How To Get A Ton Of Facebook “Likes” Fast – Part 2
It’s been about a week now since this little Facebook experiment began and in that time I have been able to attract over 3300 likes to my new Music Marketing Manifesto Facebook page.
I learned a lot form this experiment. So much in fact that I’m going to need to break the results up into to two parts. I should have Part 3 of this series late next week.
Here’s the skinny of how I did it and what I learned along the way…
In a nutshell I was able to get such large number in such a short amount of time with a combination of paid advertising, viral traffic, and mailing list traffic.
First, the paid advertising…
I have been experimenting with Facebook advertising for some time now. However, prior to this point I had mostly been sending people from my Facebook ad to a squeeze page. This worked okay. The conversion rate wasn’t amazing, but I did make sales and in time (over subsequent promotions) it looks like I should profit nicely from the traffic I generated.
With that said, I was paying between $0.59 – $1.09 per click. That might work when you are driving people directly into your sales funnel but I knew I wouldn’t get the ROI I needed to make that work if I was just only driving people to a Facebook page.
So I did some tinkering…
Now, despite the fact that Facebook will tell you that this is NOT how their ad pricing works, what I found was that if I sent people directly to my fan page I got a better price than if I sent them to an external URL. Immediately after making the change I was able to bring my prices down by about 10%. That was better, but it still wasn’t good enough.
Then, somewhat by accident, I stumbled upon an approach that brought the price down significantly. I’ll spare you the long explanation and just tell you what I did…
Contrary to all of my past experience with PPC (pay per click) advertising, I found that when I customized the ad and tried to get clever with my headline and and ad copy, the performance of the ad did not improve all that dramatically.
Instead, after experimenting with a good 30 ads or so I finally just threw one up using what are more or less the Facebook ad default settings. In other words, I didn’t change the headline (I left it as my page title), I barely changed the copy, and I didn’t alter the destination tab. Much to my surprise the click through rate skyrocketed and my price plummeted. I was able to get clicks for as low as $0.16. This was something I could work with.
Here’s a copy of the ad I used:
I did enough experimenting to conclude that Facebook did seem to favor internal URLs over external ones (which only makes sense) but it also seems that the very simple “like” call to action and graphic, coupled with the fact that you can see how many of your friends “like” the ad/page caused the click through rate to really shoot up, which was the key to the low price.
My highest click through rate on the best of my ads prior was about.08%. With this new simplified ad I was seeing a click through rate as high as .3% That’s a huge difference and it’s the key to getting cheap clicks.
The ad being little more than one big call to action, my “like” conversion rate became an overwhelming 90% (approximately). That’s HUGE, and that was when my count started to really take off.
Then came my mailing list…
With some impressive numbers in place I emailed my subscribers (that’s most of you who are reading this) and told everyone what I was up to and asked everyone to like my Facebook page.
If you still haven’t done it then seriously, what are you waiting for… Click like on the MMM Facebook page. Here’s the link 🙂
Needless to say, that gave me another big boost. I mention this because surprisingly it’s not something everyone does. By making it a point to include an email in your autoresponder series that is dedicated to converting people into Facebook fans you will get infinitely better results then simply waiting for your fans to come find you. If you’re new here, you’re autoresponder series is something I cover in MMM 2.0.
I’ll talk more about this later but there is a lot of value in connecting with your fans in more than one medium. While email is by far the best way to get people to take action (in my experience), social media is a great way to reinforce the impact of the emails you send out to your list.
Finally, things went viral…
One of the best things about Facebook is the fact that when someone leaves a comment on, or likes you page, all of their friends see that activity on their wall. This acts as an endorsement of you and/or your page. And the most valuable traffic is traffic that comes from the endorsement of a trusted source.
Over the course of this experiment I received 51 Likes, 129 comments, and another 12 “shares” and 52 FB comments on the blog. That represents an enormous amount of value and I saw a lot of traffic as a result.
To stimulate that activity I left several posts that encouraged people to get involved in the discussion. I held contests, and I straight-up asked people to leave a comment or help me get the word out. Thanks by the way to everyone who contributed. I’ll be announcing the results of the contest soon. This not only promotes viral activity, but it also strengthens the relationship between the page owner and the user. I can genuinely say that I feel like I know many of you just from your comments and the various interactions we’ve had on Facebook and the blog. It’s good for business, it’s good for the user, and it just makes for a more human experience.
