# $100 of Free Facebook advertising.



## MiNGLED (Aug 22, 2007)

Hope this doesn't sound too much like spam but the Visa Business Network on Facebook - http://apps.facebook.com/visabusiness/business - is offering $100 of free Facebook advertising for simply joining their network. It's free to join and so far I've not had any downsides to it, though I'll quickly leave if I do. The only catch I can think of is you're now on their database and may get spam from them in the future. 

I know Facebook adverts haven't been a great success for some people here but I guess if it's free then give it a go. I'll let you know if any sales come out of it when the cash runs out.


----------



## COEDS (Oct 4, 2006)

Thanks for the info. If you try it ,let us know how it works out. ....... JB


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Hey I can put up with spam for $100 in Facebook ads.

Thanks!


----------



## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

What do you get for $100 and how do you cancel when the credit is up. I have got caught up in things like this before and when it came time to cancel It took months of being billed and jumping through hoops to get the service shut off. Make sure there is an easy way out and at what point they start charging you. The service I was signed up with charged on a per click bases and my $100 credit was gone in three days leaving me with a huge bill at the end of one month.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Daniel Slatkin said:


> What do you get for $100 and how do you cancel when the credit is up. I have got caught up in things like this before and when it came time to cancel It took months of being billed and jumping through hoops to get the service shut off. Make sure there is an easy way out and at what point they start charging you. The service I was signed up with charged on a per click bases and my $100 credit was gone in three days leaving me with a huge bill at the end of one month.


They give you a coupon code that you enter in "Funding Sources" in the Billing section. It shows up as a $100 advertising credit.


----------



## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

How much advertising do they give you for $100? Did you also have to provide a credit card/ paypal account, etc...


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Found a $50 ad coupon code:

*T5V6-1JKV-TNH9-2MRH*

Same deal: Ad Manager / Billing / Funding Sources / Enter Coupon Code


----------



## MiNGLED (Aug 22, 2007)

The test is almost over so I'll wait until then to say what the results were. As to the questions, I already had a credit card account set up with facebook so I can't tell if you need to do this for the free advertising. As to how much $100 buys, well it's up to you how you spend it. It works in a similar way to adwords in that you can decide what sort of demographic profile you want your ads to appear on and then set how much per click through you want to pay. I guess it works that the higher you want to pay, the more it appears but I can't say that for certain. You also set how much you want to spend per day. This is a very simplified explanation and I would recommend anyone wanting to do it investigate some more.

Christine, thanks for the other code, just added another $50 to the pot. Where did you find it?


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

MiNGLED said:


> Christine, thanks for the other code, just added another $50 to the pot. Where did you find it?


I just figured if there was one code, maybe there might be others.  So I did some Google'ing.

That code I found on multiple sites, all basically coming from the same article/source. It seems to be from Facebook itself, as a promotion to get people to advertise with them.


----------



## MiNGLED (Aug 22, 2007)

Well the pot of (free) advertising cash has run out and here is a summary of the result:

The was a total of 323,949 page impressions by a total of 5 different ads

The total click through was 202, giving an average click through rate of 0.06%

Total sales was a big fat zero but that's more down to my site and my designs.

Overall I think that Facebook advertising may not be the way forward. The best click through rate I achieved on any of the ads was 0.1% though that is still higher than what I got from Adwords (The Facebook ad had an image, the Adwords ad was just text, could this be the reason?). However as I haven't got a load of money to burn, I'll be trying other routes in the future.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

MiNGLED said:


> Well the pot of (free) advertising cash has run out and here is a summary of the result:
> 
> The was a total of 323,949 page impressions by a total of 5 different ads
> 
> ...


I've had pretty good luck with Facebook ads. I tried to really make the Facebook page an extension of the Web site, allowing for adding videos, press, and of course user comments. 

I almost always use my ads to go to my Facebook page, and by comparing my ad data from Facebook and my site analysis, I can see that the number of people who visited the Facebook page and the number of people who visited my site from Facebook is pretty similar. Plus it allows you to create another fan base to send announcements to.

Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I've had the best luck with colorful ads, and ads that are somewhat intriguing (like in the text I might have a quote and the ad might say 'Do you know who said this?' or whatever, and the graphic of course would be the corresponding design).


----------



## MiNGLED (Aug 22, 2007)

Christine you could well be right. I set the ads up to go directly to the site rather than the facebook page. I guess this is all part of the learning experience and also what you can do in such a small ad space. 

