What I’m really asking is; did the Facebook ad that I purchased get me more sales? Well, lets look at the data. Below is the ad that I posted.
My first mistake that I noticed was that I completely forgot to even mention in the ad that it was an ebook! My heart sank because I already paid for it so it could not be changed. I pictured Thor standing behind me with Mjolnir giving me love taps on the back of the head.
In any case at least I learned my lesson about being specific before I place ads. Some key information;
How much did I pay for the ad?
– Just $5.00
What did Facebook Promise?
– Anywhere from 1,000 – 2,500 additional people reached with my ad.
How did the ad perform?
– That’s kind of mixed. The paid ad itself reached 989 people. Now that’s a pretty good number but I’ve hit that on my own before without paying for it.
Did I get more sales than usual?
– No. Not at all. In fact this was my worst .99 cent sale since I’ve been doing them. Now, I can’t blame Facebook for that since I use several methods to communicate my product. Not to mention that timing is EVERYTHING. Many books go on sale on a daily basis and I think this time my book was simply drowned out on Amazon. Sometimes I sell more books at the full price than at the discount price.
Below are some stats from the Facebook ad.
So what did I get out of the ad?
1. Facebook Likes!!! Exposure!!!
– I got about 10 – 15 Facebook likes which is fantastic because it’s been slow going to build my facebook audience.
2. Organic Reach – Exposure!!!
– Even though the paid ad only hit 989 the organic reach has continued well beyond the ad period. Below is a pic of the current reach, 2,238 people!!!! Now that is a level of reach I have not been able to do on my own. It continues to eeekkk out more people and hopefully more sales.
End results, I think most of my sales came from two critical venues, the first being Amazon itself. Amazon is a monster and if they push your content it will sell to someone. The second is social media connections, I had several Viking related pages that I chat with on a regular basis help me get the book out there. Some of their followers even confirmed that they purchased the book. Am I telling you to stay away from Facebook Ads? Absolutely not, timing is everything and who knows, Facebook may get your info into the hands of the right people. Good luck!
David Roach, Author of Marauder
D.W. Roach "Marauder" 