Love it or hate it, Black Friday is here to stay. As small businesses we have to decide if creating a Black Friday offer aligns with our services, values and marketing strategy. In this episode I walk you through I help clients make the decision to do an offer and the strategy I use to create Facebook Ads that generate BIG sales.

In this episode we cover:

• The 3 questions I ask when I kick off conversations about Black Friday with my clients
• What to do if you're NOT doing a Black Friday offer
• Should you run Facebook ads for a Black Friday offer if you've never run them before?
• Steal my Facebook Ads strategy for Black Friday including the type of campaigns to run, audiences to target, images to use and numbers you need to be tracking
• The key to prepping my client Facebook ad accounts, including a behind the scenes look at one of my clients results
• My own Black Fri offer and an one-off way to work with me in 2024!

If you enjoyed the podcast, here are some ways you can be a part of my world:

Social:

Love Instagram? Click here to watch a video I made on the Warm audience trap (hint, it's something almost every client struggles with!)

More of a LinkedIn fan? I'm there too! Come and follow me here: Sophie Griffiths

Free Resource:

Ready to grow an audience of people who WANT you to sell to them? Radical idea I know, but it shouldn’t be! Click here to get access to my step by step guide to using simple, effective ads to build & nurture a community of superfans,

Work together:

Ready to build an audience of superfans who are excited and ready to buy from you?

Whether you are just starting with Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Ads, you have dabbled but want to build your confidence with your first funnel, or you're already killing it and you're ready for fast growth - I can help! Click here to choose the best option for you

Got questions?

DM me on Insta or LinkedIn

Email me here: hello@sophiegriffiths.co 

Hello, and a big welcome

to Lionheart and marketing.

2

This is the podcast where both

businesses learn to evolve from

3

haphazard marketing to creating

seamless evergreen customer journeys.

4

You've shifted away from the exhausting

cycle of big launches to the more

5

sustainable rhythm of an evergreen sales

model, but now finding the audience

6

growth has become your new issue.

7

I'm here to help.

8

Here we are not about

chasing the next big thing.

9

Instead, we're focused on creating

a system and strategy that supports

10

a steady stream of sales by using

Facebook ads, strategic email, and

11

content that creates connection.

12

I robust evergreen sales strategy

needs a robust evergreen marketing

13

strategy to give you that stability

and growth you crave in your business.

14

And that is exactly what we talk about

every Tuesday here on the podcast.

15

I'm, Sophie your guide on this journey?

16

A T enthusiast marketing strategist

and specialist in demystifying,

17

the art of funnels, or as I love

to call them joyful journeys.

18

My mission to guide you in building

a marketing ecosystem at tirelessly

19

supports your business, ensuring

growth without the endless hustle.

20

Join me every Tuesday for a dose . From

my lighthearted approach to marketing

21

we'll dive into practical strategies as

well as have inspirational conversations

22

that will support you to sustainable

business growth and take your business

23

to new Heights with a calm confidence.

24

Sophie: Hello.

25

And welcome to this week's

episode of Lionheart in marketing.

26

Now this week, I am going to be

talking all about black Friday,

27

So this year Friday, the 24th

of November is black Friday.

28

And if you're listening to this, as it

comes out, that's about four days away.

29

Now my eldest daughter's birthday

is actually the 25th of November.

30

And for me, it's been incredibly

interesting since I had my daughter.

31

At seven years ago now how black Friday

has changed quite dramatically actually

32

from where it was to where it is now.

33

So for me anyway black Friday

always been a really American thing.

34

Like what are those things?

35

They're like Halloween where

they go kind of all in really big

36

it's just before Thanksgiving.

37

Isn't it for them.

38

So.

39

It's really, really big.

40

And it has been for a lot of years,

I think in the UK, I think some of

41

the bigger brands in it, but I don't

think I ever really remember it being a

42

massive thing maybe until the last yeah.

43

Five, six years.

44

I still remember the days of seeing on the

news that people like queuing overnight

45

and like stampeding to get insanely.

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Reduced, TV's and stuff running around

the show with these huge, huge box.

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I, which kind of seems insane now.

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And I think to shows how far online

shopping has come, because I just

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really don't see that so much anymore.

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And at that point black

Friday was about of the day.

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So it was one day.

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That's why there was this insane

hype about getting there early.

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And then there was cyber Monday.

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Which was like the internet version of

when you could get all this stuff cheap.

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If there's anything left.

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Now of course it's totally different.

57

And I think, you know, For

small businesses working out

58

how you fit into black Friday.

59

With where it is now.

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I have no doubt.

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It will change more in the future.

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You know, do you try and compete?

63

Well, you know, with a big businesses,

what kind of discounts do you offer?

