Donna 0:00
In today's podcast get ready to unravel the mysteries of paid social media ad strategy with our guest expert, Ashley Boston. Being a regional business, you need to maximize your presence in your local region. And if you plan to grow beyond your region, then one way to do that is to develop a strategy to optimize your social media content by using paid ads. So get ready to unlock some strategies. Let's dive in. This is the season business podcast, where every week I'll explore topics and have real conversations around what it's like to run a regional business, the advantages and the unique challenges. I'm Donna Han, a seasoned regional business owner, and certified high performance business coach. I'm here to make training and professional development easily accessible for regional business women everywhere. So join me and guest experts as we share tools and insights to elevate your business, boost your mindset, and ensure that you never feel alone on this journey. No matter where you live. I'm fired up. And I'm here to educate you on what it truly takes to grow your business and your mindset beyond what you thought possible. So today, we're turning the spotlight to the world of paid social media ads. And if you've ever wondered how to get the most out of every penny that you would invest into your advertising or today, maybe you might get some of those answers. But first, let me introduce you to our amazing guests. So Ashley Boston started her business at the age of 24. Starting firstly as a social media manager, and then moving to become a Facebook and Instagram media buyer in 2015. And if you're like what is the media buyer, I asked that too, so I'm going to ask asked to explain what that is. But Ashley has helped hundreds of online course creators and ecommerce business owners to scale their business to multiple six and seven figures six and seven figures which is amazing. And she is the author of How to use the power of social media. She's won some very cool at a very cool awards like the Carlton young entrepreneur and women out west outstanding young entrepreneur and she's also featured in a heap of business and marketing podcasts as she grew up in. Oh, my goodness. Ash grew up in a sheep's honest sheep station in central west New South Wales 40,000 acres so she knows what it's like to live retail. She now lives in Sydney. And I'm really excited that she has agreed to come on the she's in business podcast. So welcome ash.
Unknown Speaker 2:41
I don't know that is a big buyer. Big buyer, I
Donna 2:44
tripped over my words a couple of times, but that's alright. So before we dig into our topic that we're here to discuss, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your business?
Ashley 2:55
Yeah, so thank you for having me. So, I am a digital marketing Facebook ad strategist. That is my business. That is what I now specialize in. As you mentioned, I started out like in social media management and working for a real estate company for four and a half years, which really opened my eyes to this incredible opportunity after traveling to the USA, and attending one of the biggest real estate, social media marketing conferences. And that's where like, this all really started for me. And yeah, and I guess as time went on, managing clients, and, you know, writing blog articles, managing websites, when I first started my business, you know, we all kind of start somewhere. And then Facebook ads became a thing much earlier on. But 2015 was where I started learning and took a course with two guys in the states who I'm still actually friends with today on Facebook, which is very cool to still have that connection from my very first program that I did. And I realized that there is such a huge potential and opportunity with paid ads. And that's where my focus went to, you know, I realized I couldn't focus on all of the things and be the expert in all other things. And unpaid Facebook ads was where, you know, I just saw this huge potential. And so yeah, that I lived in Dallas for 16 years. I actually went to boarding school there to start with and then didn't leave my parents actually moved. And and then I met my husband my now husband and moved to Sydney, which was a little bit of an eye opener going from being a country girl. I bet living In the crazy city, but yeah, it's been a huge, huge, like, journey, I guess, but very grateful that I've also been able to work, you know, with anyone across the world, and that my business has been able to be so flexible with that, which I'm very grateful for. And yeah, so that's kind of like me to date, I guess. Yeah.
Donna 5:27
Amazing. And, you know, you you are also appearing in the sorrento success membership delivering a masterclass for us in November. And we're going to like, I'm really excited for that, because we've only got like a short space of time available to us today in the podcast, and really dig in. So I know that in the master class, you're going further into that. But you know, the thing that I hear a lot from business owners who are maybe dipping their toe in the water with Facebook ads, or have tried in the past, but it hasn't quite worked out is that there can be a level of frustration of really understanding, like, what the strategy needs to be that sits behind it. And that's what I think that you do so well. You've helped me with my ads, and you're just so clever at going, Well, what about this, like we if we put this here and we do that, then that's going to feed into this and that's going to get you convert, like, you're so clever on that sort of stuff. And I want to kind of dig into, first of all, if we start at like, people who have maybe been doing organic Facebook, sofa or Instagram social media, organically, meaning that they haven't actually put any money behind any ads, they've just been kind of using their own accounts to kind of just create their social media content. When people are going from that into using paid ads, what do you think is the most important thing that they need to be aware of?
