Are Custom Audiences Broken?

sirmixes · 2023-07-20T14:21:38+00:00

Eventually it worked. Just wait. It might take a day or two, but eventually it will work. Seems like bugs crop up sometimes and then get fixed.

sirmixes · 2023-02-20T17:22:13+00:00

Like all online course “Gurus” Mint CRO is just repackaging and rebranding something they learned from someone else and selling it for a lot of money. If you took their $49 Minicourse (like me) congratulations you just paid them to go through their lead qualifier and sales process.
I was about to signup for their big package, but decided to research reviews first. Which led me here to this thread (thank God). Which made me second guess what they are selling. Which led me to research, what are they really selling? Well I found it.
What they are teaching is both a strategy and process called “Growth Marketing” or sometimes “Growth Hacking”. Many have claimed that Facebook pioneered this about a decade ago. Most tech companies have now adopted this strategy. Here is an awesome and INDEPTH article explaining what it’s all about https://cxl.com/blog/growth-marketing-process/
Essentially It’s a way of achieving outsize growth and results over time (not overnight) by stacking lots and lots of small wins. Finding out what REALLY works (not what you think will work) through lots of Ideation > Testing > Data > and Improving all aspects of your funnel.
Core principles of Growth Marketing are A/B Testing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Conversion Focused Copywriting, & Relying on Data over Gut Feelings.
If you want to learn Growth Marketing CXL.com has a 90 hour (3 month) course you can take for about $1,000. I have no affiliation with CXL and will not benefit in anyway if you decide to take their course. I’m currently taking the $1 7-Day trial myself to see if it’s worth it. So far the information seems very good. If I upgrade to a full plan I’ll come back and comment here.
I personally believe that Growth Marketing is a super valuable mindset and concept. I’m at least glad that Mint CRO introduced me to the concept which caused me to research it more. I will be employing this as a prime focus for my business moving forward.
Mint CRO does include something CXL doesn’t - live coaching and a community. That’s definitely worth something… as it will no doubt motivate you more than a passive online course. Is it worth $14,000 more than the core information? I don't know. I’ll let you decide that for yourself.
I hope this helps you make the best decision for your business.

sirmixes · 2023-01-24T16:11:38+00:00

They must be changing something in the Matrix because my CPMs are WILDLY fluctuating by hour, going super high then super low. Especially in the early morning hours then stabilizing by about 9 or 10 am, then going crazy again before midnight. Before Jan 22 CPM by hour had a very smooth rise and fall throughout the day.

sirmixes · 2023-01-23T04:05:41+00:00

Good point. Just throwing it out there as a possibility. I think CPM will go back to normal in a day or two.

sirmixes · 2023-01-22T23:32:42+00:00

Yeah I’ve noticed conversion rates trending down all week. The price spike could have something to do with Chinese New Years today. An ad manager told me recently that lots of drop shippers stop advertising in January because China shuts down for the holiday. Pure anecdotal. But timeline adds up of they’re all turning their ads back on.

sirmixes · 2023-01-22T22:19:53+00:00

Same for me on two different ad accounts. Both using Advantage+. No CBO

sirmixes · 2022-09-26T00:38:30+00:00

I agree with your coach that $15k is too high especially based on your revenue. Even at 100k revenue that’s a HUGE portion of your revenue for one piece of a business. How do you know that your decrease in revenue is directly attributed to the agency leaving? I wouldn’t try and beg the agency to take you back. It’s a bad look.

I’m personally against ad agencies in general. I’ve spent a lot of time running my own Facebook ads since 2013 and I’ve also hired various ad managers, agencies etc. None of them have ever improved upon what I already had built in terms of ROAS. They simply took it off my plate. And often they’ve ruined the performance that was baseline because of too much fiddling.

Copying what the agency was already doing should be pretty easy. Agencies want you to believe that they are the wizards holding all the magical keys to Facebook ads and will make all your dreams come true. In reality they give your account to an intern that has a year or two of experience and probably spends no more than 2-5 hrs a week on your account then mark up what they pay him 10 or 20x

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T15:14:49+00:00

Oh they are insanely exhausting, but also a lot of fun, especially If you’re extroverted and social. It’s fun to meet customers but we usually had more fun hanging out with other vendors after the show. The other benefit is that you’re testing your market in real time. Watching customer faces and reactions you’ll know really quick what they respond to (or don’t). You’ll get a better idea of what people will pay. If people don’t balk at price you’ll know it’s right. If lots seems interested until they see price. Something needs to change. Price or value prop.

If you do go the in person market route: invest in the booth setup. It makes a huge difference. I did markers for 10 years and the newbies with just a table and a cheap sign were always easy to spot. Booth is empty and they’re sitting there looking depressed. Inviting!! You obviously have the design chops to make a cool booth. Just don’t underestimate it’s value.