64

And when I was working much more on e-com.

65

Four or five years ago.

66

This was something that we talked

about a lot and service businesses.

67

I think haven't really engaged

with it as much until I thought

68

were really a shift last year.

69

Actually of like really service

businesses getting involved.

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And I think partly that's

the rise of passive income.

71

In terms of having more courses

that don't involve your time

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so you can discount them.

73

And sell more.

74

But also I think, because it's

not related to one specific day

75

anymore, it feels like actually,

you know, most of November, we're

76

starting to gear up for black Friday.

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And it's a real opportunity and customers

are almost looking for it as well.

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So what I'm going to talk about in

this episode is I'm going to kick

79

off with the three conversations

that I have with my clients.

80

When I'm talking about black Friday, now

these actually have nothing to do with

81

ads and they were all about strategy

because something I've realized as I've

82

spoken to clients recently is a huge

amount of what I speak to them about.

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Is it related to ads?

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I mean, it feeds into the

app, but actually a lot of

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it is business strategies.

86

I want to kind of give.

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A bit of an insight into that.

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Next, I'm going to talk about

whether you should be running ads

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if you've never run them before.

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So if you're listening to this,

you've decided you're going

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to do a black Friday offer.

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You've never run ads before, and

you're thinking, do you know what it's

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going to jump in, see if I can get

out to loads and loads of new people.

94

I know.

95

Talk to you

96

about whether I would

recommend that or not.

97

And some tips as well.

98

And then if you are writing

ads, we're going to be talking.

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The types of audiences you want to be

targeting the images to use a numbers.

100

You need to be checking.

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All that really, really important stuff.

102

Because if you are spending money

on ads this time of year, you

103

really need to make sure you're

getting the most for your money,

104

because you're going to be competing

against a lot, a lot of businesses.

105

And then finally, going to talk about

how I prep my clients accounts because

106

actually it's probably things that

you can be doing all year round and.

107

And it really feeds into this core belief

I have of running your ads strategically

108

all year round so that you are never faced

with this question of, oh my God, am I

109

going to have to spend a load of money?

110

On ads to try and make some sales

and not know what the outcome is.

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We always want you to be confident

of what the outcome is going to be.

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And I'm actually going to use a client

account they've been working on for

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the last six months building up to

November and, you know, black Friday

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and Christmas as well, what I've been

doing on it and the kind of results we've

115

had along the way so that you can see.

116

How that builds over time.

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And then as well, I'm going to let

you in on my own black Friday offer.

118

Which is being launched

on the podcast fast.

119

Say, make sure you listen to

the end to get the exclusive

120

of what that is going to be.

121

Okay.

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So let's start with these three questions

that I always ask my clients when it comes

123

to black Friday now, I normally have this

conversation around early mid September.

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And the first question is normally, okay.

125

We need to start talking

about black Friday.

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Have you decided if you're going

to run an offer or not now?

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Full disclosure, that response

is not oh yes, absolutely.

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We've got it all planned out.

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This is what we're going to be doing.

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Here's the plan.

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This is the marketing, you

know, we are good to go.

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Normally the response is.

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Wide eyed, slight panic.

134

I'm like, no, should I have, oh gosh,

I haven't even thought about that yet.

135

I'm not really sure.

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So if that's how you felt.

137

Oh, that's how you still feel with it?

138

Four days away.

139

It's totally normal.

140

And that's why you have people in your

life like me to prompt you and make

141

sure that you're thinking about this

stuff early, because normally there's

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quite a lot to get ready for black

Friday and it can be an incredible

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you know, addition to workload.

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If you're trying to do it last minute.

145

So once I've asked that question of.

146

Are you going to run an offer or not?

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Normally they know if they're not.

148

So some clients For a whole range of

reasons often decide, no, I'm not going to

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run an offer either because their profit

margins can't, take the huge discounts.

150

Because they fundamentally

disagree with black Friday.

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Which is absolutely okay.

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You know, you don't have to do

black Friday or if they only

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have a high ticket offer.

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So if they only have that and it's

really very dependent on their time

155

and they have a huge value to clients

often, it doesn't make sense for

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them to offer a black Friday offer.

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Some of them will add a bonus.

158

So if you join in this period, you know,

my black Friday offer is I'll give you,

159

I don't know, an additional one to one.

160

And that absolutely can be the case,

But for a lot of my clients who

161

have a high value offer, especially

if they sell an evergreen, they

162

just don't subscribe to that.

163

Kind of discounting mentality, even adding

extra bonuses that then other people

164

haven't had when they've kind of joined.

165

So if they say, no, I'm not

going to running a black Friday

166

offer, that's absolutely fine.