Unknown Speaker 7:06
The big question, I
Donna 7:07
know it is a big.
Speaker 2 7:08
So I think businesses feel like they they get to a point where or maybe they dip their toes in, you know, so if if you've been doing organic social media, and posting and building your following that way, like I think that is fantastic, because you do need that, like your paid ads and organic go hand in hand. And so it is really important to have that organic strategy. I think what most people do, first is that, like boosting or promoting posts to start with, to try to leverage what they're doing. And that is not an exact strategy in itself. Because we want to be running campaigns tip, depending on your type of business, whether you're a service based business, or you are a course creator, or you're a product based business, you know, we want to be able to running pay run ads that are either going to be generating leads or sales for our business and boosting posts. I think there's a misconception, you know, like, we think that boosting a post is running an ad, but really all we're doing is asking for engagement. And so it's very easy to fall into that trap, because it's very clearly marked that, you know, that big blue boost button and the promotion button on Instagram. You know, most people do fall into that. So what I would say is, if you are thinking of diving into paid ads, is to look at what your goal is, what is it that you want to achieve with running paid ads? And ideally, for every dollar you're spending, like you want to be making two or $3 back yet, at least. Now that depends on different different strategies and those sorts of things. But always start with what is your goal? What is it that I want to achieve? Because by doing that, to start with, that's going to help you to identify what type of strategy you might use. And strategy is a big word, you know, like that is my skill set. That's what I love doing. I see things very differently to a lot of people. And that's why I can be like, here's a great funnel or let's do this or that fits in with that. And that's really key to ads because you want to have just like your organic social media, you have a customer value journey. You know, like someone finds you maybe through a hashtag, maybe they start to follow you they start to engage with you. Maybe they go over to your website. Maybe you have a call to action to download, you know, a free cheat sheet or sign up to my email list. That is like a customer journey in organic, and we want to replicate that with paid ads. So you want to create take them on this journey of building your expertise, building that trust with your customers. And then you know, having them become, you know, repeat as well. So, I think that's the biggest mistake people make is that I just want to run paid ads, because I want, you know, more leads and more sales like we all really want that. But what does that look like from building brand awareness to them, converting them into a client or a customer? Yeah,
Donna 10:39
yeah. And you see, you hear the frustration of like, Oh, I did that, but I didn't get the result that I wanted. But it's, it's all of the like, you've got to allow people the time to, like, trust you and build that relationship. And I think that's the other part of it, right is that it's not just throwing money at something, and it's not going to work. Like you have to have that business, sorry, that customer journey, to bring them into your business, and then get them to actually do the thing that you want them to do, which is click the button to buy the thing, whatever that is. And it's not just going to be because they saw your ad one time that they're going to, like, click that button, like, it'd be great if it was, and sometimes it does happen that way. But not always right.
Speaker 2 11:25
And I think also remembering that ads is a very small part of it, you then gotta have your email, nurture sequences, you know, that build that trust and, and take them through that, you know, journey of your business and who you are and what you do. Like, it's just not the ad part. And I think that that's where a lot of people get caught up in. It's not just, you know, you can have my mentor says, like, you can have the best product, or the best ad running to an offer. But if your offer isn't aligned with your audience, or, you know, your messaging isn't aligned with the audience, like, that's not going to solve the problem. So it's all of these things that go into your ad, it's, you know, it's the offer you're producing, it's the product that you're putting in front of that audience. It's, who are you targeting? It's your messaging, your creative, you know, it's a lot of people blame Facebook. But it's not Facebook, it's the strategy or what you have implemented. I think, an example, one of my members, when I have new people join, we do a one on one together, and just seeing insights into accounts. And you know, how a lot of them have invested a huge amount of money, and not got success. And then seeing that they're using the wrong type of goal or objective with their campaigns, you know, they want more sales, but they're sending more traffic. So it's important for us to understand Facebook, how the algorithm works, and what you're asking Facebook for?