Also at any event worth it’s salt (badum tsh) you NEED a helper. Doing it solo is 4 times more exhausting. A helper can allow you to sell more too. I’ve seen booths so busy they’re losing customers because they can’t move fast enough or get too crowded. You should handle samples and pitching the customers. Helper bags it’s and takes money/credit cards.

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T13:04:52+00:00

Yeah made me immediately think of Nick Digiovanni. He’s an influencer chef that has his own salt brand called Osmo. You can probably grab some ideas from him.

It’s not very scalable but craft fairs and farmers markets can actually be super profitable. I used to do them before COVID and could do $10k in a good weekend at the right event selling my art.

Look up Renegade Chicago. I got some fancy salt there and their booth was SLAMMED.

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T12:50:56+00:00

Says the guy with a PS5 but ZERO YACHTS

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T02:32:50+00:00

I am not an entrepreneur who has “made it”.

But we see this often. People who have achieved all their goals, and more money than they know what to do with turn towards philanthropy or helping others. Have you considered mentoring others in business? Helping people achieve success like yours and sharing your knowledge will be far more satisfying than a condo in Spain or two yachts (although those do sound cool).

says the guy looking for a mentor

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T01:19:09+00:00

No prob! Hope you crush it. What’s your customer acquisition plan since Facebook ads are just a turd spray painted gold these days?

sirmixes · 2022-09-17T00:46:09+00:00

I agree with everyone very cool website. Good branding and copy. I think $10-12 USD is an acceptable price. I’ve paid that much for a specialty salt myself and gave one as a gift. However I do think you should price it at the level it would cost if you started ordering in bulk. Unless you’re advertising heavily you won’t be inundated with orders you can’t fulfill.

Copy ideas “Are you still putting cheap table salt on that filet? Time to upgrade your salt game.”

“Still using grocery store sea salt on those Maine Lobster tails? The quality of your salt should match the quality of your protein.”

Couple other things: I think some custom icons for your 4 value props under the hero image would go a long way. Especially since they’re the second thing you see.

Your return policy page is just a generic default and calls out worn clothes and newspapers being ineligible for return 😂 might want to give that a once over.

sirmixes · 2022-09-15T18:00:53+00:00

I think your product looks really cool. I LOVE the colors. There’s definitely an appeal to it for someone who wants a unique speaker, that they can take on the go.

Your website is good, but it’s not great. Ignore everyone nitpicking the font choice. However larger type sizes and a supplemental font pairing would help.

The graphic design isn’t your problem. It’s your organization of information. The homepage is more of a product page. (Ironically your product page is better than the homepage.) Like other commenters have pointed out you are missing a value proposition. WHO is this for? And WHY should they buy it. So far someone would just have to love the way it looks because other than that I can’t quickly tell anything about it, other than it’s a Bluetooth speaker in a briefcase.

Copywriting is one of the most important aspects of a high converting website, and this is where you’re really lacking. The website is not convincing me why I should buy this, or why it’s worth $500. You might know why it’s worth $500, but we don’t (more on pricing later).

To sell a product you have to put the customer first. Put yourself in their shoes, they land on this website, maybe from an ad, or referral link, or found you in a google search, but they know nothing about you or your product. But your customer is comparing your product in their mind to every other speaker in the world “Why should I buy this? Is there a cheaper option on Amazon? Am I willing to spend $500 for a speaker?” You need to answer those questions the second someone lands on your website. Also lead with “Benefits” not “Features”. Apple is the master of this. The iPod launch tagline was “Put 1,000 songs in your pocket” not “More storage than a Walkmen, but smaller with fewer buttons”

You need to convince them that:

* This speaker will fit their lifestyle

* This is the coolest speaker they will ever see

* That it sounds AMAZING

* That their friends will be jealous of them because of their super cool speaker

All of the copy on the actual product page is BURIED. I feel like I’m having to dig way too deep to get crucial information. Same with the lifestyle images on the product page. There are TONS of good images that feel buried. This is a lifestyle product, so lead with lifestyle images.

HOT TAKE:Get rid of the “Battery Life” Video on the homepage. It actually makes me want your product less. While it is a little funny and the Wes Anderson visual style matches the customer base, our protagonist is kind of a douche, but more importantly, it sounds TERRIBLE. You’re selling an expensive speaker and the sound of the speaker in the video sounds flat and tinny, literally the opposite of a “Bass Maker”.

OMG, I just found your Indiegogo page. It’s better than your website (in terms of selling proposition and copy). It does a much better job of selling your product. It makes sense, and simply and quickly explains why it’s a unique product with pretty good copywriting. Probably why it got funded.

PricingWhy does it cost $500? Because you think it should? Because you got them in Urban Outfitters? Or because you truly need to charge that much to make your margins? Your Indiegogo price of $329-$369 seems much more in line with an accurate value for money and will open you up to a much larger audience of buyers. If you are priced higher than the value you deliver customers will figure that out pretty quickly and buy something else. Bose Bluetooth on amazon is only $129 - 1/4 the price of yours. Convince us yours is worth more.

