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View Full Version : Experience in Facebook marketing and professional relationship



ashlen
07-16-2014, 03:47 AM
I'm going to share a recent experience, I'm assuming a number of you may relate and possibly have feedback :) ..

I was recently contacted by a UK based business owner through a freelance site for assistance in managing his FB ad campaign for a children's IT summer program he is hosting in a wealthy part of the UK with low population. I had done a FB campaign in the past that was relatively successful (yoga, Los Angeles) so I said I would manage his campaign to maximize clicks but did not promise conversion. We dabbled with the campaign for a week launching 4 ads with different photos, target audience specs and different copy. Despite people clicking on the ads there were no conversions after a week and so I recommended to try a more social approach through FB groups and personal outreach rather than paid advertising since the audience (parents) tend to be social and want to trust the program, and as we could see FB advertising was not bringing in desired results.

He became frustrated that I did not offer other target marketing options and gave me a 1 star rating saying I'm great for non-targeted marketing. He even said he is a "gentleman" and would pay my invoice even though I did not deliver. This was very frustrating to me since I had gone through a full procedure for his campaign and kept in contact with him practically on a daily basis to go over results and ultimately determined FB advertising is not ideal for him.

I am wondering if any of you create a buffer in this situation? i.e. How do you draw a plan at the beginning to ensure both parties have an understanding and prevent a situation like this.

He had asked for assistance specifically in Facebook advertising but I did mention there are other key factors in conversion such as his website layout and ultimate presentation of the program. He still put the blame fully on me though.

tdavid88
07-16-2014, 07:52 AM
I assume that there was a contract on this freelancer website such as Odesk or Freelancer.

Before you agree and accept the job ill tell you What I do to make sure things like that before I agree or confirm the job details.

I just write all the rules and requirements in the agreement and make sure both sides are aware of the terms and what happens if some of the sides is not meeting them...

Also in these platforms it is better not to end a contract when both of the sides are not happy especially when rating is involved here and a 1 star rating will bring you less customers.

Harold Mansfield
07-18-2014, 08:43 PM
I'm going to share a recent experience, I'm assuming a number of you may relate and possibly have feedback :) ..

I was recently contacted by a UK based business owner through a freelance site for assistance in managing his FB ad campaign for a children's IT summer program he is hosting in a wealthy part of the UK with low population. I had done a FB campaign in the past that was relatively successful (yoga, Los Angeles) so I said I would manage his campaign to maximize clicks but did not promise conversion. We dabbled with the campaign for a week launching 4 ads with different photos, target audience specs and different copy. Despite people clicking on the ads there were no conversions after a week and so I recommended to try a more social approach through FB groups and personal outreach rather than paid advertising since the audience (parents) tend to be social and want to trust the program, and as we could see FB advertising was not bringing in desired results.

He became frustrated that I did not offer other target marketing options and gave me a 1 star rating saying I'm great for non-targeted marketing. He even said he is a "gentleman" and would pay my invoice even though I did not deliver. This was very frustrating to me since I had gone through a full procedure for his campaign and kept in contact with him practically on a daily basis to go over results and ultimately determined FB advertising is not ideal for him.

I am wondering if any of you create a buffer in this situation? i.e. How do you draw a plan at the beginning to ensure both parties have an understanding and prevent a situation like this.

He had asked for assistance specifically in Facebook advertising but I did mention there are other key factors in conversion such as his website layout and ultimate presentation of the program. He still put the blame fully on me though.

I can probably nail the problem right away.

You cannot manage any ad campaign unless you have either complete control over the entire process from start to finish or have confidence in it. The destination HAS to be dialed in and set up to convert specifically for that ad. It's a full package. They work together and they need to be in sync.

If the call to action is a phone number, you need to have complete confidence in the sales process on the other end.

One without the other is destined for failure and a waste of time. If you are able to get lucky and convert a few, good for you. But it all goes together if you want maximum results.

As for your question: Never promise conversions. That's rarely a promise anyone can keep. You can give approximations and examples based on past performances and work, but you can't guarantee anyone specific numbers because ultimately whether or not they actually close anyone is up to them.

What you can promise is to create an ad that attracts the target demographic, and monitor and fine tune it for best results. But again, unless you build the entire process from ad to landing page to call to action to sale, you can't control conversions.

chrismarklee
07-23-2014, 07:56 PM
I enjoy my Facebook Business page marketing. I share fun images. I am able to target my core local base for income taxes. I share everything from my Facebook business page not my personnel page. The tricky part is people live on Facebook but they are there only to have fun. I rarely ever send out direct ads

ashlen
07-30-2014, 07:57 PM
Thanks for the feedback. I did not promise conversion to the business owner but said we would test ads to see which brings in the highest click through rate. In the end though of course conversion was all that was on his mind. I agree it is ideal to start at the foundation which includes everything such as website layout, branding, display, etc. rather than jumping in mid-way by simply managing an ad campaign.

Harold Mansfield
07-30-2014, 08:43 PM
I like working with advertising and marketing, but there are some people who I refuse to help because they are never going to get it.

They expect to be able to just do one thing, and get measurable results quickly.

Basically it boils down to this. If people are proposing to hire you for your expertise, and then second guess you and override your plan with their own based on their limited understanding of how things work and absolutely no experience to back it up..walk away and let them do it themselves.

Fulcrum
07-30-2014, 08:50 PM
I like working with advertising and marketing, but there are some people who I refuse to help because they are never going to get it.

They expect to be able to just do one thing, and get measurable results quickly.

Basically it boils down to this. If people are proposing to hire you for your expertise, and then second guess you and override your plan with their own based on their limited understanding of how things work and absolutely no experience to back it up..walk away and let them do it themselves.

Sounds like you've worked in manufacturing before and had to convince a customer to fix issues on their end before blaming your product/service.

Harold Mansfield
07-30-2014, 09:03 PM
Sounds like you've worked in manufacturing before and had to convince a customer to fix issues on their end before blaming your product/service.

Sounds like the same concept.