Donna 13:07
Yeah. It's overwhelming. Like, I know, for me, I go into, you know, the back end. And when you're setting up the ads, and I look at that stuff, I'm like, I don't even know where to start. I don't know what that means. I click on that thing, or what does that do? You know, it and then it changes, you kind of get your head around it, you get familiar with it. And then they go and change what they bloody call the thing or they move it to some other spot. And you're like, oh, how do I keep up with this? I think that's the other challenge, right? Is like keeping up with the changes all the time. And that's why having you in my back pocket, I'm like, I've got the confidence to go, something changes, ashes all over. I know, she's gonna pick that up. But that I think that can be the really overwhelming thing as well for a lot of people or where people make mistakes I would imagine is like, like you said, choosing the wrong kind of campaign building, attracting traffic rather than a conversion campaign. Like, yeah, it's a bit of a minefield,
Speaker 2 14:10
it is a minefield, and new changes have just rolled out. And I think the other thing is that not all accounts get those changes rolled out at once. Yes, which, which is challenging when you have a membership and our course around Facebook ads, because every time it changes, you have to re record those. But that's really important to me, is to make sure that everyone you know, everything that I offer is up to date and has those changes in it. And whether it's like you know, a separate video about that new change instead of re recording everything. But those changes do happen a lot and I think even as add or meta specialists and strategists we even getting there and the like what is this new update? Like you know, they there's no emails to Have you what changes are coming about? And it does get confusing, I think the important thing is, is if you're diving into ADS is to find someone to support you. Because you can make a lot of expensive mistakes. Yes. And that's then where that trust of wanting to try ads again, is really hard. Because you're like, Well, I've just spent all this money. Yeah, nothing's worked. So I'm just not going to do it anymore. So if you can invest in having someone to support you, or to teach you and learn from that's a better investment than potentially spending a lot of money which I've seen, you know, hundreds of 1000s of dollars invested. And people trying to do it themselves. And yeah, not having that success. And so I get that, I understand that. I think and also like, you can't really break anything inside of the ad account. I think that's the other thing is like, once you kind of understand the options and what you need to be looking at, you can't really break any, you know, like just going in there and familiarizing yourself with the ad account. And just having a click around to see where things are. And that's one of the first things that we walk through in foundations in my program is so that people are familiar, and know what buttons do what because there are a lot of things in there, overwhelming, and I get that. And then it becomes more overwhelming when you start running ads. And you start seeing data and numbers. And you're like, I don't even know what these numbers mean. Yes,
Donna 16:49
exactly. And and I think you've absolutely hit the nail on the head there like it is that fear of like, I don't want to click on that. Because what if I stuffed the whole thing up, and then it stops working. And it is like something that has definitely gone through my head. But then knowing what the numbers mean, because one of my questions was going to be around measuring results and understand like, yes, set the outcome first, which is what you've already said, really important. But then to understand whether you're actually other than like, I want to have X amount of sales. But sometimes like the matrix that you want to measure on the journey to getting those sales, like if you've got a campaign that's running for, you know, a couple of weeks or a couple of months, you want to be like making sure that the patterns, the behavioral patterns that you're seeing of people, your ideal clients, that it's actually trending towards what you want the outcome to be. And that's something that I learned a lot from you. And when you when we were working out, well, what's the strategy? You're really clever at going? Okay, well, we need we need to build, you know, for me being an online course creator, you know, it's lead magnets. And that's not necessarily the same for everyone who might be listening, because you know, there's people with products and other services and stuff, but just for context, you know, in building out a lead magnet to build your email list. Where do we want them to go? And then how do we like, what are we wanting fate or meta to track to say that that's a good result? Like, where do we where do we anchor that to? So when we're looking at the the metrics and the numbers, and they've landed on this particular landing page, that's a good result. But then if we're not getting that result, well, then let's backtrack and see, where did they click off. So that then we can optimize and tweak things a little bit to try and lift that conversion rate, from whatever it was to whatever you want it to be. And you're so clever with that stuff. And it kind of brought a whole new level of appreciation in me for you and the work that you guys do in the industry that you're in to make sure that that like it's such a strategic, but very important thing. So yeah, like, what do you reckon? Oh, gosh, it's like a minefield, like even knowing where to start right? With this stuff. I think
