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There is a common mistake made by Meta advertisers related to conversion rate and an attempt to scale ads. You can be better. Let’s make sure that you don’t make the same mistake.

Maybe this is you. There’s a temptation to try to outsmart the algorithm. But it’s unlikely to work…

Conversion Rate and Opportunity

Like any good marketer, you pay attention to your website metrics with Google Analytics. You are always looking for ways to optimize and improve performance. How can you leverage this information?

You notice that you have a 10-percent conversion rate on a particular product landing page. It’s the perfect combination of a good product, offer, and purchase flow.

You want to improve revenue. One way to do that would be to improve traffic to this high-performing product page.

The Mistake

You come up with an idea. You feel super smart and can’t believe you hadn’t thought of it before.

You know how to drive traffic with Facebook ads. You can do it very cheaply. This is the perfect way to scale.

If you send 100 people, you can expect 10 to convert. If you send 1,000 people, 100 will convert. What about a million?

This can all work because you did such a great job with your product landing page. All you need to do is send the traffic. The landing page will do the rest.

So, you set up a campaign with the primary goal of sending the most traffic possible at the lowest cost. You run a Traffic campaign that is optimized for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views.

Now, you sit back and wait for the profit to roll in…

The Results

That campaign sends a ton of traffic. And yet, no conversions. Nothing.

You wait a while longer. You spend $100. Then $1,000. You’ve sent thousands of people to that amazing product landing page. You might get a sale or two, but that’s it.

Something is wrong. People are clicking on your ad, so they are clearly interested in your product. But virtually no one is buying.

What happened to that amazing conversion rate? What was once 10 percent is now well under 1 percent. You went into this excited about the prospects of big profits and you’ve actually lost money.

You are angry with Meta. There’s no reason that this should happen. It doesn’t make sense.

What Went Wrong?

It’s simple, really: You tried to outsmart the algorithm.

You made assumptions, and that is never a good idea. You assumed that the traffic that appears in Google Analytics is the same as the traffic that you could send with a Facebook ad optimized for clicks.

You assumed that if people clicked your ad, they must be interested in your product. And since the landing page is effective, a predictable percentage of that traffic should result in sales.

But that’s not what happens when you optimize for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views. You’ve learned an important lesson: Not all clicks are created equal.

It’s quite possible that the 10 percent conversion rate reflects organic traffic. The people who made their way to this landing page did so on their own. Your links, emails, and marketing messages helped. But it wasn’t algorithmic.

Meta’s ad algorithm had only one concern when you created your ad set optimized for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views: Get Link Clicks or Landing Page Views at the lowest cost.

Nothing else. No concern about what those people do after landing on your website. It doesn’t matter.

So, the algorithm will find advantages — even weaknesses — in the system to find you cheap clicks. It could be people who just click everything. It could be accidental clicks due to the placement. It might even be click fraud that hasn’t yet been flagged by the system.

But that traffic will not be nearly as good as what you normally get.

What You Should Do

Don’t overcomplicate this. If you want to increase purchases with your ads, run a Sales campaign that is optimized for purchases.

The reason is simple: The algorithm will distribute your ads and make adjustments to delivery based on how well you achieve that goal.

If you optimize for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views, the algorithm will focus on that. If you optimize for Purchases, the algorithm won’t be happy unless you’re getting sales.

Of course, you’re going to see that surface-level metrics may look nicer when optimizing for the click. You’ll get sky-high Click-Through Rates and lowest-of-the-low Cost Per Clicks. You will need to spend more to get clicks when optimizing for conversions, and that can be misleading.

You need to remember that the 10 percent Conversion Rate (or whatever that rate may be) is not in a vacuum. That rate will not hold, regardless of the traffic that you send. It would be nice, of course, but that’s not reality.

If you are unable to optimize for a Purchase, work your way back through the funnel from there. Try Initiate Checkout, Add to Cart, or even a custom event for a Quality Visitor. But the last resort should be be Link Clicks or Landing Page Views.

Even then, you’re likely burning money.

