Years ago, Facebook had a LIKE button on ads– do you remember?
Back then, fan growth was all the rage– and it was before there was a newsfeed or even mobile.
We could even drive 600 fans for a dollar– not a typo, since traffic was about 20 cents for every thousand impressions.
So we drove millions of fans for major brands, as well as some sales, though digital plumbing hasn’t evolved to where it is today.
Ten years ago, I thought paying $1 per thousand impressions was a lot of money. And now I think $6 per thousand is doing pretty well.
Curiously, even though the price of traffic is literally 5,000% higher than back then, the ROI is almost as good.
Why? Because the algorithm has gotten smarter (to optimize for us), the creatives are more effective (more video), and we have better strategies to measure and manage social.
Driving leads via Facebook is now about strategy, not about tactical tricks anymore.
Driving free leads versus getting even a dollar from someone are universes apart.
There is a concept called the “penny cliff”, where product companies who offer their stuff for free assume that they can get nearly the same number of subscribers at $1 a month or even $10/month.
Turns out that the distance between free and a penny is greater than from a penny to $10/month– because the psychological cost to decide to buy (no matter the price) is nearly the same, whether a penny or $10.
Free is not a good proxy for sales unless you’ve tested small paid offerings against that same audience.
Since if you don’t have the right audience, no amount of testing will overcome this.
And that’s why we shouldn’t make big bets without testing via the Dollar a Day strategy or against lists that we own.
I saw a successful entrepreneur last week sign a $900,000 deal to buy traffic without having a product for sale nor making sure the audiences were even a fit.
It’s a massive bonfire of money– spectacular to watch, except for the poor guy who invested the money.
You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit-ake– so test first, then scale up.
These are the exercises we did together today in Conquer Local Think Tank— for anyone wanting to start an agency to help local businesses or grow their agency.
No cost– and if you missed this session, you can catch the replays by joining the program. It’s free:
People don’t buy tools, no matter how many bells and whistles, they want results.
People don’t buy your fancy lifestyle, they want results.
If they can’t afford you, just give them the training on how to do it. You lose nothing, since they couldn’t afford you and would be a nightmare customer anyway.
And those who can afford you, gladly pay top dollar— without you ever needing to beat your own chest or explain what you do in detail.
Present yourself not as another expense- which clients seek to minimize- but as a profit increaser— which they want more of.
Show them how your product or service drives that intended result, step by step, so we can measure the investment and return.
Sell the sizzle, not the steak, say marketing gurus who know how to sell on emotion.
But I say just give them the steak and let happy customers do your marketing for you.
If it’s knowledge, distribute it for free via articles, webinars, social posts, and things that have zero marginal cost to you.
If it’s your time, especially one-on-one private consultations, charge dearly for it, since that’s very expensive— you can’t get that back or create an asset from it.
You’re a skilled doctor in what you do, not a used car salesman. So time to start acting the part.