Speaker 2 19:11
what let's use you as an example, because it is a great example. So when we first started sitting down to look at what what were we going to do, most people go well, I just want leads and then I want sales. Okay? But let's look at what has worked organically. So what have you offered or what have you put out there that has worked organically and this can actually work for product based businesses to like taking their best selling product and taking that and using that in their campaigns rather than focusing on all products? Yeah. But with a with service based of course Craig is like what is a lead magnet that you've put out into the world and has done pretty well on its own without money behind it? Because taking that you already know. Okay, well My clients are aligned with that. The messaging that is a pain point that they're currently experiencing. So how can we now amplify that by putting it into ad campaigns? But we also looked at, you know, what is your landing page converting at? Can we also improve that landing page? And I think that's the thing, like, you really need to focus on the offer first and making sure that you've got that, you know, created and built to the best you can, you're putting money behind it. And that's why taking something that already works organically is a great place to start. We went from there, and then we looked at okay, well, how can we now cover the cost of our ad spend by including maybe a low ticket tripwire? So for those that don't know what a tripwire is, it's like, say taking a very low priced offer. So maybe I think it was like maybe $27 or something. Yeah, yep. It's really just to try and cover the cost of, of those ad campaigns when you're building an email list. And then from there, you know, that was like the cycle, they landed on the thank you page. That was kind of the end of that, that can't that full campaign. So now, when our campaigns running, what we're looking at is how is the performance of that campaign? What are the numbers telling us, and there are specific numbers that you can look at. Because there are a lot of columns in there. Yes, there are numbers you want to look at in the drop down in an ad in the ad account, there is like performance and clicks and you can actually fully customize these columns. So for Donna, we like set up all of the sales so that we could see the sales that were coming back through into the ad account. They're not always 100%. Correct. But it gave us an idea of what was converting. So that's something that you can set up manually can always add them in. But at a basic level performance and clicks, like a click through rate of over 1% means that your audience like we have a product that is aligned with the audience that we have chosen, and audiences a whole nother topic, but that's something we want to be looking at. And then our cost per click lack, I like to have that around $2, or under $2, these metrics do change depending on the time of the year sometimes because about to come up to this very, very busy time of the year. And businesses that are spending on the platform, those numbers in ad spend, may change, right? cost per click click through rate is what we're looking at. And then if you are optimizing for leads, so you're you're asking for leads to be generated, you're looking at what that cost per lead is okay. And it's going to be different for everyone based on different industries. But the thing around your cost per lead is I like to try to have a goal of what I can afford to acquire a leader. And there's a bit of mathematics that goes into that, like, you know, if you have a problem, the product is easier. So if your product is $40, but it costs you $10 To make, right? Like what is your breakeven at that point. And really looking at what you're willing to pay for leads in your industry. There's ways that you can reduce those, you know, I've had members come to me who were paying $8, a lead. And we've got that down to $4, just by simply looking at the type of audiences that they were targeting. Yeah, so really understanding that side of things is really important. A lot of people will just go very broad with their audiences, instead of spending time to research. But they're the key metrics that I guess you're looking at. And product based business and costs created. I mean, course creators typically have to do it manually, we manually have to bring in, like, what were purchased, like our purchases and all of those sorts of things. So we can read it in the ad account. Whereas if your product base and you wish Shopify or WooCommerce that's automatic for you, automatically feeds through, which is nice. But you're looking at like your return on adspend as well. It's not like the Bing, you know, it's not the big thing that we want to focus on return on adspend. I think a lot of people get sucked into that. Like, oh, my ads aren't like breakeven. but it's really hard these days to actually track the data correctly. There's a lot of changes that have happened in the last two years. And so we really need to look at our business as a whole. And look at okay, like, you know, was that launch successful? Or, you know, did we grow? Did we have more numbers, this launch? Or, you know, product based businesses? Like, how many sales do we make today? And what does the AD AD say, you know, it can take lag time for that data to pass back through. So we have to be patient with that. And there's more changes coming this month, which will potentially have an impact. And so just recognizing that, you know, Facebook ads is all part all part of your holistic marketing strategy. And not just the key focus.