Watch Video

I recorded a video about this, too. Watch it below…

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Your Turn

What have been your experiences with the expected Conversion Rates with Meta advertising?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post Do Not Make This Mistake with Conversion Rate and Meta Ads appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sydneysocialmediaservices.com/?p=5473

One of my biggest battles with Facebook ads over the years has been driving high-quality traffic when promoting a blog post. I don’t want empty clicks. I want people who spend more time and are likely to perform other actions.

Look, I get it. The vast majority of advertisers are trying to get sales or leads from their ads. And while I do that, too, my blog is also important. I want to drive traffic to it, but it can’t just be any old traffic.

We know that there’s a huge hole in Facebook ads optimization if you optimize for surface-level metrics. If you tell Facebook that you want link clicks, you’re going to get lots of them — but probably not the ones you want.

You see, the ads algorithm doesn’t care about quality. It just cares whether you get the thing you asked for at the lowest cost. And you may get lots of clicks or video views, for example, if weaknesses in certain placements are exploited.

Needless to say, I’ve used a different route to drive quality traffic to my blog posts during the past few years. Still, I wasn’t fully confident that it was doing what I wanted it to do. I just knew it had to be better than the alternative.

A split test was in order.

Let’s take a look at the split test that I ran and what we can learn from it…

Which Optimization is Best?

If you set up a Traffic campaign, there are two primary ways that you can optimize: Link Clicks or Landing Page Views.

Depending on your choice, Facebook will optimize the delivery of your ads to get you the most link clicks or landing page views at the lowest possible cost. What’s the difference?

Link Clicks are the “number of clicks on links within the ad that led to advertiser-specified destinations, on or off Meta technologies.”

Landing Page Views are the “number of times that a person clicked on an ad link and successfully loaded the destination web page.”

It may sound like semantics, but a Landing Page View actually requires the landing page (and Meta pixel) to load. The Link Click does not. So, the Landing Page View is slightly better.

Slightly. Neither is the definition of a quality website visit.

That’s why three years ago, I created a series of custom events that fire on my website when people perform certain actions that might signify a quality website visit. For example, I’ve created events that fire when a visitor scrolls down a page or spends a designated amount of time on a page of my website.

Even better? I created an event that requires you to spend two minutes AND scroll at least 70% down a page.

The Split Test

I created a campaign with three ad sets that were identical in every way except for one thing: Optimization. One ad set optimized for Link Clicks, one for Landing Page Views, and one for the Quality Visitor event that I created.

All three ad sets would use the broadest of targeting. I selected the US, UK, Cananda, and Australia, but no custom audiences, lookalike audiences, or detailed targeting were provided. I excluded anyone who already read the blog post that I was promoting.

Each ad set would utilize Advantage+ Placements, so all placements were available.

In each case, the ad would promote a popular blog post related to using ChatGPT to create a Facebook ads strategy.

Once the campaign was started, I went into Experiments to set up a new test.

The key metric to determine a winner, of course, would be the Quality Visitor event.

While you might assume that the ad set optimized for Quality Visitors will result in the most Quality Visitors, who knows? It’s always possible it won’t go that direction.

Since I set up the split test this way, the ad sets were able to continue delivering even after the test ended. When the test is ongoing, there isn’t any overlap. A targeted person can only see an ad from one of the three ad sets. When the test is complete, that’s no longer the case.

Theoretically, you can get better results when you’re not constrained by a split test. So, that’s one reason I wanted to keep the ad sets going a little bit longer, even after a winner was found.

I didn’t spend a crazy amount of money on this test, but that also wasn’t necessary. We’re talking about actions that don’t cost a whole lot to get, particularly Link Clicks and Landing Page Views (Quality Visitors will presumably cost more).

I spent about $300 on this test, though I haven’t stopped it yet either. I’m confident that the results I’m going to share won’t change enough to impact what is uncovered.

The Results

Here are the primary metrics that we’ll want to look at:

  • CPM
  • CTR
  • CPC (Cost Per Link Click)
  • Cost Per Landing Page View
  • Cost Per Quality Visitor (2 Minutes + 70% Scroll)

I included CPM because the cost to reach people can do crazy things if it’s drastically different between ad sets. I also included CTR to give you an idea of engagement rate and whether it matters.