167

But the one piece of advice I

would give you, if that is you.

168

Is tell your audience,

tell your audience either.

169

You don't have to tell them in

September, but you know, you tell them

170

now, if you haven't told them already.

171

In an ideal world, maybe you tell

them like a week or two before I make

172

it make it part of your marketing

strategy, part of your messaging now

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than why you're not doing it, tell

them what you're doing instead, or why

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you offer great value all year round.

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But tell them.

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And the reason I tell them is because

otherwise people will hold on.

177

In case you were going to

do a black Friday offer.

178

And they miss out.

179

And even I do this.

180

So he now at.

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Like all weekend, I have

been researching presence.

182

It's a bit of a nightmare.

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Because as I said, my

daughter's birthday on Saturday.

184

Hello of the things we want to buy, how

it will be in the black Friday sale.

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And it's sort of a game of.

186

Of check-in of how late I can leave

her to order her presence and not

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miss out on sometimes huge discounts.

188

So if I still the company wasn't doing

black Friday, I'd be like, oh, thank God.

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I can just order it.

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Like I know I want it.

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I'll just order it and get it done.

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Whereas if I'm waiting, like when are

they going to do that black Friday sale?

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And this is part of this bigger shift, you

know, that it is a black Friday anymore.

194

Some companies have already got

their black Friday sales on.

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I think Bowden in particular I

was looking at, they started as

196

Quite early this year in November.

197

But a lot of other companies are

already running a lot of discounts.

198

And for some of them, they kind of just

treat it as a whole month of November.

199

Others.

200

So a lot of my smaller clients.

201

So a lot of my clients will tend

to go maybe from Wednesday onwards.

202

Some of them will start just do the.

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Black Friday through to cyber Monday.

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Most of my clients will do at least a

week because it gives you that time and

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space to kind of catch people's attention.

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You know, speak to them, give them

that messaging and then convert them.

207

And my own black Friday offer,

which I will talk about later.

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I'm going to be running it

from today, which if you're

209

listening to it live tuesday the

21st through to 30th of November.

210

And that is because , I want to

give myself plenty of time there.

211

People get bombarded at this time of year.

212

This comes up a lot.

213

I see with my clients say, oh, I

don't want to send too many emails.

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Because, you know, people are getting

bombarded and I don't want to add to that.

215

I think honestly, the reality of it

at this time of year is you can't,

216

you can't be too sensitive to that.

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People know they're

going to get bombarded.

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I know I'm going to get bombarded

and I will pick through the ones

219

that I'm interested in and I just

won't open the ones I'm just not

220

interested in and that's fine.

221

I don't feel any kind of bad feeling

towards the companies that are emailing

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me, we're all running our businesses.

223

And sending emails.

224

Is real.

225

An incredibly important part of that.

226

So if the answer is, yes, I think I

am going to run a black Friday offer.

227

Then the second question comes,

which is what is it going to be?

228

Or they got, and they're

like, oh my goodness.

229

I just told you, I don't know.

230

I'm really at this point, I'm

just talking to them about, okay.

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Just have a think about.

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Does it involve your time?

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Are you going to have to limit the

number that you're going to offer?

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And this really is where your

low-cost offer is incredibly powerful.

235

So I've talked a lot on the podcast

about, using ads to sell something that's

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like seven pounds, 11 pounds, 27 pounds.

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That doesn't involve your time.

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And that's the way, , Then you don't

have a limit on how many you can sound.

239

And the reason why I'm asking these

questions of, you know, are you

240

going to have to put a limit on it?

241

Does it involve your time?

242

It's because if you're going to offer

something, that's just for five people.

243

Let's say Because it evolves

your time and you can't just

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sell like a limitless number.

245

Actually our, are we going

to use ads to sell that?

246

Or are we just going to focus on growing

your email list so that you can sell

247

those five spots to your email list?

248

And that's really where I'm starting

to think about what strategy are we

249

going to use over the next few months?

250

Do we need to be priming people to buy

straight from an ad or do we need to be

251

getting people on your email list and

then priming them to buy from email list?

252

So that's where I'm starting

to think at that point.

253

And then finally this leads into who

are we going to offer it to now?,

254

this is a question that can actually

really stump people because most

255

people just want to send to everybody.

256

So it's a great offer.

257

I'll be offering a big discount.

258

Like let's just take upon them.

259

Put it out there and

hope that someone bites.

260

And, and that can absolutely work.

261

However again, you know,

you are competing with.

262

Companies with huge, huge budgets,

like they will be spending

263

thousands of pounds a day.

264

On ads.

265

So, you know, to make sure you're

getting in front of the right

266

people again with, you know, being

people, being bombarded with emails.