Donna 25:52
Yep. 100%. I love that you raised that. Because I think sometimes people put too much like almost all their eggs in one basket and cross their fingers and hope that it's going to work. But it's yeah, that ecosystem that you need to set up around it. It's part like, it all works together. When we come back from the break, I want to ask you specifically about for regional businesses, about regional targeting, like really do we like focusing in on that, because you just mentioned that can be really important how you set things up for your targeting, and also around budgeting, because I think the thing that can scare people off is maybe feeling like they don't have enough money to invest in this kind of stuff, or that they'll lose all their money. But what I love about what you do is, again, what you've just mentioned, in setting up your ads, so that they are you know what you what you pay is what you get back. So like it costs you nothing really like you can set it up. So it equalizes. So when we come back from the break, I want to talk to you about those things. And up if this rings true for you, you're bloody great at what you do. You're a goer, you've got big ambitions for your business, but you've always just kind of winged it on the business side. And whilst that's been going, okay, you know, it could be so much more if you just could get the support the business training and the guidance, you know, you need, maybe you're feeling frustrated by the lack of training and mentorship available in your regional area. And by that cliquey networking that seems to happen happen in small towns, you know, it's important to keep up with the ever changing business world and to stay ahead of your competition. But traveling to the big smoke to get that professional development is a logistical nightmare. And it's freaking expensive. Don't even get me started. But running a business isn't the only thing you do, right. So you're also time poor and you just want someone to give you want you need in bite sized pieces with clear action steps that you can implement and get results. If you're feeling stuck and alone and maybe tired of spinning your wheels and going around in circles, then you're in the right place. And I've got you. Wouldn't it be great if you could shake off all those secret thoughts of quitting your business and getting a job because you're finally enjoying the great income and the freedom of time in exchange for the energy and effort that you're putting into business? And what if you had more confidence when stretching beyond your comfort zone no more feeling directionless, and filling your mind with self doubt. Instead, you've got a defined strategy, and you know the steps you need to take. What if you could access world class business and mindset training without leaving home and without spending a shit ton of money to get it? 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So if you want to go and take a closer look at what's included, then head over to my website, Donna han.com forward slash success. And when you join the waitlist, I want you to know that there's no commitment to by being on a waitlist just simply mean to get early, early bird access, an opportunity to join before everybody else. Plus, I'll add some extra special free bonuses should you choose to join. So if you want to get on it, here's what you need to do. Go to your browser, type www dot Donna hande.com forward slash success. That's www dot Donna han.com forward slash success. And we'll also put this in the show notes. Let's get back to the podcast. So maybe budgeting first we could talk about when we're creating, like for small businesses often don't necessarily have it have like massive big budgets that we can work with. Right? It's on a tight budget for the most, for the most part. So how do we maximize our return on investment with social media ads, like when you mentioned before, setting them up in a way that hopefully they've got a tripwire to purchase a tiny offer or a small, you know, might be a low price product or a low price service that you offer inside of your business. That then basically, what's the word when it sort of equalizes it out? I'm lost for the word.