Like the site by the way, it's something I don't think we could do in the UK, only in the last decade has out campaigns began to be more American.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

MiNGLED said:


> Christine you could well be right. I set the ads up to go directly to the site rather than the facebook page. I guess this is all part of the learning experience and also what you can do in such a small ad space.
> 
> Like the site by the way, it's something I don't think we could do in the UK, only in the last decade has out campaigns began to be more American.


Thanks! And it took me a LONG time to create ads that worked. Not to mention how many times I'd get ads rejected by Facebook because I had too much punctuation, or incorrect punctuation (according to them), or God-knows what else. I had one an ad rejected 6 times before it was finally accepted. 

It sounds like a pain, but actually in a way it made me create better ads in the long run. Plus, as a Facebook member myself, I don't necessarily want to see obnoxious ads.

I do think Facebook is the "way of the future," or whatever you want to call it. Both in terms of social networking and ads. I guess one follows the other.

Also, they'll do a free "optimization" for you if you want. They ask questions about your company and your goals, and then their sales people come up with possible ads, including targeting options. I haven't run any of the ones they've sent me yet, but I'm going to give it a shot. They came up with some interesting ideas.


----------



## danmaitland (Mar 3, 2008)

Thanks guys, certainly a lot more to the facebook ads than I thought. ill give those codes a crack and see how we go. 

I see they offer PPC or per 1000 impressions price options, based on your experiences, what would you recommend?

Chur Chur


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

danmaitland said:


> Thanks guys, certainly a lot more to the facebook ads than I thought. ill give those codes a crack and see how we go.
> 
> I see they offer PPC or per 1000 impressions price options, based on your experiences, what would you recommend?
> 
> Chur Chur


My experience has been that I've gotten more bang for my buck with CPM.

Good luck!


----------



## Allen J (Mar 6, 2008)

I'm glad people on here found out about this promotion. I found out about it a while ago, but haven't been on here too much, so I didn't get a chance to share.

My experience has still been negative using facebook ads. By far the most viewed ads seem to be anything alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, or sex/dating-related. So if any of your shirts contain any of those themes, you might as well use a little image of those shirts to attract people to your main site or facebook page. That will work, however, (if others have noticed this, please let us know) it seems that after time your impressions mysteriously go down. I'm not sure what exactly explains this.

For example, if I set my cost/click rate at $0.25, the first day I might get 5,000 impressions, followed by another 5,000 the 2nd day, followed by 4,000, and then randomly it cuts down to 1,000 or even less. I've noticed this with a number of ads: It starts off with a high amount of impressions and then cuts out. To me, it seems somewhat artificial, as if facebook's system is meant to do this to encourage advertisers to bump up how much they'll pay.

In any case, one of my ads has been at $0.20 / click and is being advertised to 500,000 people. It's been 2+ weeks and I've gone through $12 out of the $100 VISA coupon. At this rate, I won't even be able to finish using the coupon! I'll have to raise my cost/click rate, which'll of course mean less bang for my buck.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Allen J said:


> In any case, one of my ads has been at $0.20 / click and is being *advertised to 500,000* people. It's been 2+ weeks and I've gone through $12 out of the $100 VISA coupon. At this rate, I won't even be able to finish using the coupon! I'll have to raise my cost/click rate, which'll of course mean less bang for my buck.


I think that might be part of your problem. Facebook ads really only seem to work (for me at least), when the ads are highly targeted. Even if it cuts your possible viewers to 10,000 people, it's 10,000 who are possibly interested in what you're selling.


----------



## Allen J (Mar 6, 2008)

Retro Campaigns said:


> I think that might be part of your problem. Facebook ads really only seem to work (for me at least), when the ads are highly targeted. Even if it cuts your possible viewers to 10,000 people, it's 10,000 who are possibly interested in what you're selling.


I can see how a smaller pool of more highly-targeted users would results in more _clicks_, but wouldn't a larger, more general pool result in more _impressions_? I'm saying that with my huge pool, my impressions cut down to almost nothing after a few days. Seems kind of strange to me, unless I'm missing something.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Allen J said:


> I can see how a smaller pool of more highly-targeted users would results in more _clicks_, but wouldn't a larger, more general pool result in more _impressions_? I'm saying that with my huge pool, my impressions cut down to almost nothing after a few days. Seems kind of strange to me, unless I'm missing something.


