A few weeks ago I spoke to someone who is thinking about outsourcing their Facebook ads and after we spoke and talked through all the numbers it became clear that she wasn’t quite ready to outsource her ads yet. Outsourcing her ads management to us right now would mean that she wouldn’t be seeing a return on ad spend because there were a few things that she needs to do first.
So, in this episode I talk about whether or not you should outsource your Facebook ads, and if so, when.
I have a lot to say about this so let’s dive right in.
Links I mention:
Facebook Ads for Online Stores course
Facebook Ads for List Building & Launching course
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Transcript
A few weeks ago I spoke to someone who is thinking about outsourcing their Facebook ads and after we spoke and talked through all the numbers it became clear that she wasn’t quite ready to outsource her ads yet. Outsourcing her ads management to us right now would mean that she wouldn’t be seeing a return on ad spend because there were a few things that she needs to do first.
So, today I want to talk to you about whether or not you should outsource your Facebook ads, and if so, when.
I have a lot to say about this so let’s dive right in.
Firstly, I want to repeat something that I say quite often and I feel the need to say it again.
Facebook ads amplify.
This means that whatever is already happening in your business, your sales funnel results or with your online store sales will be merely amplified by Facebook ads.
If you’re ready for that to happen, then Facebook ads can be the right move for you.
Now, let’s look at whether you should run your own Facebook ads or if you should outsource them.
Of course this depends on a number of factors.
- Things like:
- Your understanding of Facebook ads and the ads platform
- Your interest in learning Facebook ads
- The amount of time you have to set up and manage your ads
- Your advertising budget but also a budget for a management fee
These are all straightforward and you’ve probably thought about them yourself.
But regardless of any of the things I just mentioned, there are other factors that determine whether or not you should outsource advertising and that’s what I want to dive deeper into today.
Here’s what you need to consider before outsourcing your ads:
The average order value of your product or service
Why is the average order value important?
Because it’s incredibly hard to make your money back on your ad spend AND an ads management fee if your average order value is low. Generally speaking I don’t recommend outsourcing your ads if your online program, membership or service is priced below $500.
If you run an e-commerce store it’s a little bit more flexible but I still recommend a minimum average order value of $100.
It’s not impossible to get a return on your ad spend AND cover the fee for your ads manager with a lower priced product or service, but everything needs to work in your favour for you to make a return on investment. Even if you can get a return on your ad spend AND cover the fee for your ads manager, there’s often not much left for you which is probably not your intention for running ads.
To be able to get a return means that your conversion rates need to be higher than average and your funnel or your online store need to be water-tight and highly optimised to drive sales and convert over and over.
Which brings me to the next point.
Your conversion rate
When we take on Facebook advertising clients we take them through a process before accepting them as clients to make sure that everything is going to work in their favour and everything is set up to get the highest possible conversion numbers and return on ad spend.
One of the most important numbers for us is the conversion rate on a funnel or online store. When we know the conversion rate, and we know it’s consistent, we can calculate the outcome of the Facebook ads campaigns and almost predict what the client can expect in return.
If your offer isn’t yet converting consistently and your numbers are up and down or below certain benchmarks, you should keep refining what you do until you hit the sweet spot of consistent conversions.
In episode 1 I speak about how to determine whether your business is ready for Facebook ads and which numbers to consider.
We use certain benchmarks and processes in our advertising agency to determine whether the client is ready for Facebook ads. Our standards are quite high, but this means that we’re in a better position to deliver results for our clients.
Some benchmarks that we like to see are:
- A minimum 2% conversion rate for e-commerce stores with an average order value of $100 or more
- A 40% or higher conversion rate on lead magnet landing pages. We aim for 50% or higher but in certain industries this can be challenging. Some experts say that a 20% conversion rate is good and for some industries it is, but we like to aim for higher numbers.
