# Would Love Some Opinions On My Failed Facebook Ad Campaign



## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

Hey Ya'll, 

My first two Facebook ad campaigns completed on Saturday. They did not result in any sales, which was disappointing but it was a good learning experience. Below I'm going to explain each one's results and if you could give them both a look and see what I could do differently, so next time the campaign will be more successful, that would be great! 

Both ads ran for 4 days last week. 

*Campaign One*

I targeted 18-35 y.o males in Ann Arbor, Michigan that like Michigan Football and College Football. 

Here is a picture of what the ad would look like on your newsfeed. 

This is where you would be directed to if you were to click on the ad. 

Here were the results: 

_55 Link Clicks_
_2,566 Reached_
_17.34 Spent, .36 CPC_
_1.5% CTR_ 

*Campaign Two*

I targeted 18-35 y.o males in Louisville, Kentucky that like Louisville Football and College Football. 

Here is a picture of what the ad would look like on your newsfeed

This is where you would be directed to if you were to click on the ad

Here were the results: 

_46 Link Clicks_
_1,583 Reached_
_16.74 Spent, 0.36 CPC _
_2.28% CTR_

So, what are your guys thoughts? Is it the quality of the designs? The price? The Ad approach?


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## speshoot (Apr 23, 2016)

i dig the LAMAR one..but 4days?..thats it?..i think u hav the same problem i had..getting ahead of ourselves being so proud of our design thinking its gonna fly off the charts..u set yourself up for Failure that way..cuz then we get discouraged wen things dont go right..then we Quit..try & put yourself in the customers shoes..wen u saw this did u really feel like "oh ****! this is the ****! i gotta get that now!"..or did u feel more like "thats a cool Lamar shirt..i might have to get me one..but maybe I'll wait till pay day"...not even the Mainstream Brands sell instantly..dont get discouraged..if it was easy everybody would be rich..Rome wasnt built in one day..Believe in yourself..btw..thats a cool LAMAR shirt.


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## Solly (Nov 9, 2014)

I spent £50 on a 2 day blitz of 2 designs That I honestly thought would fly out. 11,500 reached, 289 post engagements, over 170 website visits and not 1 sale! I was gutted, my partner wanted me to give up and I seriously considered it. That was only 2 weeks ago, I've improved my website and tried to make sure that it's as simple as possible to access and purchase as I figured maybe people were put off by the website.
It's a learning process, I will keep plodding along and as long as I'm enjoying the process and the battle it takes to get those sales then I'll keep going. 
Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## NZACO (Jan 21, 2012)

Jack, your prices are about $5 - $10 too high for the shirt designs.


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

speshoot said:


> i dig the LAMAR one..but 4days?..thats it?..i think u hav the same problem i had..getting ahead of ourselves being so proud of our design thinking its gonna fly off the charts..u set yourself up for Failure that way..cuz then we get discouraged wen things dont go right..then we Quit..try & put yourself in the customers shoes..wen u saw this did u really feel like "oh ****! this is the ****! i gotta get that now!"..or did u feel more like "thats a cool Lamar shirt..i might have to get me one..but maybe I'll wait till pay day"...not even the Mainstream Brands sell instantly..dont get discouraged..if it was easy everybody would be rich..Rome wasnt built in one day..Believe in yourself..btw..thats a cool LAMAR shirt.


I really appreciate this....thanks! 

How long would you recommend a Facebook ad should go for? Thanks!


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

Solly said:


> I spent £50 on a 2 day blitz of 2 designs That I honestly thought would fly out. 11,500 reached, 289 post engagements, over 170 website visits and not 1 sale! I was gutted, my partner wanted me to give up and I seriously considered it. That was only 2 weeks ago, I've improved my website and tried to make sure that it's as simple as possible to access and purchase as I figured maybe people were put off by the website.
> It's a learning process, I will keep plodding along and as long as I'm enjoying the process and the battle it takes to get those sales then I'll keep going.
> Good luck
> 
> ...


I don't know if you got a chance to look at my website, but if you did would you recommend anything with how it is set up?


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

NZACO said:


> Jack, your prices are about $5 - $10 too high for the shirt designs.


Thanks for the reply. 