First, here are the results during the split test when the target audience was constrained…

The CTR was about 3X higher when optimizing for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views. The CPC was lowest when optimizing for Link Clicks, twice as much when optimizing for Landing Page Views, and about 5X higher when optimizing for a Quality Visitor. The Cost Per Landing Page View followed a similar pattern.

So, we can get significantly more volume of visitors by optimizing for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views than we can by optimizing for a Quality Visitor. But does optimizing for Quality Visitors lead to more Quality Visitors?

Yep. And it’s not close.

Even though this test resulted in a far higher cost than I usually want to see per Quality Visitor, that cost was about 1/4th of what it was when optimizing for a Landing Page View. And optimizing for Link Clicks, while bringing in volume, resulted in practically no quality visits at all.

That was during the test. Here’s the period of time after the test…

Everything stayed in line. Optimizing for Link Clicks resulted in lots of Link Clicks, but very little quality. Optimizing for Landing Page Views was very similar, but slightly more expensive and with a little bit more quality.

This time, optimizing for Quality Visitors resulted in a Cost Per Quality Visitor that I’m used to — just over $1. I should also point out that this happened while the CPM was the highest when optimizing for a Quality Visitor (more than twice as high as when optimizing for Link Clicks).

I also shouldn’t ignore an important side effect of driving quality traffic: Other actions. The ad set that optimized for Quality Visitors also resulted in five registrations, while the other two ad sets netted zero.

The Issue with Placements

Remember when I said at the top that optimization for Link Clicks and Landing Page Views can be problematic because it often takes advantage of weaknesses in placements? Wow. We have some evidence of that here.

The Audience Network placement is notorious for empty clicks, whether they are due to accidental clicks, bot clicks, or outright click fraud. If we use Breakdowns, we can see distribution by placement. And it’s really something.

When optimizing for Link Clicks, a staggering 99% of those Link Clicks came from Audience Network.

When optimizing for Landing Page Views, 96% of those Landing Page Views came from Audience Network.

When optimizing for Quality Visitors, 0 of those Quality Visitors came from Audience Network. Instead, 98% came from News Feed (most from mobile).

If this isn’t enough to convince you that Audience Network is problematic when optimizing for traffic actions, only 3 of the 607 people driven to my website from one of these ad sets from Audience Network resulted in a Quality Visitor.

Need the final dagger? When optimizing for Quality Visitors, Facebook knew that Audience Network wouldn’t work. Not a single penny was spent there when the algorithm knew that a Quality Visitor mattered.

The Verdict

This is really good validation. While I’ve optimized for Quality Visitors (and other custom events) for the past three years, I’ve long heard whispers that the algorithm doesn’t actually learn from custom events. I still did it because it couldn’t be worse than optimizing for Link Clicks and Landing Page Views.

When Bram Van der Hallen wrote his blog post about optimizing for custom events for traffic, I told him about my concerns. Well, I’m glad Bram wrote that post because even though I had my doubts, I kept at it and started testing it more.

Yes. This really does work.

If you want to run ads that promote a blog post, you should care about quality website traffic. Do not optimize for Link Clicks or Landing Page Views. Create custom events that fire when actions happen that signify quality traffic activity and optimize for them.

In case you’re wondering, I have a whole lot of custom events on this website that fire. Not only do I have events for scroll and time spent, but I also have events that fire if you click to share, play the podcast player, or watch an embedded YouTube video.

Your Turn

Have you tested out optimizing for quality traffic? What have you seen?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post Split Test: Which Optimization Leads to the Most High-Quality Traffic? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

To lead more users to your products, you need to create a showstopping landing page. To do this, you’ll need to consider your audience, your call-to-action, the product or service, and your niche.

Beautifully crafted landing pages focus on giving potential clients the down low on your product quickly. If you can marry this with visually appealing graphics, a clean and organized template, and social proof, then you are well on your way to creating landing pages that convert.

Formstack.com says

Learning to put together a high-converting landing page is no easy feat. Subtle changes in design, layout, or copy could mean the difference between coveted clicks or the dreaded “back” button.

Dreaded is right. Keeping users on your site is the no. 1 goal when crafting your landing page.