- A minimum 1 – 3 % conversion rate of online course sales with a course price of $500 or higher
All of these figures are dependent on the groundwork and foundations that our clients have put in place and they can vary a bit for different industries but as a general rule we like to see these numbers.
You need to build the foundations of your funnels or online store and then do the maths to figure out whether outsourcing is going to get you a return on investment or if it’s wiser to manage your own advertising campaigns for now.
You can start by creating a spreadsheet and look at your conversion rate on a month by month basis, or if you have an online course or membership that you launch a number of times a year you need to know your conversion rate for each of these launches.
You want to have enough consistent data to be able to, in a way, predict the outcome of your Facebook ads.
The more data you have, the more predictable the process becomes.
Once you have all your numbers, you can consider the other factors.
Which are:
Your understanding of the Facebook ads platform.
This, of course, is something that you could learn if you don’t have a good understanding of it right now. There are plenty of courses around that teach you the ropes, including my own courses which I’ll link to in the show notes.
Your interest in learning Facebook ads
You’re probably aware that I absolutely love Facebook ads but I know not everyone does. This is something you’ll need to weigh up yourself and decide whether Facebook ads is something you can and mostly want to learn yourself.
My recommendation is that everyone who outsources their ads knows at least the basics of Facebook advertising and what goes into it before they hand it over to someone else.
Knowing a little bit about it means that you’re in a better place to hire a competent and experienced ads manager and not a doozy.
I know this sounds harsh but I’ve seen too many cases of people who handed over their precious ad spend to someone who gladly took their money but didn’t deliver results.
My philosophy is that Facebook ads should always give you results, and whilst it isn’t always a return in ad spend, it should then instead give you data that will help you improve your business so that you CAN confidently invest in ads the next time around.
So, at a minimum, take a Facebook ads course or ask your ads manager to walk you through what they did and what it means so you know the basics and you know what to expect and where to find certain information inside the Facebook ads manager dashboard.
The amount of time you have to set up and manage your Facebook ads.
I’d love to tell you that you can set up your Facebook ads and forget about them but They’re definitely not a set and forget type affair. You’ll need to keep an eye on your ads results regularly to make sure your ads are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
This doesn’t mean you need to be glued to your computer and check on them every second, but you do need to set some dedicated time apart every few days to check in and possibly make changes.
Your advertising budget and budget for your ads manager
Experienced ads managers often require a minimum ad spend of $500 a month or more.
This allows us to do testing which is important to get you results with Facebook ads.
We’re incredibly passionate about managing your ads and want them to be successful so it’s important that we are given the resources to get you the best results, which includes a reasonable budget to get your ads started and optimised.
The higher the ads budget, the more we can achieve, providing that your conversion rates are where they need to be which is something a good ads manager will check with you before taking you on as a client.
So if you have a small budget, I recommend that you start by running your own Facebook ads.
We, as in – ads managers, can do a lot of incredible things but we’re not magicians. We can’t turn a $5/day ad spend into a six figure return in a month, especially not if we’re starting at zero. At least, I’ve not seen it happen before and I’ve been in the game for a while.
Be realistic, and if you know your conversion numbers and your cost per lead or your cost per sale you’ll be able to run some predictions to see what Facebook ads can do for you.
If you’re not quite ready to outsource your ads, don’t let it hold you back from running Facebook ads completely. Just because you’re not ready right now, doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to outsource in the future.
Many of our clients started where you are right now, by running their own Facebook ads first.
If you’re nervous about running your own Facebook ads, find a course that has your back and offers you a support group to ask questions and work through issues. I do this for both my Facebook ads for Online Stores course and my Facebook ads for List Building & Launching course. I’ll pop the links in the show notes so you can take a look for yourself.
Remember, I’m running a free masterclass on how to leverage Facebook advertising to sell more of your online courses, memberships, services or programs on the 30th of September. Head on over to www.newschoolofmarketing.com to register.
That’s it for today’s show, thank you so much for joining me.