Including the design, the shirt costs 14.85. With the logo I put on the back (I thought this was important for branding) the shirt cost goes up to 17.85. Bringing the price down would mean next to no profit. 

Should I abandon the logo on the back? That will bring down the price to 14.85. I could then make around $5 on every shirt (then a buck and change on shipping) if I made the price $20.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, I cannot tell you how to succeed with advertising, as I have not figured it out myself.

But one thing to consider in terms of sales is that most people don't just up and buy something when they see it. Even if someone liked the design, do they have a need for a shirt for themselves or as a gift RIGHT NOW! Probably not. Even those who saw it and thought, "Hmm, Bob would love that shirt. I should buy him one for Christmas," didn't up and buy it the instant they say it, because they saw it when they were killing 5 minutes on Facebook before an appointment, or whatever. If you are lucky, some of those people bookmarked your site and will eventually be back to buy. But don't get your hopes too high. It takes time for the right people to find your stuff. I assume you are doing something with the various free social media venues. Either way takes time.

Oh, and kill the back logo (your brand, I assume?). It isn't what the customer wants, and that money would be better spent on advertising or a lower price.


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

i don't see the back logo, so you probably exed it, which is good

80% of your designs can be done with a vinyl cutter (cameo's are about $250 or less in the usa)
with that you can ex the full color ones for now and focus on text and 1-3 color designs
only because your color ones don't seem to fit well 
(the kicker looks like he has an abnormally long arm and a severely fractured leg, 
and the milker just seems oddly askew, even for a cartoon)

then setup an account at sanmar or something for your tees, somewhere else for your vinyl,
and have some fun
your material costs will drop substantially

i also noticed a few negatives in your descriptions, this may be off-putting to potential customers

you have a ready made blog and following (i assume) which is more than most i would reckon
and your site is designed well and is easy to navigate
you can get em in the boat, which is a big piece of the sales pie


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

NoXid said:


> Well, I cannot tell you how to succeed with advertising, as I have not figured it out myself.
> 
> But one thing to consider in terms of sales is that most people don't just up and buy something when they see it. Even if someone liked the design, do they have a need for a shirt for themselves or as a gift RIGHT NOW! Probably not. Even those who saw it and thought, "Hmm, Bob would love that shirt. I should buy him one for Christmas," didn't up and buy it the instant they say it, because they saw it when they were killing 5 minutes on Facebook before an appointment, or whatever. If you are lucky, some of those people bookmarked your site and will eventually be back to buy. But don't get your hopes too high. It takes time for the right people to find your stuff. I assume you are doing something with the various free social media venues. Either way takes time.
> 
> Oh, and kill the back logo (your brand, I assume?). It isn't what the customer wants, and that money would be better spent on advertising or a lower price.


This is great. 

Is there a different approach one should take knowing all you just said about Facebook ads and just the reality of how most people are seeing our advertisements?


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## gotshirts2ink (Nov 12, 2009)

I dont know about the ad campaigns but from a custom apparel backgrounds those were the worst designs I have ever seen.
You need real design experience in apparel and some marketing help
website is ok but for the clientele you are focusing on wont understand
to make your shirts pop you need to add dimension to your image like shadows or the best thing is to have someone actually wear your shirts.
Are you sublimating them yourself or DTG?


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

TailgateHeisman said:


> This is great.
> 
> Is there a different approach one should take knowing all you just said about Facebook ads and just the reality of how most people are seeing our advertisements?


I've had better results being where the shoppers are rather than paying to try to get them to come to me. Where are the shoppers? Amazon, Etsy, eBay, etc. People go there to buy stuff, or to at least look for stuff to buy. Yes, those places get a cut of your sales price and maybe a monthly fee, as well. Consider that a form of advertising expense.

Google AdWords might be worth a try as well, since many people start their online shopping by doing a search. But be smart about the keywords you pay for, as there is a lot of competition for some of them.

Then there is SEO. Don't go paying some service to create a bunch of fake links, as Google spends a lot of their time and effort looking for such tricks and then penalizes your ranking when they find that you are cheating. Google provides lots of info about how to set your site up for good search results, so that is some free (other than time) stuff you can do. Etsy, eBay, and probably a lot of the templates and platforms people use, are setup to play well with Google. If your platform allows editing of the code, you should probably use one of the structured markups to provide info about your products so you have more control over the info that shows up in search (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/products).