267

It's really, really hard.

268

To make sure that you are

standing out and reaching the

269

people that you want to reach.

270

So yes, absolutely.

271

You can go out to a cold audience,

say people who've never heard of

272

you, but you're going to want to

make sure that you have incredibly

273

well-tested robust ads doing that.

274

Generally speaking my clients

especially service businesses we're

275

going mostly out to our warm audience.

276

So people who are already in our world.

277

And on our email list and sometimes

even doing outreach to our hot audience.

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So people who have already inquired.

279

We separating them out.

280

We're making sure we know exactly

who is really, really interested.

281

And then we're trying to do some

really personalized outreach to them.

282

To make sure that they know

about our offer, because that's

283

ultimately what it's about.

284

Getting people who are really close.

285

To buying and getting them over

the line with this incredible

286

offer that you're offering.

287

Okay.

288

So those are the three questions

and the kind of conversations

289

I have with my clients.

290

And as I said, generally, with.

291

In September.

292

Often that is not a fully

complete conversation.

293

We don't get to a point where we

know exactly what we're doing, but it

294

really prompts them to start thinking

about what do I want to be doing?

295

If I want to create a low

cost , downloadable or, you know,

296

additional product or service.

297

I'm going to have to do that, to make sure

that I can then sell it for black Friday.

298

That's what these questions

are designed to prompt.

299

So the next thing I want to talk

about today is should you be running

300

ads if you've never run them before?

301

So If you listen to these three

questions and you've decided you're

302

going to do a black Friday offer.

303

You know what it's going to be and you

know who you're going to offer it to.

304

Should you start running ads?

305

Today, tomorrow, just in a

pumped, trying to reach people.

306

Now, hopefully at this point,

listening to podcasts and knowing

307

my kind of ethos, you're thinking.

308

Safety is probably not

going to recommend that.

309

Is she.

310

And your rights, if he's

not going to recommend that.

311

Especially untested audiences, untested

ads, untested offer you might get results.

312

Like it's absolutely

possible, but you might not.

313

And for me, ads, aren't about gambling.

314

This is about having

a consistent approach.

315

Where you feel confident in

getting a return on your ad spend?

316

If you've got money and you just want

to try it, then absolutely do it.

317

But the things I would

encourage you to think about is.

318

Does your offer involve your time?

319

And is there a limit on the number?

320

So, as I said, if you've only got

five things to sell, like please

321

don't spend ads on it, go out to your

warm audience, invest your time and

322

energy in In your Instagram audience

on your email list, on people who've

323

, inquired with you and never purchased

or never converted to a client, you

324

know, have a look there's going to be.

325

Quite a lot of people in your world that

you don't even necessarily recognize.

326

Spend your time and energy

reaching out to them, make sure

327

you're connecting with them.

328

Just putting an ad in front of

someone is if I'm going to be

329

brutally honest, it's just a bit lazy.

330

If you think that you can just pop an

ad out there and get a load of sales.

331

Okay.

332

If you really want to get some sales black

Friday and your offer involves your time,

333

there's a limit on how many you can offer.

334

Or it's, you know, higher ticket.

335

So if you're offering something that's

like over I even probably a hundred

336

pounds then I really would just be

going out to your warm audience and

337

spending that time and energy on really

connecting with them because that's the

338

difference between a small business.

339

And a huge business.

340

But it's chatting out

the ads and the emails.

341

You know, they are going for a much

more like, you know, high volume.

342

They just going for a maximum volume

game, you can connect with people,

343

you can offer them value and you

can make sure that they know why

344

you're the best person to buy this.

345

This service from.

346

The second thing I think you really need

to think about is this, who are you going

347

to offer it to really come back to that?

348

Do you, do you really want loads

of people buying this, that

349

you're not in your world right now?

350

Or do you actually want to convert

all the people you've spent a lot of

351

time and energy nurturing, bringing

into your community, you know, sending

352

emails to being on your social media.

353

Now, all that being said, if you have

a low-cost product that you want

354

to put a discount on, cause that's

face that that's what black Friday

355

is about with a low-cost offer.

356

Then you definitely need

to be running sales ads.

357

If you're running ads directly,

you want people to sign up.

358

And just try and think about, you know,

what have you put on your social media

359

or what have you written in your emails?

360

That's had a good response and it's

got people to buy this, this low-cost

361

service from you before you're obviously

need a sales page because that's where

362

people want to go through To look

at and you'll need to make sure that

363

sales page quite frankly, is shit hot.

364

Okay.

365

Because you need to make sure that

once they reach that sales page, they

366

are reading it and they are totally

enthralled and are going to buy from you.

367

I tend to spend months testing these

kinds of low cost ads with clients.

