You’re keen to start running Facebook ads. As an e-comm brand you want the world to see your products and for those sales to roll in. But WAIT… have you got the foundations in place?  

Easy, right? Let’s get an image, write some copy and crack on…

Or let’s not. 

How about we just take five to assess what’s really involved in getting up and running?

After all, no one wants to waste money… or time. There’s no place for all that when you’re running a business – every moment, and every pound (or dollar!) counts.

Let’s break this down into five easy steps. Ready? Let’s go.

1. Is there actually a market for your product? And are you already getting organic sales?

Ok, so we’ve gone in on a bit of a harsh truth here.

But you won’t hear me apologising! You see, if you’re not already getting sales organically for your products, ads aren’t necessarily going to help.

Ads are there to amplify existing sales.

Running ads when you’re not sure if there’s market fit, is one sure-fire way to kiss goodbye to that precious budget.

And no-one wants that to happen. Least of all you – the keeper of the purse strings.

A good level of organic sales, to a proven product, is needed before you run ads. Hopefully, those initial sales are also building your email list (this is very important – more later on this) as well as helping you start to know your numbers.

Which brings me neatly on to point 2…

2. You need to know your numbers!

Don’t bury your head in the sand here, my friend… knowing your numbers is a necessity, they are essentially the bedrock of your business and will help you form those solid foundations on which to build your ad campaigns.

So what do you need to know? (Or tell your ads manager. If you outsource, you need to be happy to share this info.. they need to know it too).

You need to know your profit margins; how much it costs you to acquire a customer (CPA); your average order value (AOV); how much they spend with you over the course of a year (LTV) if possible; and, finally, your website conversion rate.

Now, if your business is still in it’s infancy, it’s possible that you won’t have a firm grip on some of these figures (and they are likely to change as your business develops).

But this is why those organic sales, mentioned in point 1, are important. Those initial sales will be able to give you some guidance on these figures.

3. Visibility matters: your organic social media channels, your email list and your website all play a vital role

Sounds obvious doesn’t it? 

But you’d be surprised at how many brands I have spoken to who either don’t consider organic social to be important – or have no idea of their website conversion rate, or don’t regularly email their list.

All your customer touchpoints matter. 

Your organic social needs to have regular content posted – social content as well as the occasional sales post.  Content that asks questions of your audience, engages them, encourages them to write comments. 

If every post is essentially ‘buy our stuff, buy our stuff, buy our stuff’ you’re going to struggle. Not only does not really ask questions of your audience, people don’t like to be sold to – not all the time anyway!

And also, when you do run ads, not everyone will click through to your website. Some will click through to your Facebook or Instagram profile. What will they see there? Hopefully not tumbleweed?

For those who do visit your website, are they being taken through the journey to the basket and checkout in the simplist way possible?

A convoluted customer journey will see them abandon their basket. A lack of clear information on the product, the price, the shipping and the delivery, will also see them abandon ship. Does your website convert well? If you don’t know, find out!

And email.. if people have agreed to be on your list – email them! Latest product news, upcoming sales, behind scenes happenings. Email is not dead – it’s been the strongest sales channel for some of the brands I have worked with.

4. Asset management: do you own and can you access all your Facebook assets? 

When I speak to clients on discovery calls, more often than not, this is the part where they come unstuck.

Facebook pages owned by former employees, ads being run by agency-owned accounts, pixels on the website not matching those in the Business Manager – you name it, I’ve seen it.

But this is why, getting your assets in order is vital in laying good foundations BEFORE running ads. Here’s what that should look like:

Business Manager: this is the ‘suitcase’ that will house all your Facebook assets. This is also the place where you list your business information (business address, tax details) as well as assign page roles and responsibilities.

Inside of this will be your:

• Ad account
• Pixel
• Catalog 
• Domain
• FB & IG pages

All of the above should be ‘owned’ by the Business Manager. And all of the above, including the Business Manager, have individual ID numbers. 

This step is important – you need to own your own assets. As you start to run ads, you will accrue data. You need to own that data – not a former employee, freelancer or agency.

5. Plan your Facebook budget, creative and copy

Remember those numbers we spoke about in point 2? They come in useful here too when planning your budget. 

What target revenue do you have in mind? Say, for example, this is £20,000. Then what’s your AOV? Say this is £50, you’re going to need 400 sales/month.

From here your website conversion rate will help you work out how many clicks you need, and you can work backwards to form an idea of required budget.

Remember this though – nothing is set in stone or guaranteed. Facebook is an auction and subject to constant fluctuation. If your website conversion rate changes, these figures will change. If your CPC rises due to seasonality, your costs and results will also be impacted. Any estimations on numbers are exactly that – estimations!

What you can form a more solid plan with though is your copy and creative. Don’t attempt to run ads with just a few images and one version of copy – and don’t rely solely on your catalog images.

Build up several copy versions that will appeal to the different pain points your ideal customer may be experiencing. Make sure you have product shots, as well as images that show those products in situ. A candle can look lovely on it’s own, but photographed in a lounge placed on a coffee table is more likely to evoke emotions in your buyer of warmth, cosiness and calm.

And don’t forget video! Don’t shy away from putting together video content – unless you try different creatives options, you’ll never know how each could perform.

Stuck for video ideas? Click here for some inspiration.

Any questions on the above, do get in touch with me here.