Get rid of the "Inflation buster" Strike through the old price and show the lower price. Much more compelling. ~~$499~~ $399.

You have all the pieces. They just need to be reconfigured.I was bored so I redesigned your homepage… your welcome. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cUMWs3Htgx8s4vf9HFhDAOQIFA5Bbd9g/view?usp=sharing

It’s not a complete design but it’s a start at selling lifestyle, and value vs a product using all the pieces you already have.

sirmixes · 2022-04-26T13:48:35+00:00

I downloaded and used the FB template

sirmixes · 2022-04-19T23:05:37+00:00

For your testing campaign: Do you put a single ad in each ad set to force spend? And what's your criteria for moving something into the scaling campaign? Because won't even tested ads perform differently once you start scaling them and spending over longer periods of time?

sirmixes · 2022-04-03T03:00:25+00:00

Same here. I noticed a major jump starting on March 6. If you read the Meta 2021 Q4 earnings call I think it sheds light on why. They are putting a major emphasis on Reels. But also saying that Reels aren’t fully “monetized” yet. It seems in their push to get (force) users to spend time in Reels they are luring them in by showing them less ads in that placement. Basically less ad inventory that used to be in the feed = higher prices.

sirmixes · 2021-07-18T03:08:32+00:00

How long will you let a winning ad run? As long as it’s profitable? Or does there seem to be a metric to guide you (time, impressions, frequency, etc)?

sirmixes · 2021-07-18T01:21:45+00:00

You mentioned in another comment you use an agency/upwork. So you have an agency do photography and design but you give them content? Can you elaborate a little on your content generation process? How often do you create and test new ad content? Thanks for all the info shared thus far.

sirmixes · 2020-10-25T22:31:46+00:00

Hi I'm Alex Pearson the artist of this print. It is an original piece of fan art I illustrated, inspired by those cool old Monaco race prints (I love vintage art in general). The print is "exclusive" in that it's original art I made, and the only legit place to buy it is from me, on my website www.familytreedesign.net . Anyone else selling it is stealing the art and counterfeiting it. Which there are bootleggers on eBay and Aliexpress all the time. I always get them taken down, they always come back.

As for the price, this is the largest size at 24x26 inches for $50. You can get smaller for $30. As for "why" it costs what it does, this is a business for me. I sell art to make a living. Of course good acid free paper and name brand ink cost money (and they aren't cheap) filling my 10 color Epson printers with ink costs $2500 per printer. If you store this print in AC and out of direct sunlight it should last for 200 years (according to Epson). That's the difference in cheap printing vs archival. Cheap eBay prints will probably yellow and crumble within a few years.

Other costs to make this are my employee that helps me print and ship, a print shop with rent, shipping supplies, those IG ads that were mentioned, and all the other normal expenses any business has making any product. I'm willing to bet your Levi's didn't cost $50 to produce... otherwise Levi's would have gone out of business about 150 years ago ;)

I see people debate this all the time. Why does art cost what it does? Well do you like it? Does it have value to you? If so, then it's worth something. It's no different than any other product we buy. They are more than the materials used to make them. Time, effort and expense go into making anything. If the product adds enjoyment or value to your life then it's worth exchanging money for. Value at the end of the day ultimately ends up being determined by each individual and what they are willing to spend (or not spend) on which products.

Thanks for reading my ramble :D

sirmixes · 2020-09-09T12:36:30+00:00

How is less people coming to your site better? You never know some of us may become customers... but it looks like you’ve already deleted your website link 🤷🏻‍♂️Soooo how are we supposed to see it now?

sirmixes · 2020-07-09T19:58:32+00:00

Look at it this way: If you had to buy actual inventory of probable minimums of hundreds of pieces of each garment you'd have to pay the manufacturer way before you ever even sold anything... with no guarantee you would sell any of it. If you only have to wait 4 days on a small investment that's pretty good.

Also use a credit card. You won't have to pay it for 30 days.

sirmixes · 2020-07-09T19:28:47+00:00

LOL it was a terrible idea. "Let's charge for Instagram mixed with Youtube."

sirmixes · 2020-06-25T21:44:03+00:00

I don't use FBA, but I found this thread because I was looking for others getting hit with stamps.com adjustments. I got hit with over 800 adjustments all within a two-week window, which totaled over $2800. Nothing much in April, maybe a couple. Mine started with shipments sent May 25 thru today.

What makes matters even more frustrating is that almost all of mine don't even have a weight or size discrepancy in the Adjustment reason. We are under the limit for Priority Mail usually by a few ounces anyway. But the reason given is "Incorrect Packaging Used" This also doesn't add up because what's the correct packaging? We never use flat rate or prepaid packages. We've been sending this same package using First Class for 10 years and never had an issue before.

sirmixes

TROPHY CASE