Speaker 2 31:51
So where are you breaking? Even? I guess? Yeah, yeah. So I guess it depends on your your, I would typically say, have a monthly budget, come up with a budget that you can set aside for three months, whether that looks like you know, and I've worked with a lot of different businesses that have had very small budgets, and we've still been able to get quite good success. But it comes down to like, the strategy that we use, for example, lack of product based business I've worked with her price point is quite high, like we're talking 250 $300. And she had a very small budget, like, let's say $10 a day. So we still we're optimizing for conversions. But the product and offer that I put in place was actually a blog article that talked about her products and why they're different, and how to dress over a certain age. And it educated her audience at the same time as then promoting her products. Yes, that became a very profitable campaign at very small amount per day ad spend. So if you can put aside at least 250 to $500 a month for three months, just so that this gives you enough time to see the data and what's coming back to you. But if you can set that aside, that allows you to create campaigns that are for brand awareness, but then also getting back in front of that audience to move them along the funnel. Yeah. So, you know, a lot of people would say, Oh, you need $50 A day, at least, you know, that's great if you have that. But if you don't, then we need to look at okay, well, what can we do to help, maybe generate some brand awareness for you, but then retarget or re engage with that audience to then convert them into a lead or a sale? Yep. So you can literally just start from a very small amount. But as you start to, you know, if you started at $5 a day, and you just wanted to send traffic to your website, for example, you know, you're going to pay quite, you know, a small amount for that. But the key is to then get conversions or leads in, make sure you're getting back in front of that audience. And that's where a lot of people go wrong, is they don't have what we call a retarget which is you know, re engaging those sorts of things. They're missing out, you know, you're leaving money on the table and you're wasting adspend because you're not really engaging with them. So you can start very small $5 a day. But it Yeah, again, like it comes to what is your goal, and how can I best utilize that $5 Yeah,
Donna 35:00
and I might be the start off with that strategy, right? And you do that for three months, you check out the, the numbers that like, all the way through, but particularly at the end, okay, what's working? What's not? How do we then keep continuing to grow this. So in 12 months time, if you continuing on the strategy and tweaking and optimizing as you go, you might get to the point where you can spend that $50 a day, but you got to start somewhere, right? Yes.
Speaker 2 35:24
And if you are running ads, like, you know, you're not going to actually probably run the same ads for three months. Yep. No, like, you might find a week into it. And this is the other thing. If you're not seeing results, don't let your ads keep running, turn them off. Yeah. People just launch an ad and then go, Oh, it'll just, you know, do its, you know, work itself out. But no, we have to make sure that we are checking those campaigns, you know, you need to take Facebook ads as if it was your tax, like, you know, we all pay that. It's something that we're very scared of not touching was not on time. You need to take that into account, you need to make time to go in and check on them if they're not performing. Well. That's, and that's where the strategic brain comes in. Yeah. Performing. Why aren't they performing? Yeah. What do we need to look at to make change? What is it and that's, I guess, where my brain and been able to identify that? And it's not just with the ad, it's like, okay, well, what's the offer? Yeah, they're getting to the landing page. But they're not converting. Why is that? Yeah. So yeah, like, try to set a budget aside, start small, but also make sure you're monitoring them? And if you're not getting results, turn them off.
Donna 36:48
Yeah. And also be aware of what else is happening at that time. Like, you kind of touched on this earlier. I know of someone who did a big ad spend, but didn't kind of have this forethought to go Oh, but it's also election time. So then she's competing with these, you know, all of the politicians that have massive budgets, and are literally like, you know, sucking every, like everything's going there. So
Speaker 2 37:20
you're targeting to see. Let me let's see, who can I What's an example, let's just use like product based businesses, because very easy to use that. So if you had a baby product business, yep. And you wanted to target, what most people would probably do is go parents, yep, demographic, or they might go baby, you know, something like that, in their targeting, what I want you to do is spend time researching on who is your ideal customer. So for me at the moment, being pregnant, and really not very far away from our due date. So someone you know, like, where do they shop? What products do they buy? What do they need for their nursery? What are they going to need afterwards, like really diving into that person. So Baby Bunting, you know, like, you've got so many different types of brands, that Baby Bunting himself, that you can go through that and use them in your targeting, because he Baby Bunting or running Facebook ads, and they've got 20 grand a month to spend and you've only got $500, and you're using the same type of demographic, you're competing against each other in an auction. You know, it's like, whoever has the more to spend, will probably win, whoever has the ad will probably win. So I think we kind of forget that Facebook is an algorithm. And the interest in audiences we use anyone else that is using those you're competing against them. Alright, so diving deep into who you are actually targeting. And your ideal customer has a big thing to do with budget, too. Yeah. So that's just like a tip. What are they read? What are they engaged in? Who are influences? Where do they shop? Yeah, all those sorts of things are things to consider.
