question: A "conversion" for this offer means the prospect has to buy something. Do you find that for offers where they have to make a purchase to convert that it works better to send them to a landing page first instead of directly to the offer's landing page?

International Campaigns
I started a campaign in New Zealand and one in Canada for a free MMO game. The New Zealand ads have received zero clicks. I've had only one click for my Canadian ads. No conversions. I definitely need to find better pictures for these ads.

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Good progress! Also, the fact that you're doing the math on your profitability is definitely a good thing - although, as you say, do bear statistical significance in mind!

I'd recommend sticking with one vertical whilst you're learning - that'll speed up your path to profitability. MMORPGs are a very different sales proposition to health supplements - concentrate on one area first, get that profitable, then move on to others.

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Thanks for the feedback.

I'm pausing the supplement campaign. I'm going to see what I can do with the MMORPG offers.

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This is the end of my fifth day in Facebook PPC.

I paused my supplement campaign, so now I have ads up for four different offers: 3 in the US and 1 in Canada and New Zealand. I've written more about my first US offer than the ones in Canada and New Zealand. It converts on registration, but so far I've had no conversions. The pictures I was using at first were pretty bad. I posted a new pic today and I got 0.027% CTR. Facebook gave this ad 14,000+ impressions whereas the next closest ad got ~750 and the rest were just over double digits.

Question: Since I've had so many impressions and not many clicks, do you think I should change my targeting? Or is it probably more of an indication that I still don't have the copy/picture right?

I started a couple new offers today, both in the gaming vertical, both for browser based games, and both convert on registration. I'm hoping that since they don't require an actual sale that I'll manage a higher conversion rate.

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I'd recommend three things:

1) Post more ads. Lots of ads. And make them as different as possible. If you can, take some time to observe what pics other people are running, and try to copy the elements that make them successful. (If you can afford it, a spy tool like SocialAdNinja is well worth it.) Currently you're still in the "looking for good images" stage of optimisation.
2) Try split-testing a landing page. I know this is a non-trivial amount of additional setup, but there's a reason that all us experienced affiliates keep going on about landing pages Often, they can significantly boost conversion rates. For MMORPGs, I'd try something with some video.
3) Are you split-testing your offers? If you possibly can, test each of your offers on a couple of different affiliate networks - it can make a hell of a difference.

Also, you can probably reduce the amount of impressions you're giving each ad. Anything that hasn't had a click after 1,500 impressions can probably go, and you can probably assume that anything that's doing less than 0.1% CTR after 5k impressions isn't going to be much use to you.

Nice work and keep going - you're definitely getting there!

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This is exactly the feedback I needed. Thank you!

This really helps me know what I need to be doing. I'm going to clear out the duds, test more images, test landing pages, and split test different networks.

I'll post my results soon.

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Update
I stopped my ads last week because they weren't converting, then some things came up that kept me away for a few days. But I'm back at it this week.

I got a VPS from Beyond Hosting to host landing pages and track my stats. I set up 3 new ads today to test out some new pictures and to figure out how Prosper202 works.

My plan for this week is to test more images and landing pages.

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Good stuff - more tracking will probably help you out a lot.

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Good News

I made an ad that converts.

CTR: 0.096%
CVR: 11.5%

I need to keep testing though because even though I got some conversions, I was still in the red.

ROI: -34%

This particular ad was a direct link to the offer. I was split testing a landing page that has gotten 0 conversions.

Why this ad worked

I think this ad converted because it had a good, relevant picture and because the ad copy was intriguing and in-line with the copy on the offer page.

Other network issues

The offer I'm promoting is through PeerFly. I applied to PointClickTrack (because OfferVault said they have the same offer) to test the different networks, but I ran into a problem. PeerFly's offer says Social PPC is allowed while PCT's offer page says Social PPC is not allowed. I guess I should look for other networks?

Moving forward

I'm going to test more pictures to try to get a higher CTR.

I'm also going to see if tweaking my targeting options does anything. I was targeting males between 13 - 34 who are interested in this genre. Today I'm trying out men and women between 13 - 34 who have a precise interest in this genre and a broad interest of liking PC/Online games.

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Aren't PointClickTrack an incentized network ?

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Definitely, definitely look for, join and test with other networks. You'll be amazed at the difference in CVRs between networks sometimes.

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They have both incent and non-incent offers.