Not necessarily, especially if you're bidding low and aren't targeting. You could just be getting out-bid and by people who are specifically targeting some of those 500,000. That's how I understand it anyway. I'm not sure the inner-workings of Facebooks ads is completely understood by anyone!


----------



## xer0kill (Jul 4, 2008)

Retro Campaigns said:


> I do think Facebook is the "way of the future," or whatever you want to call it. Both in terms of social networking and ads. I guess one follows the other.


Couple of years ago it was MySpace. Once everybody is on Facebook, it won't be "cool" anymore and the same thing is going to happen. That's how trends work. But, yea, for right now Facebook is great!


----------



## Showtime Tee's (May 12, 2008)

Retro Campaigns said:


> Found a $50 ad coupon code:
> 
> *T5V6-1JKV-TNH9-2MRH*
> 
> Same deal: Ad Manager / Billing / Funding Sources / Enter Coupon Code


I used this code yesterday, and Facebook seemed to take it fine. Today, I checked my bank account and got charged the $50 in an outstanding payment. Has this happened to anyone else? The other $100 from VISA worked fine.

On another note, I have seen good results from one day so far advertising on Facebook.


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Showtime Tee's said:


> I used this code yesterday, and Facebook seemed to take it fine. Today, I checked my bank account and got charged the $50 in an outstanding payment. Has this happened to anyone else? The other $100 from VISA worked fine.
> 
> On another note, I have seen good results from one day so far advertising on Facebook.


Yikes, no that didn't happen to me, at least not yet. Did you contact the sales people?


----------



## Showtime Tee's (May 12, 2008)

Retro Campaigns said:


> Yikes, no that didn't happen to me, at least not yet. Did you contact the sales people?


The only phone number that I could find for Facebook was a corporate number. I sent off an online question this morning, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. The charge hasn't technically been charged yet, but the $50 has been taken away from my available balance (if that makes sense).


----------



## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

Showtime Tee's said:


> The only phone number that I could find for Facebook was a corporate number. I sent off an online question this morning, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. The charge hasn't technically been charged yet, but the $50 has been taken away from my available balance (if that makes sense).


Yeah I get what you're saying. They're pretty good about responding (eventually) to the online contact form. Very weird, though.


----------



## Showtime Tee's (May 12, 2008)

Facebook got back to me with the following message, so everything seems to be resolved.

"This $50 is simply a temporary authorization to validate your credit card. The 
charge will be removed from your credit card automatically, typically within 3-5 
business days. We state this above the "Place order button" to minimize the 
confusion, but we do apologize for any confusion this may have caused. If this 
charge remains on your card for an extended period of time, please contact us 
again with a copy of all relevant information from your credit card or bank 
statement documenting this charge. Please let us know if you have any further 
questions."


----------



## cfittowin (Oct 15, 2008)

The reality is a lot of people will not click on ads while they are on facebook.


----------



## missnish (Nov 6, 2008)

Hw much do these facebook ads usually run for. We have a website up already and a myspace that we get people to redirect to the website. I can say that is liek free advertising but Facebook Ads seem like a completely different thing.


----------



## withindustries (Aug 2, 2007)

i think ur right about ppl clicking on ads but...

im paying a $1 per day an thats getting me 4-5 ppl actually clicking my add and going to my site but also im getting about 3-5000 impressions per day... so that is free branding as far is im concerned... my logo is out there..

just my thoughts



mikey


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up! I plan on marketing it locally (specifically to college kids), and this is free advertising! These codes worked for me as well:

EXEX-4P47-38JX-4W20

EVCT-54YH-K1V8-EKE1

1652-YMF5-23XX-CM66

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/facebook.com

I have 175$ in free advertising..not bad! Better than a kick in the groin!


----------



## iwearyourshirt (Dec 16, 2008)

I wonder if there was a way I could promote iwearyourshirt through some FB ads?? Anyone think it would be worth it? $100-200 is cheap for 3-5000 impressions.


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

iwearyourshirt said:


> I wonder if there was a way I could promote iwearyourshirt through some FB ads?? Anyone think it would be worth it? $100-200 is cheap for 3-5000 impressions.



I'm just getting my ads setup to promote my website/online ordering as well as my local business as a new screenprinter, etc. I will be advertising at the local populous, and also school. You can REALLY target your advertising with facebook. 