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## Splatt (Apr 28, 2013)

Hi,
Try the Facebook ads again, but this time try to drill down to the real fanatics. Use the filters to add 'and also like..', so that you get the geographic location, fans of the team, fans of the player/coach, subscribe to a magazine etc until your target audience is 1000 or less.

Monitor your ad, and if no-one from this demographic has bought after a day or 500 impressions then scrap the ad and the shirt. You then know it's the design that isn't working.

Start again, rinse, wash, repeat until you find a winner. Then scale up the advertising to hit more people.

Hope this helps.
Steve.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

Splatt said:


> Hi,
> Try the Facebook ads again, but this time try to drill down to the real fanatics. Use the filters to add 'and also like..', so that you get the geographic location, fans of the team, fans of the player/coach, subscribe to a magazine etc until your target audience is 1000 or less.
> 
> Monitor your ad, and if no-one from this demographic has bought after a day or 500 impressions then scrap the ad and the shirt. You then know it's the design that isn't working.
> ...


That is an interesting approach you suggest ... a small, narrow test of the appeal of the design.


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## dumus4 (Jan 12, 2015)

Yes, We meant to send you a message. Your PM is full again


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

gotshirts2ink said:


> I dont know about the ad campaigns but from a custom apparel backgrounds those were the worst designs I have ever seen.
> You need real design experience in apparel and some marketing help
> website is ok but for the clientele you are focusing on wont understand
> to make your shirts pop you need to add dimension to your image like shadows or the best thing is to have someone actually wear your shirts.
> Are you sublimating them yourself or DTG?



I don't have great design experience, so I had others do the designs. I didn't come away that satisfied and I am still looking for a great designer. If you could refer me to one/tell me where to look that'd be great


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## NZACO (Jan 21, 2012)

I have always found that photos are liked


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

dumus4 said:


> Yes, We meant to send you a message. Your PM is full again


Why PM? If you are just helping out, from one forum member to another, why not post the information directly to the thread, so it can help anyone who reads it.

If you are making a business offer ( offering presentations, giving out your pricing, asking the member to contact you in any way, etc ) then the private message would fall under advertising/self promotion, and isn't permitted per forum rules.

Rarely should you need to use Private Messaging. And we do monitor them.


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## MaidInIceland (Oct 30, 2013)

Since I am an Icelander and not a watcher of American Football I have no Clue of what This Game is about. And I don´t know the tags and aims you put in your ads. But for my opinion both of those designs are terrible. The first one with a white mustache and a connection to milk! The second image could work with a black contour on all of the artwork. However they both are average. Im not saying all of my artwork is great but it takes time to find out what works and what not. I had a good seller but when I changed the Ink colour it increased in sale about 400%. 

Just keep on studying and trying.

Ps. I have also wasted money on ads at Facebook. Did not do the homework needed.


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## allan373 (Nov 12, 2016)

My suggestion to you is if you don't have a facebook page make one, its free,try to look if there is a lot of inquiry,like or comment on your created facebook page before you dip into paid advertisement on Facebook,you will get a lot of feedback from facebook business page.


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## TailgateHeisman (Nov 6, 2016)

NZACO said:


> I have always found that photos are liked


A bit confused, what do you mean? In what ways have you found that they are liked?


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## houjianisharon (Apr 20, 2015)

TailgateHeisman said:


> Hey Ya'll,
> 
> My first two Facebook ad campaigns completed on Saturday. They did not result in any sales, which was disappointing but it was a good learning experience. Below I'm going to explain each one's results and if you could give them both a look and see what I could do differently, so next time the campaign will be more successful, that would be great!
> 
> ...


Hi, honestly, I do think the designs are great but a little expensive. One of my friends who sold digital printing T-Shirts on Amazon. She sold out at most 20 shirts a month. 
I worked in a company, which did rhinestone transfer things for 10 years, so I suggested my friends could try rhinestone shirts.

She added some rhinestones on her designs and made some rhinestone transfers ironing on her T-shirts. She sold out 34 T-shirts within 2 days.

I think besides the design, trying to add some fashionable and bling things to your products maybe better.

Hope my answer can inspire you.
All the best.
Sharon


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