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Progress Report

Of all the different ad variations I had running, the only one that was consistently converting wasn't converting enough to cover the cost of the clicks. For that ad alone the ROI averaged about -78%. Reading your thread on doing the math, I figured that I needed to change some things, so I started looking for offers in countries other than the US.

I started a new campaign in Ireland. My offer has a higher payout and the CPC is lower, so we'll see how this one goes.

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can you expand on this? how did you do that?

did you just create a landing page on your facebook page? with iframe?

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I was doing it the wrong way.

The reason I was using an iframe is because Facebook won't let me direct-link to a Peerfly aff url (not sure why). So I had a page set up on my own server that was purely there to show the offer's LP. Putting a conversion pixel on my page was not the right way to do it. It turns out that there's a place on the Peerfly offer page where you can enter your conversion pixel from Facebook.

However, I never thought about putting an iframe into a Facebook page. Can that be done? And has anyone had success with it?

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Long Overdue Update

I finally made an ad with a positive ROI, though not by much. It was making about $0.05 profit per conversion. I was planning to scale that up and see if I could make some money, but I ran out of cash in the account I'm funding my Facebook ads with (question: do most of you guys use credit cards or what?).

When I got some more cash in the account, I made a pretty dumb mistake. Instead of restarting the ad that was making a profit, I ran some new ones. It wasn't until they weren't converting at all that I realized what I had done. So I stopped those and restarted the profitable ad. I'm not sure what happened though because the formerly profitable ad wasn't converting anymore either.

I was kind of bummed, and then Grand Theft Auto V came out. A perfect storm for procrastination.

I was reinvigorated when I read Charles Ngo's story today at work (http://www.charlesngo.com/the-rise-of-ngo-chapter-1/), and I'm going to get back to it until I start stacking that money.

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I was struggling to make much progress, so I decided to set a very clear plan and execute one step at a time until I make a campaign that works. Phase 1 was to narrow down my demographic by country. The offer I'm promoting is available to 4 different countries, so I set up a separate Facebook ad campaign for each country. Since I don't have a lot of spare cash at the moment (long story involving the gov't, my employer, and empty promises) I gave each campaign a smallish budget and let them run for a day.

Note: I created 4 identical ads for each campaign because I read on here that you can get wildly fluctuating CTRs and impressions even with the same ad.

These are the results.

Interpretation:
Not only did the campaign in country 4 have the highest conversion rate, it also had the most clicks and the cheapest average CPC. So, obviously I will move forward to Phase 2 with advertising in Country 4.

The payout for the offer is $2.40, so the campaign in Country 4 still had a negative ROI: -27.05%, but I think that as I narrow down the demographic more and tweak the ad, I might be able to get that in the black.

Phase 2 is narrowing by age.

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Having the most success with Country 4 in Phase 1, I proceeded with that country for Phase 2 -- age range split testing.

Here are the results:

13--17 --

Reach: 9,839
Freq: 2.8
Clicks: 18
Total Spent: $5.00
CTR: 0.064% (best ad: .069% with 18 clicks)
Avg. CPC: $0.28

18--22 --

Reach: 21,124
Freq: 2.9
Clicks: 12
Total Spent: $4.87
CTR: 0.019% (best ad: .022% with 10 clicks)
Avg. CPC: $0.4058

23--27 --

Reach: 14,256
Freq: 2.4
Clicks: 15
Total Spent: $5.00
CTR: 0.043% (best ad: .059% with 12 clicks)
Avg. CPC: $0.3333

28+ --

Reach: 21,911
Freq: 1.9
Clicks: 19
Total Spent: $5.57
CTR: 0.048% (best ad: .065% with 15 clicks)
Avg. CPC: $0.2931


I had 0 conversions, so I'm going to proceed with the demographic with the best click rate: 13 -- 17.

If this is the wrong way to think about it, or if you have any other suggestions, please share!

Phase 3 is testing pics.

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Bear in mind that the age results are *very* likely to be tied to the specific image you were running. Personally I'd recommend combining pic and age research: show multiple pics to each age range. I know you're cash-limited, but even a few different pics (make sure they're very different indeed) will reduce your chances of getting faulty information.

Other than that, though, I'd say you've got a very solid approach here. Test everything, test often, and be rigorous about it. Nice one.

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Different age groups respond differently on ad images. I try to create 5 different camps with the same title+copy+image for fir different age group and to see which bracket gives me the highest CTR & why.

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