368

And often it's a sales page.

369

That's the downfall, not the ads.

370

So if you're confident in your sales page,

confident in the, in the low ticket offer.

371

And confident that you've got the

money to try and get some sales from

372

ads, do it, but I'm sure you can

hear, but generally I'm going to say,

373

put your time and energy elsewhere.

374

If you haven't run ads before.

375

Don't don't do a test for black Friday.

376

Let's move on, lecture over.

377

Let's move on.

378

And talk about if you are

running ads, because we really

379

need to get into some strategy.

380

If you are running ads.

381

And you've probably realized by now, Nice.

382

Quite a lot of moving parts to

black Friday, and there's a lot

383

of things you need to consider.

384

So the things that you I'm going to

kind of run through are the types of

385

campaigns you want to be running the

audiences you want to be targeting.

386

The type of images I found

in the past work really well.

387

And then the numbers you need

to be tracking to see if your

388

campaigns are working or not.

389

Let's start with a type

of campaign to run.

390

So I said just now you need to

be running a sales campaign.

391

Now that is true.

392

If you want to get sales directly from

ads, now, it really depends on the types

393

of campaigns you're running at the moment.

394

So based on my client, they're

running lead ads and then

395

they sell to their clients.

396

And then they sell using that email

list, you know, over time they

397

kind of build that connection.

398

Now, if your lead ads are still

running well, and you're happy with

399

the kind of amount of signups you're

getting and the cost per lead, then

400

I'd absolutely continue to run it.

401

Just, you know, keep an eye on it and

make sure those people are coming in.

402

But the reality is that

converting someone, , on your

403

email list can take time.

404

And so the people that you're

bringing in this week might not

405

necessarily be the people that end

up buying from you in black Friday.

406

Some people will be

joining your email list.

407

Knowing that you are potentially going

to be running a black Friday offer.

408

And to be honest, I have used

that strategy in the past

409

where I have run ads to say.

410

Join our email list to get

exclusive access to you.

411

Black Friday offers.

412

It actually works really,

really well for econ brands.

413

The incentive to sign up.

414

Isn't a lead magnet.

415

Isn't a download or anything like that.

416

It's literally the opportunity to get X.

417

Either an additional discount

or first access, if you're

418

going to limit the amount.

419

Of the, you're going to give

away the black, black Friday.

420

So an incentive to join the list

that they get something extra.

421

Forgot Friday.

422

That has worked really

well for me in the past.

423

I'm not really running that

this year, just with the types

424

of clients I've got That isn't

probably a strong enough incentive.

425

And I think, you know, people have to be

quite bought into what you're offering.

426

So, you know, for example, in the

past, Run it for a baby playmat

427

company that I that I worked with.

428

And people could easily

see, the baby playmates.

429

They probably wanted one.

430

And they were like, okay,

I'll find them to the list to

431

make sure I get early access.

432

Cause I want to get a discount.

433

With service businesses

that slightly harder.

434

And I think you would have to be really

confident that people would recognize

435

you your brand and what you offer.

436

To kind of have that incentive to sign

up, just to get access to your office.

437

So if you've only been running lead ads

up until this point what I would say is

438

to absolutely test them sales as, okay.

439

So Facebook will have quite a lot of data.

440

On your account by now, if you've been

running ads for awhile, it'll know who

441

your ideal clients are, it will be

able to try and pick those people out.

442

And if you've been.

443

Testing your low-cost offer,

or you've got something that,

444

you know, works really well.

445

A sales page that converts really well.

446

Then.

447

Absolutely run the sales ads.

448

Some of my clients, we only

run it to their warm audience.

449

So that's people on my email list

who have visited that website.

450

Or are engaging on that

Instagram and Facebook.

451

Because what we actually want

to do is try and cut through

452

the noise on the email list.

453

As I said, you know, people are

getting bombarded with emails and some

454

times people with the best will in

the world will just miss your emails.

455

This is the way of getting your ads

back in front of people so that they

456

actually see what you're offering.

457

So only goes out to people

who are already in your world.

458

Now you can spend a lot less on those ads

than you would need to, if you were going

459

out to a cold audience so that you could

just spend two to three pounds a day.

460

So really nice, relatively low risk

because you're not spending a huge

461

budget way of making sure that you

kind of maximize You know, telling

462

people about your black Friday offer.

463

But again, you are going to need to

have a sales page, which you have tested

464

and you feel, you feel confident is

going to convert those people because

465

you know, seven spending money to

send people through to a sales page

466

that you are not confident in is.

467

Is not going to give you the best results.

468

You.

469

And then finally, like if you want to

go out to a cold audience with sales

470

ads, you absolutely can't do that.