My ads are setup for .20 CENTS, for 1000 impressions. Because I am local, and the name reflects the city, I anticipate higher click-per-impression rating as they will recognize the name, so paying per impression and not clicks. That's dirt cheap advertisement...especially when I have 175$ free


----------



## iwearyourshirt (Dec 16, 2008)

I am trying this out.. Thanks for the help HaysTees!


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

iwearyourshirt said:


> I am trying this out.. Thanks for the help HaysTees!


When you get more hits because of my help, I'll take the discounted "wear your shirt" day . Hope it works out for you..it's good targeted advertising.


----------



## iwearyourshirt (Dec 16, 2008)

Haystees said:


> When you get more hits because of my help, I'll take the discounted "wear your shirt" day . Hope it works out for you..it's good targeted advertising.


$150 for a day of advertising isn't that bad! Although, free Facebook ads are hard to argue against. You know that people coming to my site are interested in T-shirts though!

Thanks again for the help.


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

My results on Facebook Advertising:

I have had ads up since Dec 22nd, so ~2 weeks. I have rotated ads in and out, and refined them further and further. I have it setup to pay ~20 cents per thousand impressions max.

I have been advertising one "generic" type ad advertising screen prints, etc, with our address for our store to people located in the same town. Users 16-50 in age. Approx 9000 people marketed. So far:

63,000 impressions
42 Clicks
Average cost per click, .22cents/click

This is to basically get our name out there a bit locally with targeted (and free, so far) advertising. Not expecting large volume to come off of these.

My highly targeted ads at the local college (have MULTIPLE ads, for higher ratio of showing up on pages) have been a bit more effective. I am only showing to fresh/soph/jr/srs in college, with a viewing for ~ 5000 people according to facebook.

A few of the ads have my logo, with a "slogan" of one of my transfers. Others have a PICTURE of the "slogan" (most black/white writing) with the words below.

So far:

37,000 impressions.
22 Clicks.
Average cost per click: .13 cents.

The BEST ads, are the ones with the picture of the SLOGAN, and not just my logo. It grabs their attention much better. One ad that has a picture on it has a .08 cost per click, and one with my ad has .14. I will constantly rotate my images that are in circulation that way people will hopefully be enticed by one of the shirt designs and then like others I have to offer.

Overall, I've spent ~13$ of free money for advertising. For 64 clicks, that's not bad at all!


----------



## chrisf116 (Jul 26, 2007)

im paying $0.48 per click, and I have over 370,000 impressions (put it on on 12/30) and 152 clicks now...


----------



## iwearyourshirt (Dec 16, 2008)

It's amazing how LOW the click-thru rate is on Facebook ads.. I can't imagine actually paying money for 370k impressions and 152 clicks - wow that's low conversion! And means nothing about your ads, that's just the lack of Facebook user attention span.


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

iwearyourshirt said:


> It's amazing how LOW the click-thru rate is on Facebook ads.. I can't imagine actually paying money for 370k impressions and 152 clicks - wow that's low conversion! And means nothing about your ads, that's just the lack of Facebook user attention span.


I'd be interested in seeing his ad. I personally read SOME of those ads, but some I just ignore. If they aren't very TARGETED, or relevant, or interesting, etc no-one will look. My ratio isn't bad, considering I am VERY targeted, with VERY few people looking. I am trying to "flood" the local market here with the free advertising, then slowly expand my ad area. At a point I will plateau as most who WERE going to click, would have already done so.

I have noticed a big difference on certain ads getting more attention. Saying it is facebook's fault is saying your old chevy malibu picks up chicks like a corvette. Style and appearance does matter .


----------



## ecc (Aug 8, 2008)

Hi All!
I tried the coupon codes and couldn't get any of them to work. Any ideas why??

Thanks!


----------



## HT67 (Aug 1, 2008)

ecc said:


> Hi All!
> I tried the coupon codes and couldn't get any of them to work. Any ideas why??
> 
> Thanks!


The ones i posted all worked for me. Some "expire" if you don't use them by the end of this month, but all of the ones i posted are at least end of january through end of april.


----------



## iwearyourshirt (Dec 16, 2008)

I've now done 3 targeted and 2 un-targeted ads.. both perform at about the EXACT same click rate. hmmm.


----------