Donna 39:19
Yeah. And also, on the topic of targeting for regional businesses, in particular, geo targeting, so as in, like, within a kilometer radius of if you've got a bricks and mortar business, or you're specifically, you know, there's a pocket of, you know, a geographical area that you really want to target. How can we best utilize that targeting feature for our social media ads so that we get like so that our message reaches the people that we want it to reach really effectively?
Speaker 2 39:57
Yeah, so it's a little different one We do regional location targeting. Because you don't necessarily need to use detailed interest targeting. Because if the smaller the audience, you know, the, the harder it does become your ad will get more fatigue, which means you're gonna have to change things more often. So when it comes to location, typically, we may just put in a specific location that we're in, especially if you are a shop, you know, who only sells locally, or you are a beauty salon. Yep, for more clients, then you would only target that location. So you would put in the town, you may do a radius around that if you know that you have clients traveling to. But then you may only target women, for example. So and maybe there's an age bracket there, too. Maybe there's only a particular service that you want to grow and is only focused for a certain age bracket. Yes. Don't go too narrow.
Donna 41:13
That's the thing, right? Because you're like, Okay, so I really need to like Target my people, but particularly in regional areas where the population is smaller anyway, when you Target and Target and you get more and more and more specific, that audience get really, really small. And then what happens at?
Speaker 2 41:28
Yeah, well, once you get that, once you're really narrowing down in your audiences, it really limits you in in that reach. We do location targeting, they're not they host like sort of education programs in locations around Australia. And so we specifically use this strategy for them. If they are going into emerald, we do like a particular radius, we know people will travel a certain distance to come. And that works really well. And then means that your messaging, you know, is focused on your area to Yes. And your creatives. But yes, it can be really challenging being in that space. So you know, you might have to try different types of objectives inside of Facebook to maybe, you know, maximize those results. But yeah, less, you know, because if you were a beauty salon, most people would probably include interests around beauty and, and those sorts of things. But then you just, you know, there might only be one person in the town. Oh, is that interest or something like that? But yeah, just do it, just open it up. And then target either whether it's men or women, or maybe it's both. But make that messaging very specific to your audience. Yeah.
Donna 43:00
And then as you touched on, be prepared that you're going to have to change out your, your ads, probably more frequently, because you over saturate, right, because it's a small audience, or the small pocket that you've selected, and then they get tired of seeing the same thing. So
Speaker 2 43:18
that's called frequency email, ad cap, there is a column that is called frequency. And frequency is the number of times somebody may be seeing your campaign that gets above eight, that's where we really need to then go and maybe, you know, duplicate the ad, and then change the messaging or the creative. So then they're seeing something different in their feed. Yeah, yeah.
Donna 43:45
It's all of these things that, you know, make it seem complicated. But what I have found is that when you've got someone in your back pocket, such as ash, and you've got that education around, knowing what it's supposed to do, and how it's supposed to do it, but having a strategist who knows the stuff, and also is up to date with all of the changes and is not just working with you, but working with a broad amount of people. So you're testing not testing stuff, but like you're doing different techniques for different people that then you can maybe take and apply to my business. Whereas if I didn't have you, then I'd just be like doing what I think is working for me but not realizing that there's this whole other other strategy and technique that could be applied to my business that I have no clue about. So I love what you do ash and really grateful that you've shared some of that it's really like, it's hard to talk about this topic on a podcast because there's so many layers that you touch on this and I want to dig into that but you know, we've only got that short space of time, which is why haven't you inside soaring to success in November to go deeper with this specifically with my members. I'm so excited for that. I'm also going to make sure in the shownotes that we link to your course and your membership as well. If people are really keen to jump in and, and work with you, was there anything that you feel is important for us to, I guess wrap up with today? Oh,
Speaker 2 45:19