471

I would be spending a minimum of 10 pounds

a day, and that is like the absolute

472

minimum in an ideal world, you'd be

spending 15 to 20 pounds a day just to

473

be able to compete with the all of the

other people out there and make sure your.

474

Kind of winning in the in the

auction, which is kind of how

475

it works behind the scenes.

476

So absolutely.

477

Do that make sure that if you've

got, especially if you've been

478

running ads for a while, Facebook

will understand your audience.

479

It will try and get out

to the right people.

480

But again, just make sure

you're looking at what your.

481

And in an ideal world, you'd

also have these warm audience.

482

Ads running as well.

483

Just say that everyone who sees your

cold ad and clicked through to your sales

484

page, then get paid, then gets picked up

into your warm audience and gets shown

485

the ads kind of over and over again.

486

You know what happens?

487

You go into a website.

488

And then you leave and then you see

ads for that website or that thing that

489

you were looking at everywhere you go.

490

That's kind of what you want to be doing.

491

If you're spending money.

492

Getting people who don't know you onto

your sales page, there's going to

493

be a lot of people that don't buy the

first time they read that sales page.

494

So, if they're not on your email list,

the only way to then remind them, prompt

495

them, show them what your offering is

to get more ads back in front of them.

496

So that's the types of campaign and

then the audiences that I would target

497

now, in terms of what images to use,

this will vary depending on the type

498

of campaign that you're running, but

also what's worked for you in the past.

499

So if you're running ads already eat

well, I do tend to find is a certain type

500

of ad will resonate with your audience.

501

And I mean, I do a lot of testing

for clients and it's, and it's

502

different for most clients.

503

I have some clients where almost

exclusively it's reels, you know, anything

504

else we put up just bombs . Some clients

are carousels work really, really well.

505

Others, just a single image

is working well at the moment.

506

So it really depends.

507

Now, historically for black Friday, I have

found a single image with a really blatant

508

offer on the image works really well.

509

Also very short copy.

510

Really catchy headlines.

511

So, you know, Just does what it

says on the 10, when people are

512

scrolling through Facebook, Instagram,

they know it's black Friday.

513

They know you're going to

be offering a discount.

514

They just want you to

tell them what it is.

515

So, you know, whether it's

up to 70% off or 50% off or.

516

Whatever it is, put it on

the image and make sure if in

517

that first line of your copy.

518

And just make sure that it's really,

really obvious what you're offering..

519

Often for clients, I will test things

like, you know, an image of the business

520

owner, or , more of a lifestyle image

with, you know, most of the copy

521

doing the hard work for black Friday.

522

For me, that's always proven too subtle

and you just need to kind of really.

523

Really be blatantly obvious.

524

And then I just wanted to talk

a little bit about tracking.

525

To see whether they're

working or not now, obviously.

526

You know, the kind of basic ones

you're going to be tracking purchases.

527

And you're going to be tracking the

number of people signing up to an

528

email list or, and that sort of thing,

you know, all your kind of obvious.

529

Metrics.

530

However, at this time of year, what

I'd really encourage you to also start

531

looking at as well is your CPM, which

is the cost or the amount you have

532

to spend to reach a thousand people.

533

Now, this was different for all of my

clients, but some people, this is like

534

five or six pounds , for other clients.

535

This is like 20 pounds.

536

At this time of year, the likelihood is

your CPMs, your cost to reach a thousand

537

people will go up and I'm starting

to see that with some of my clients

538

so definitely keep an eye on that.

539

And if you're running sales ops, the other

thing I would really keep an eye on is

540

link clicks and then landing page views.

541

So you want to know how many

people have clicked on your ad

542

to go through to your sales page?

543

And then how many people have actually

stayed and read the sales page?

544

I mean, you can't know if they've read

the whole thing, but they are landing page

545

kind of is clocked once they've stayed

on the page for a couple of seconds.

546

So they haven't just clicked on it, but

then abandoned and gone somewhere else.

547

So really making sure that, that the

difference between link clicks and

548

landing page views, isn't too high.

549

And then also obviously tracking

them for your purchases.

550

How many people are then purchasing,

because that will give you

551

your conversion rate as well.

552

Of how many people who actually go to that

go to the sales page are actually buying.

553

So those are the key things.

554

I would be keeping an eye on.

555

And the things to think about if you

are going to be running ads for the next

556

week or so, if you've got any questions,

please always come over to Instagram and

557

ask like, I love chatting and strategy,

558

and it's a really exciting, busy time.

559

But there's also always a little bit of

apprehension, you've got one shot in.

560

They've got this whatever time period

you're running your black Friday offer.

561

From until you've got that time.