Here’s a quick video from Flux Academy talking about what makes a good landing page:

Quick Takeaways:

  • A good landing page will grab the attention of prospects and clients alike, driving up your conversion rate
  • Landing pages need a healthy mix of aesthetic appeal and informative content to get people viewing your content
  • There are tons of online resources designed to make landing page design easier

Here are a few samples of landing pages that just plain work:

  1. Unbounce

Unbounce is the top example of an excellent landing page because it has all of the required elements—from the catchy headline to the simple CTA copy and visually appealing screenshots. These guys make a living from designing landing pages so we can expect their pages to be nothing short of brilliant.

The overall design of Unbounce’s landing page banks on SEO, and there is enough content to keep readers engaged with the site before they complete the next action. On the other hand, the details do not distract visitors at all because they’re all below the fold and only evident upon scrolling.

  1. Wistia

Wistia’s smart contrast of blue and white is visually stimulating. Added to that is the sign-up form, which visitors see the moment the page opens. The form for creating an account is strategically placed on the site, while FAQs to answer a visitor’s queries are placed at the bottom.

External links have been removed, and there is nothing to distract users from their next action.

  1. H.BLOOM

Bloom combines a few important elements of an engaging landing page: beautiful and captivating images and a minimalist template. The white space on the page allows visitors to take in all the images and details, as too many fancy designs on the page can distract users from the main objective.

It has an above-the-fold form and a brief explanation of what happens when you fill it out. The “Submit” button is not to be missed because of its bright color.

  1. American Bullion

American Bullion’s catchy headline tells readers right off the bat what the page is all about. This saves them from having to browse the whole page.

The introductory paragraph gives just enough information to intrigue, but isn’t too long. The site has a simple call-to-action and brightly colored submit button. Testimonials and trust symbols round out the overall look and feel of the page and provide additional information about the company.

  1. HBO Max

HBO Max has the added benefit of selling a really cool service. They have their actual live titles circulating on the landing page, giving users visual aid to help sell the service to them.

This landing page is colorful, gets to the point, and clearly highlights the “sign up now” button for prospects.

  1. Neil Patel

Neil Patel’s official website is another great example of a distraction-free landing page, indicating to visitors that there is only one path for progression. It displays a compelling description of the offer in an aesthetically pleasing presentation.

His CTA copy within a huge orange button helps drive the point home to readers that this offer will teach them how to grow their business.

  1. Bills.com

The clean and refreshing feel of Bills.com is due to the crisp white and blue layout of the landing page. The minimalist feel of the large slider removes all unnecessary distractions from the page and gets straight to the point.

  1. Webprofits

Webprofits has a grainy black background, but the white text contrasts against it nicely. There is a prominent field form for the visitor’s website address and a bright pink CTA button that draws visitors toward their next course of action.

The page offers complete details about Webprofits and its services, plus multiple call-to-action buttons at the bottom of each page (“Talk to Webprofits”).

  1. Basecamp

Basecamp has an info-heavy design that directs reader’s eyes to the 30 day free trial and number of sign ups from the week prior. The highlight of this landing page is the quick information a prospect would want to know immediately.

Many users looking for extra storage space are likely doing research on the best rates for the most data. Presenting this information off the bat eliminates the annoying process of having to click on every single page to try and find that information.

  1. Netflix

Netflix’s landing page is a great example of lean content and a compelling call-to-action. After your visitors read your headlines, they need to know what to do next. In this case, a big red button that’s impossible to miss invites users to “Get Started”.

Netflix (and all streaming services nowadays) have a leg up on landing pages. They don’t have to have a lot of information because you already know what they’re providing.

Wrap Up

With an impressive landing page, you can improve your content marketing conversion rates and directly increase your actual sales. If you’ve already got great content and a compelling offer but aren’t seeing a lead volume that reflects their value, maybe it’s time to start looking at landing page design.

Putting together a high-converting landing page is no easy task. Minor changes in the copy, layout or design can mean the difference between form submissions and the dreaded high bounce rate.

Make sure that you’re A/B testing each aspect of your landing page to discover the combination that works best for your specific audience.

Happy testing!

Do you want to use some of the marketing strategies seen here on MIG’s site but need some help or advice? Marketing Insider Group has a team of 35+ experienced writers ready to produce content for YOUR business. Check out our weekly blog content service or schedule a free consultation. 

The post 10 Examples of Awesome Landing Pages that Convert appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.