look, I think just this space, you always have to be continually learning, the support or mentorship there to help you. Because we mentioned the start, there are so many changes, even I get, like, another change what's me? I panic too sometimes. And then, you know, but I'm in that ad account, like almost every day, right. And I love working with both course, and product based businesses, you know, because, one, it gives me like a challenge. And the other thing is, I love the strategy side of it. And I know currently you know, you like you get it, you know what's working. And if you can find someone who can give you that framework on what to implement. So you don't have to make the mistakes, the costly mistakes. The other thing I just want to say is, if you choose to outsource your ads, please do your due diligence. Do not be afraid to ask for results, or testimonials from clients, and ask who they've worked with and ask for those results. If industry sometimes frustrates me and breaks me because businesses are putting trust in people that, you know, believe they are experts in what they say they are. I have had so many clients come to me, that have been with quite big agencies have invested in a lot and have barely made a return. And that's really heartbreaking to hear. Because not unfortunately, not everyone has the values or the best interests in in a business. And I know what it takes, you know, the lack out the money, what we're investing in. So please, if you do choose to outsource your campaigns, do your due diligence, don't be afraid to ask for those results, in case studies. Because I know at one point, you guys might be ready to outsource and scale. But I think it's so important for you to understand how the platform works. Yeah. So that you know what's happening and what that agency requires. Yeah, you know, there's so many different ways we operate as agencies and how we charge and those sorts of things. But I think, you know, I mean, I do this for the long haul with someone when I work with someone. I want to be part of their business in 10 years time. Yeah. Because I want to watch you grow. Yeah. And not everyone is unfortunately in that life that, you know, we almost become friends. And that's yeah, that's the important part. So look at values, look at whether they align with your business and whether they're the right fit. Probably the last thing I would say on that.
Donna 48:37
Yeah, amazing. Amazing and so important. You know, we I think we do we trust in people. And yeah, doing your due diligence is always going to be the best way to make sure that that that that agency or that person who's helping you knows what they're doing and also understands your business or your your industry as well, I think is really important as well. Yes.
Speaker 2 49:03
Yeah, definitely. And also, like, if you are looking for someone, you don't have to go very far before you can maybe ask someone else in business who may be running ads, like how how are you performing? You know, how's your performance? Do you love working with them? And we have like our own little little ad agency, Instagram, Instagram chat group where we refer people to because we know that we're not all experts in the areas. And so you know, if you ask me, like, I want to work with someone in a specific, you know, whatever your business niche is, I have people that I fully trust and know you'll be taken care of. And so you don't have to go far to really like find those people who you know, we kind of all are on the same path together. So yeah, just Yeah, ask around first, you know, just don't Don't go to the biggest one just because they, you know, they say they're the best at what they really find someone who aligns with you and your business and your vision as well. 100% so important.
Donna 50:13
All Thank you, this has been great just to scratch the surface. And we'll make sure that your contact details if anyone wants to reach out, we'll be all in the show notes. Because I'm sure this has probably raised lots of questions for people. And, you know, I hope got listeners excited about the potential for working this into their marketing strategy as a whole. As you mentioned, it's just a piece of it. But you know, going from maybe having no ads to starting ads, or if you've dabbled in it to go to that next level with it. You've raised some really important things that I yeah, I think are important for people to know. So thank you so much ash. Thank you for having me. Yeah. And good luck with Bubs arriving soon. That's exciting, too. We didn't even talk about that.
Speaker 2 51:04
Thank you. Yes. A few weeks away now. So mid October ish. If you do email me, and I don't know why. That is why. But I will be around still. So I'm pre planning everything. Very exciting.
Donna 51:25
Amazing. We'll see you back in the membership in November or going well with Bob's and um, yeah, looking forward to that session for sure. So thanks again, and we'll catch you next time.
Unknown Speaker 51:37
Thanks, Donna.
Donna 51:42
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the shoes in business podcast. Make sure you hit follow so that you are the first to know as soon as a new episode drops. And if you really want to deliver me smiles send me a DM find me on Instagram at Donna Han underscore coach and tell me what you loved most about this episode. Also, feel free to let me know what topics you need to learn more about if you are regional businesswoman ready to rise and soar towards success. I'll see you back here next week for another episode.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