562

And if like, if the ads don't work,

if the offer doesn't click with

563

clients, you know, if the sales page

isn't great or, you know, we can't

564

just can't seem to reach to people.

565

It's really, really frustrating.

566

And that's why I spend

a huge amount of time.

567

On my client's accounts in the lead up

to November, rarely to make sure that

568

we give ourselves like the best platform

possible to kind of make these sales.

569

So I thought I'd just

talk you through briefly.

570

Cause I know this episode is

getting a little bit long.

571

I've got so much to say Talk a little

bit about what I'd do with my clients

572

over the six months beforehand.

573

Now, none of it.

574

Isn't none of it is rocket science,

but I wanted to share the one thing

575

that makes a difference to my client's

accounts in the, in the six months

576

before November, the I'm thinking

about that bigger picture strategy.

577

That often gets lost in the

day-to-day of running ads.

578

When people think about, you know,

what's my lead cost right now, or how

579

many thousand I'm making this month.

580

And that is balancing.

581

The day-to-day results because

you have to be getting results.

582

You know, you have to be getting

those leads at reasonable cost.

583

You have to be getting those sales to

make sure those ads the worthwhile.

584

Absolutely.

585

But the key to a long-term

successful strategy.

586

It's always testing.

587

And not just thinking I've got something

that works, I'm just going to leave out.

588

Okay.

589

And it's really, really tempting.

590

And I totally understand that because

especially if you're managing your ads

591

yourself, you've got something that works.

592

You're just going to leave

it alone and just let it run.

593

However, probably at some point it

will stop working and if you haven't

594

ever tested anything else, that

can be really, really stressful.

595

Trying to find something that then

is going to work again, because

596

it can take a while for things

to work and kind of kick him.

597

So with my clients I'm always doing is

yes, having something that's working,

598

but also testing it different as

I've talked about through this whole

599

episode, you know, different audiences,

different types of creative, different

600

messaging, different, Looking at the

sales page, what's our conversion rate.

601

How can we improve that?

602

And I just wanted to talk a

little bit about a client that

603

I started working with in may.

604

Now that average order

value is about 20 pounds.

605

So definitely within that

realm of that low ticket.

606

Offer.

607

And they spend 20 pounds

a day on their ads.

608

Now we split the budget 10 pounds

a day on bringing new leads in.

609

So growing that email list

and then 10 pounds a day on.

610

Sales ads to make sure that

we bring in those sales.

611

Now in terms of their email list,

we've tested lots of different things.

612

And we've found like our sweet spot is

around like 350 to 400 leads a month.

613

The 10 pounds a day and

that's really consistent.

614

And that really is

great in the email list.

615

And then our conversion rate from the

email list is about 3% of people who

616

joined the email list, go through our

nurture, welcome sequence and buy from us.

617

So those stats we've tested over time.

618

We know that's, what's going to happen.

619

Now with the sales ads.

620

It's it's been a much

more volatile picture.

621

If you like, say.

622

For the first three months,

we average like mid twenties.

623

In terms of the sales.

624

Which we were really happy with.

625

It cost us around 15 pounds

of ad spend to get one sale.

626

As I said, it's worth about 20 pounds.

627

So, yes, we're making all the money

back and a little bit of profit,

628

but we weren't hugely into profit.

629

And that was really the

goal for these sales ads.

630

So we were doing well.

631

We were covering our costs.

632

But we wanted to do better.

633

August hat.

634

We tried a new type of ad.

635

So it was a carousel and we've really

been focusing it on wheels before.

636

I'm this carousel when bananas.

637

So we went from like mid twenties

purchases to 52 in August.

638

So we were like, I was.

639

Absolutely.

640

Railed.

641

We were really excited.

642

Now September came and

suddenly that ad burnt out.

643

So it just wasn't performing anymore.

644

We tried different

variations of the carousel.

645

We tried different content,

different messaging.

646

We tried to reignite that carousel.

647

And in that process tested

a lot of different ads.

648

We bought reels back in again, I

bought the single images back in

649

just to make sure that we were

testing everything we could.

650

So September and October, we had mid

thirties purchases, which so much

651

better than the three initial months,

but we just couldn't quite hit that

652

August peak, which was frustrating.

653

But what it did allow us to do is test.

654

Then we tested new audiences as well

as we did a lot of testing and it

655

has set us up so well for November.

656

So as we've come into November, we have

found that combination that's working

657

again, but this time it's not a single ad

that's working really well because that's

658

the risk, you know, you have, you have one

that's working well and it banned, found.

659

This time, we have five ads that.

660

All working really, really well,

really strong a mix, actually, mostly

661

carousel, but some reels as well.

662

And so far in November.

663

So I'm recording this on the 19th.

