I Spent $100 on Facebook Ads: Here’s What I Learned
As regular readers know, I’m currently building a new dropshipping store.
Going against most of my own advice: I’m jumping straight into FB ads (no IG shoutouts), doing a general store (not a niche store) and I’m using a new method for testing FB ads (more on this later in the email).
So far, I’ve made 0 sales.
I’m already starting to miss my niche stores with their powerful Lookalike Audiences generated from my IG sales…
This little experiment is confirming much of what I teach in my course:
- Niche stores are easier to start than general ones
- IG influencer shoutouts are the easiest way to get your first few sales
- Lookalike Audiences are KING on Facebook
I already knew all of that, but it’s kind of nice to see it confirmed by the data in real life… Even if that means me losing some money on ad spend.
Ultimately, I’m testing all these new methods to become a better teacher.
I know my method as laid out in Start Dropshipping Stuff works. It works consistently for me and my early students are seeing results too.
However, just because it works, doesn’t mean it’s the only or best way to build a store.
That’s why I’m always testing new things: I need to keep learning & improving. Not just for myself, but also for you guys.
So, what have these intial 7 campaigns taught me?
First, let me tell you what I’ve tried:
- 5 products (2 different types)
- 1 ad set per product type –> Interest targeting (narrowed down to the 150k-300k range)
- 1 ad for each product
- I started all products on a PPE campaign. Yes, an engagement campaign instead of the usual conversion objective I recommend.
I followed a system from YouTube that Nate mentioned on Twitter. The guy talked a good game & I wanted to try his FB ads system.
The result?
So far, not too pleasing.
Sure, it’s only 5 campaigns which isn’t anywhere close to enough to truly judge a FB ads method.
What bothered me were the high cost per clicks: At $1 per click, you’re never going to be profitable dropshipping these types of products ($10-20 profit margin).
So what I did next was take the 2 best products and duplicate the ad set into an Add to Cart campaign. The results are looking a lot more promising, but still no sales.
CPMs (cost per 1000 impressions) are trending downwards nicely though. And the cost per click has gone down by 90% compared to the PPE campaign.
All good signs, but ultimately, the only thing that matters are sales. That’s the point I hammer home in my course and it bears repeating here.
So what are the lessons from this whole experience?
FB ads are an expensive way to test new products
Using a Lookalike audience is the best way to test products once you’ve got a customer list.
Be willing to try new methods. Look at the data to see whether it’s worthwhile or not.
You’ll need to test many products before finding one that converts. Accept that as fact and act accordingly.
That’s about all I have for you today.
Time for me to get back to testing new products.
I’m also going to set up 3-5 campaigns for new products on one of my existing stores.
It’s amazing how much easier testing becomes once you’ve got an LLA. Getting there is the struggle as we all know…
I still think IG influencers are the most cost-effective way to do it. If you want to learn my system for that, it’s all in the dropshipping course.
See you tomorrow,
James Holt