$250 Media Buy - DO NOT DO THIS

With all the people starting media buys it would be great if we do not have to all make the same mistakes.

I just ended a media buy at $250 because I was not getting any conversions. I ran an ad for Garcinia (a weight loss supplement) on Martha Stewart's website. $250 and 100 clicks later and I have zero, zilch to show for it. I don't need to spend more money on this it is not working. This is not to say anything about the product or the website other than my spend did not work.

I obviously need to change something in my marketing efforts.

So far I tried this:

Traffic->Offer->Profits

This did not work for me. I linked the product ads straight to the product sales page. You would think they would have this flow optimized. They must not. They must be relying on affiliates to generate enough traffic as a whole to compensate for a low conversion ratio. At least that is how it looks to me.

So, you guys and girls do not need to try this particular setup, I've already tested it. Start with this and improve on it.

I have some ideas on how to improve this setup, but I am also beginning to question my overall approach.

More to follow!

$2.5 per click?! That's just too crazy high to begin with, IMO.

I don't think you should be doing any testing at those rates....first try to find a similar demographic to test your offer for conversions somewhere else at way lower rates. Then after some test have been done you can scale up to other sites.

Good luck.

carlikito said:

$2.5 per click?! That's just too crazy high to begin with, IMO.

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You are entirely right. I am new to media buys and only wanted to save some other newbie from making the same mistake.

first try to find a similar demographic to test your offer for conversions somewhere else at way lower rates

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Do you have a suggestion for a traffic source that is legit? I recently saw a method involving contacting 20-30 website owners and getting adverts placed there but I really don't have the time or energy to do this right now. Maybe I need to outsource this.

Thank you for the heads up. I am currently doing some adwords testing on a product before i try some small level media buys. The plan is to set up a landing page to further funnel the traffic.

antichrist said:

Thank you for the heads up. I am currently doing some adwords testing on a product before i try some small level media buys. The plan is to set up a landing page to further funnel the traffic.

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You're welcome. I am thinking a presell (sp?) page might be worth testing, and also somehow pre-qualifying people via my advert. That kinda screws up my advert tho.

Got to look more into this whole sales funnel thing. There must be many ways to improve conversions.

For paid traffic you should really be going for:

Traffic->Landing Page>Offer->Profits

Warm your traffic up to the product you are promoting.

Like all the acai / rasberry ketone stuff, go to any online sites and see these ads, click them and they will take you to a landing page.

This "proves" the product is good, and will lead to sales.

Just be sure to not to use any fake testimonials or the the FTC or the like will be hot on your heels.

Also you should split test your banners (dont use the same ones as everyone else) with something like openx, and weed out the low performing ones.

Ya, I really have almost ZERO idea of what I am doing with media buys and am trying to learn and just jump right in.

Also you should split test your banners (dont use the same ones as everyone else) with something like openx

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Thanks for the heads up about openx, I will have to look further into this.

No worries, ive never got into it myself properly but know its out there (believe there is a basic edition you can use for free).

Look into prosper202 for tracking, though it is for PPC, but can be modded i believe for pretty much anything and its free. Just make sure your server can take it, but with those sorts of clicks it wouldnt be a problem on something like a VPS.

Also check out CPVlab, again for CPV (PPV), but i believe it does ad rotation, so this should be well worth a look, though costs $300 if i recall right.

Again, should be used on a VPS - you really dont want your any sort of tracking on a shared server!

The thing with Media Buy, PPC or any source of paid traffic is that many of us tend to forget the 'pre-selling' part of the process.

Most of the sales pages created by product owners are not compelling; that's where our 'sales' or 'review' pages come in.

The proper way of directing traffic is either:
Traffic Source > Sales/Review Page > Pre-Sell > Aff. Link to product's Main Page (Quick Bucks, may cost more in the long term)
Traffic Source > Landing Page > Collect E-Mails > Send products after products to your list (Slower process, cost effective in the long term)

I made the same mistake of directing all the traffic right away to the sales page and that's why I didn't get any conversions! I did some research after that and this is what I've learned so far that every newbie should be going for:

I'm spending .08 on MS Bing Ads and that is a little too high for my taste. Start with a low bid, then gradually ramp up -- not the other way around.

Thanks for your information, it will save me from hard work.

I only read the first few sentences of the OP so Idunno if this was addressed, I'm sure it has been though ...

YOU MUST USE AN LP with this type of offer. It's a MUST.

YOU MUST TRACK EVERYTHING. You must track everything. IDK the best tracking out now, but check out CPVLab or P202

When buying traffic, when you spend money, you aren't "wasting it". You are basically buying data to see what works and what doesn't. During the beginning stages when you lose money (its inevitable), you are suppose to really track everything, see what works and what doesn't. See which demographic converts best, what time period converts best, what LP does the best, what banners get the most clicks, what banners generate the most sales and not just "curiousity clicks", etc etc. What need to TEST TEST TRACK and TEST more.

And TBH, you was promoting a big offer, not just a simple leadgen. You're suppose to test 10x the offer's payout on each creatives. So using $250 for testing on an offer that pays $40 for example isnt enough.

Just for everyone's knowledge.

Target Demographic/Geographic/Timing -> Eye Catching Banner Placement -> Landing/Presell Pages -> Optin List -> Selling Offers.

With Openx AdServer, prosper202 tracking. Split Test variant of each parts should help us watching the traffic behaviours.
Sure it's not that simple, but with proper setup. Then the winning campaign would be easier to recognize.
I just Remember good saying in BHW. "MONEY IS ON THE DETAILS!".
Good Luck, Op.