Why using the last-click attribution model is probably a terrible idea for your campaigns

Continuing with my last post about attribution models, I was telling you how, in most cases, using the default “last-click” model is a terrible idea.

The last-click model attributes conversions, as the name says, to the last click that happened right before it. It doesn’t take into account everything that happens before it: only the last click gets all the credit.

This used to work well back in the day when our navigational patterns were simple. We clicked to a website and requested more information (i.e. we became a lead to that business), made a purchase, or just went away.

Nowadays, however, in many cases we might take a much longer path to conversion. We might browse around first, compare options, click on a retargeting/remarketing ad (those ads that follow you around the web), watch a video, and more, even on different devices.

A cleverly deceptive or unknowing consultant/agency might prefer to use the last-click attribution model and give themselves all the credit because their campaigns generated the last click before the conversions. But what about everything that happened before?

I will elaborate on this idea and how it affects your marketing ROI on my next post.

Juan Pablo

P.S.: I’m creating a free training where I go over each of the top 3 mistakes I see people new to Digital Advertising make, and how to fix them. Plus, I’m gonna give you a couple bonus tips that will help you slash your ad costs by probably 50% on Google Ads pretty much immediately*.

Comment FIX MY MISTAKES and I will show you how to get this training.

*The savings will depend on your situation, but I’m confident the 2 bonus tips will save you some money pretty quickly!

Why choosing the right attribution model is critical for digital advertising ROI

An attribution model is what you use to, as the word says, attribute conversions to a campaign, i.e., give credit where credit is due.

When it comes to measuring the results of your digital advertising, not all conversions are created equal (a conversion is some kind of concrete action produced thanks to a campaign, such as a lead generated or a sale).

In the early days of internet marketing, the only attribution model available was the “last-click” model. This model was useful when people used to follow a short, straight-path to conversion. But nowadays the online conversion journey is much longer, and the last-click model is not very accurate in most cases, but still remains the default in most cases. A terrible idea and a hole in your wallet waiting to happen!

I will continue developing this idea on my next post.

What’s your experience with attribution models? Do you know which one your agency/consultant is using for your accounts?

How to stop getting worthless likes and get willing to buy leads instead with Facebook Ads

On my last 2 posts I was telling you how I think Facebook Ads is overrated in many cases and especially when trying to target very specific niches or in special situations.

I mentioned the case of my dad, a car accident lawyer, whose target audience is virtually impossible to reach reliably on Facebook Ads. In his case, Google Ads are a much better option and I have been running ads very profitably for him for many years.

However, I did add a Facebook Ads component recently to his digital advertising strategy, and I was able to make it work. I was even able to beat our Google Ads CPL (cost per lead) with this new tactic.

What I’m talking about is retargeting with Facebook Ads (explained further on my first comment)

I get the initial click with Google Ads (example, someone looking for “hire a car accident lawyer in Santiago”), and then for the people that come to his website but don’t become leads, I show a retargeting ad on their Facebook feed. Facebook Ads are DIRT CHEAP these days because of Coronavirus, so it’s very likely you are leaving money on the table if you’re not doing this.

There is a specific ad format I used that was able to achieve this result. Comment FB RETARGETING if you want me to show you how to do this.

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads Part 2: which one is best in niche markets?

Yesterday I was telling you why I think Facebook Ads are a fad.

Yes, they work well in many situations, but I think they are definitely overrated.

If you have a highly specific product or service, Google Ads can work much better.

Take my dad, for example, a lawyer in the car accident niche.

How the heck would you target someone who had a car accident and is looking for a lawyer on a Facebook ad?

There’s no way in hell I could have run Facebook Ads profitably for years for him, like I have done with Google Ads.

It’s too narrow of a niche, it’s time bound (it’s not like people go around looking to get into crashes) and there is no reliable way to target someone who had a car accident on Facebook. It could be anyone! Car accidents don’t care about your interests or preferences, so no amount of precise FB ads targeting is going to help you with that.

Plus, people “like” and “follow” all sorts of crap when they’re bored on Facebook. Do you really want to spend your advertising dollars that way, as opposed to targeting a high buyer-intent keyphrase such as “how much does a car accident lawyer cost”? (substitute with your product or service)

What has been your experience targeting with Google Ads vs Facebook Ads?

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Which one to to choose?

When it comes to Facebook Ads vs Google Ads, I need to get something out of my chest.

I THINK FACEBOOK ADS ARE A FAD

There, I said it. That feels good!

Now, let me qualify that statement.

It’s pretty funny (in a sad way) because I just had a conversation with a potential client. She runs ads for a web design agency and wanted a “likes campaign to gain brand awareness”. She should have seen the facepalm look on my face. I very politely told her an easy 3-step strategy to get likes, but also directed her to book a call with me to create a proper strategy.

Hear me out:

BRAND AWARENESS IS NOT GOING TO PUT FOOD ON YOUR TABLE, ESPECIALLY IN THESE TIMES!

Now, there is a time and place for Facebook ads and it can work really well on some situations. I use it myself at times. But it’s no the end all, be all of digital advertising.

I like Google Ads a lot more because you can target people who are LOOKING FOR WHAT YOU HAVE, as opposed to interrupting bored users on a social platform. I will expand on this topic on my next posts.

What’s your take on Facebook Ads vs Google Ads vs ?

No conversions/sales from your digital advertising? How to fix it (Part 2 of 2)

Continuing with my last post on fixing issues that are causing you to get no sales/conversions from your digital advertising, here are 3 more possible reasons:

  1. Targeting

Even if your offer and landing page are great, it won’t work if you’re showing it to the wrong people. If budget is not a problem, you can afford the luxury of targeting more broadly and just seeing what converts best (i.e. taking. But if not, you really gotta think this through and leverage all the targeting options from your chosen digital advertising platform to maximize your odds from the very beginning of your campaign.