664

Of November.

665

And so far this month we had 62 purchases

and it's costing us five pounds of ad

666

spend to get one sale instead of 15.

667

And that just makes such a massive

difference because if you're

668

spending 15 pounds a day, we're

getting three sales a day versus

669

the one sale a day we had before.

670

The return on ad spend is now five.

671

So for every pound we spend,

we get five pounds back.

672

Now, again, this isn't necessarily going

to continue, you know, in December and

673

January and onwards, because November

and early December, is this kind of

674

special ecosystem where people are

really primed to buy just culturally.

675

And so there's definitely not saying,

like we found these five ads and

676

they're going to run like this forever.

677

However.

678

It is an incredible boost financially

to the business, but also it really

679

shows that all that hard work we've

put in over the time testing them.

680

You know, being resilient, keeping

testing, not being disappointed by like

681

a high month and then a lower month.

682

Like not thinking, oh, ads, aren't going

to work for me because you know, they

683

obviously just, don't like, I'm never

going to get great return on ad spend.

684

And what this month will allow us

to do is just get a huge amount

685

of learning on the account.

686

Because we're getting so many people

in and so many people are buying.

687

So that's a bit of an example of

how testing and kind of looking

688

at all the way out from may.

689

We have been looking at this bigger

picture, trying to get something working

690

within the month, but also keep pushing

ourselves to testing and learning.

691

So that we can get to this point.

692

So I hope this episode has been

helpful I have just got so much

693

to say on faith on black Friday.

694

And also just generally

on strategy with ads.

695

It's really easy to get stuck into

the, technicalities of Facebook

696

ads, which campaign should I use?

697

Which audience should I use?

698

Should I run a low product?

699

What kind of sales ads should I run?

700

But the reality is yes, that's

the foundations of your Facebook

701

ads but the real success is

running your ads over time.

702

It's not about that initial setup.

703

It's about being able to see what's

happening and adapt and keeping the

704

eye on like where your business is

going and how you want the ads to

705

support your business going forward.

706

Because it's not a case of like, yes,

definitely run ads for black Friday

707

or don't run ads for black Friday.

708

There are so many variables within

that that you need to think about.

709

So my black Friday offer this year, I

am launching my audience builder course,

710

which is all about the

foundations of Facebook ads.

711

It's the setting up the ads.

712

It's the creating your first campaign.

713

It's making sure that

your lead ad set up.

714

Right.

715

It's all those foundational elements

for you in a simple, easy to

716

access actionable online course.

717

I've made it really simple.

718

There are short videos for you to

follow, and then you literally can

719

just have your screen up, have my

video up and do it alongside me.

720

Now I was going to run this as

a totally self paced like DIY

721

course, however, I have decided

722

to kick it off and launch it just once

in 20, 24, I am going to run it live.

723

So you'll have all the content

there as well, but you will then

724

have access to me so that when you

are actually getting that campaign

725

live, you can see how it's running.

726

You can make tweaks, you can ask

questions and there will be group

727

calls where I can review your campaign.

728

There'll be hot seat coaching.

729

And I will also be sharing with you,

like what's working in ads right now.

730

So you can feed that in to your campaigns.

731

I am really excited.

732

It's going to be six weeks.

733

It's going to be starting in January.

734

And it will be a live group community

where you can all build your ads

735

together, get them live for the new year.

736

And then make sure they're working

really, really well with my support.

737

I'm only going to be running it

738

So if you are interested in setting up

your ads, finally taking it off your list.

739

And getting ads ready for 2024.

740

Make sure you go to the show notes and

and grab the audience builder calls

741

for the discounted price and the access

to me for six weeks in the new year.

742

I am so incredibly excited about this.

743

If you've got any questions at all

make sure you DM me on Instagram.

744

, which is at Sophie Griffis co, and

I will see you next week when I

745

am going to be talking all about.

746

Christmas ads.

747

Should you be running

your ads over Christmas?

748

Is it going to be too expensive?

749

What's the best strategy to use?

750

Honestly, it's going to be another Corker.

751

I cannot wait.

752

I love talking about Christmas ads.

753

I will see you next week.

754

Thank you so much for tuning in with

me today before you dash off, I have

755

a small, but mighty favorite ask.

756

If you could hit the subscribe button,

you'll get new episodes delivered

757

straight to you every Tuesday morning.

758

And if this episode struck a chord

with you, I'd be over the moon.

759

If you could take a moment to rate,

subscribe, and leave a review your

760

words, not only brighten my day, but

they're the magic that helps the others

761

discover online Hartford community.

762

Again, thank you so much for

spending your time with me, Sophie

763

here at lighthearted marketing.

764

See you next week