  • Ads

You can have a great offer, great landing page, great targeting, but without good ads that relate to all three, you will either get too few clicks to your landing page, or clicks that don’t convert. What you offer on your ads must match what you offer on your landing page. This will also help with Quality Score in the case of Google Ads, which can help reduce your Cost per Click (CPC).

  • Closing abilities

If your sales happen offline, or over the phone after generating a lead with your ads, it is crucial that you have a good process for closing prospects. Otherwise, no matter how many great leads you get with your digital advertising campaigns, you won’t be able to move the needle on your business.

Let me know if this helps or you have any other specific issues with digital advertising that you would like me to discuss in future posts.

– Juan Pablo

P.S.: I’m creating a free training where I go over each of the top 3 mistakes I see people new to Digital Advertising make, and how to fix them. Plus, I’m gonna give you a couple bonus tips that will help you slash your ad costs by probably 50% on Google Ads pretty much immediately*.

Click here to get the training: https://bit.ly/Online-Advertising-Advice

*The savings will depend on your situation, but I’m confident the 2 bonus tips will save you some money pretty quickly!

No conversions/sales from your digital advertising? How to fix it (Part 1 of 2)

If you’re not getting conversions/sales from your digital advertising, there can be several reasons. Here are a couple of the most important ones:

  1. Offer

Arguably the most important factor, if you don’t have an offer that is attractive and makes sense to your market, no amount of advertising is going to help you. Focus on fixing your offer.

Ideally, you should validate your offer first by surveying/talking to potential/existing customers and even trying to sell them your offer before you launch a campaign

2. Landing page

This is related to your offer. Once you think you have a strong offer, you must communicate it through words and design on your landing page. I believe words are more important than design, so I prefer to train on copywriting rather than on design, but still try to have a professional looking landing page.

On the second part of this post, we will look at 3 other elements that are important for getting conversions/sales from your digital advertising: your targeting, your ads, and your sales closing abilities. Stay tuned.

  • Juan Pablo

P.S.: I’m creating a free training where I go over each of the top 3 mistakes I see people new to Digital Advertising make, and how to fix them. Plus, I’m gonna give you a couple bonus tips that will help you slash your ad costs by probably 50% on Google Ads pretty much immediately*.

Click here to get the training: https://bit.ly/Online-Advertising-Advice *The savings will depend on your situation, but I’m confident the 2 bonus tips will save you some money pretty quickly!

More fun questions to make your digital advertising agency/consultant blush 😈

Did you try any of the hard questions for your digital advertising agency/consultant I gave you last time?

Here are some more you can try, depending on their replies to the first one.

If they are, in fact, tracking conversions, ask them this:

“OK, so what attribution model are you using, and why?”

I can explain attribution models on a following post. For now, just be aware that it’s not enough to measure conversions, but actually HOW you measure them is pretty important, too. This decision will directly affect your budget allocation, which directly impacts the ROI of your campaigns.

Another one: if they are split-testing your ads, ask them:

“OK, how are you picking a winner from your tests”?

If they don’t mention anything about statistical significance, be worried. It’s likely they’re making your ads perform WORSE by running poorly designed tests.

How has been your experience with digital advertising agencies/consultants when asking hard questions?

Hard questions to put your digital advertising agency/consultant on the spot 😈

Wanna have some fun?

Try asking your digital advertising agency/consultant some hard questions. This will immediately tell you if they’re doing a good job with your account or just taking your money (of course, results are the ultimate measure, but if you have no benchmarks to compare against, these questions will help)

1)     Are you tracking conversions?

2)     Are you split testing my ads?

3)     Are you using ad extensions? (for Google Ads)

4)     What’s your remarketing strategy?

I have some follow up questions which I will detail in following posts, but these can get you started.

–         Juan Pablo

Bonus tip: try these questions on your next meeting so you can see them blush on Zoom 😈

How has been your experience working with past/current digital advertising agencies/consultants? (you don’t have to name them if you don’t want).

How my dad went from depending on partners to having clients coming to him with Google Ads lead generation campaigns (part 2 of 2)

On the first part of this 2-part story, I was telling you how thanks to the Google Ads lead generation campaigns I’ve running from my dad, he no longer depends on just his partners (insurance companies) to send him work, and how things took an unexpected (positive) twist over the years.

About 4 years ago, as I was separating from my now ex-wife, one day my dad called me out of the blue and told me had an invitation for me.

Something to clear my mind from the painful separation…

“Son, I’m going on a cruise…

And I want you to come with me”.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Sure, I had been on nice vacations before, but being invited like this by my dad in a difficult moment was something really special. And I happen to like the ocean A LOT (I had never been on a cruise).

As it turns out, my dad was doing so well with a combination of getting more business from his partners and the campaigns I was running for him, that he could afford to travel like this with all his family and me. He later went to do a lot more fancy international traveling.

I know what you’re thinking. “OK Juan Pablo, that’s really nice, but what does that have to do with me, my business and everything that’s going on in the world right now? We can’t even travel!”

This is not about me or my dad. It’s about YOU. It’s about what’s possible. It’s about thinking beyond the dark circumstances that are around you and everyone.

I’m not making any claims or promises here, don’t get me wrong (success is ultimately up to YOU), but I know from firsthand experience well-executed Google Ads lead generation campaigns are not just abut numbers on a spreadsheet and KPIs. Those things are nice, but this is more about DREAMS. I would love to help you achieve YOUR dreams.

What are YOUR dreams? I would love to know! Just comment down below and let’s lift each other up. This thing WILL pass, and this is the best time to prepare and come out shining after all this ends.