The Perfect Storm…
These three elements (advertising, mailing list and viral) led to a perfect storm of activity that produced over 3300 new Facebook connections, 105 new subscribers, and most importantly…
…$840.69 in new revenue.
Now truth be told I spent $875.68 on the advertising, which technically puts the cost of the 3300 new subscribers at $35. And if that’s all there was to it I would need to conclude that the experiment was a bust. But in business you don’t just look at the cost of each lead. You look at the LIFETIME VALUE of each lead. And when I look at my current projections, this Facebook experiment becomes quite profitable. How profitable I can’t say for sure as there are still some unknown variables with Facebook, however it should be well into the hundreds, probably thousands of dollars. With subsequent product releases and promotions, a little common sense reveals the kind of profit potential that exists over the lifetime of 3300 new Facebook fans.
Still… there were some things that I didn’t like about the results. And many of you bring up good points about Facebook being just another potential Myspace. Furthermore, while I will profit from this experiment, I did not see the kind of response that I anticipated and the sales did not come from the places I suspected they would.
In my course Music Marketing Manifesto I teach people the importance of building a mailing list, and stress email marketing over social media and other forms of promotional activity. This Facebook experiment only reinforced that belief. But with that said, I did find that if used right, Facebook can really strengthen the relationship with your list. However, were Facebook my sole hub for the relationship I have with my readers, I think the experiment would have been a complete loss.
This is very important for you as musician. I will explain why in part 3 some time next week.
To learn more about music marketing manifesto click here now.
Phew, that was a long one. If you’re still here, do me a favor and help share the love 🙂
Leave me a comment below or click one of the share buttons. I want to hear your thoughts, questions and experiences. How has Facebook been working for you. Selling any albums as a result? If not, why do you think that is?
UPDATE: There is a new tool I helped create called the Viral Music Player which can help you get a ton of likes fast. Go here now to get the details.
Hey. I sent a screenshot. Did you get it?
Where is part 1?
Hi Squiggles,
Just look for the category tag in the right side bar and click on “facebook for musicians”.
Thanks.
Appreciate it
Hell yeah living in the hood can be stressful. Little resources, constant violence, neighbors who don't keep up their property, troubled schools, safety is&3ss…Ie#u9;m speaking from someone who grew up in the hood. Not all hoods are like this but it can take a toll on you. When you live in nice neighborhoods with plenty of grocery stores, clean streets, and quiet blocks you realize what you've been missing. Good observation Field.
This was an incredible post and I really appreciate the way you broke down all of the metrics. Keep up the great work!
Hi Andre,
Awesome! Glad you you found these articles to be useful. Thanks for the comment and definitely get in touch if I can ever help.
Thanks for the tips.
I’ll try the same tricks and see if my likes will stop stagnating at twenty something.
Good luck with your sales. You seem to be doing quite well.
Hi Tuwaze,
Yeah, definitely give it a try. Let me know how you make out, or if I can ever help with anything.
Great tips, i have also recently created my fan pafe. This method will surely help me out. thanks for sharing.
Hi Ajay,
Great. Glad to hear that this is going to be helpful to you. Happy to have you here and get in touch if I can ever help with anything.
This was good to read. Thanks, John! I’m just getting started with marketing online for a new project, and I’ve been the most confused by social media sites. I feel like I’m getting all kinds of different advice about how to set up pages, posts, etc., and it’s hard to know what really works. From what I can tell, the key of creating some sort of a technique for getting yourself out there and getting people to pay attention is doing a little bit of a lot of different things. I do feel like more personal contact works better, and that’s actually kind of good to know, because it feels more natural for me to reach out to people that way. This article also helped me (and I was happy to see that this guy advised against spending lots of money on online advertising, because I have almost no budget!): http://musiciancoaching.com/executive-interviews/seo-music-neil-patel/
Like my facebook fanpgae too, im making music and very very soon i am going to post new instrumental musics and some of them i give free!
Great article John, and also great methods you have shared with us. For me personally, I did not do all the methods you mentioned above since I think too much of a schedule will make “me” out of focus, so I put “your perfect storm” (roughly similar) on my first check list 😀
Hi Deny,
Great to hear you are taking action with the techniques. You’ll be fine. You definitely want to pick a couple strategies that resonate with you and start to master them. The article does cover a lot of ground and you’ll find that some strategies are suited for you perfectly, while others may not be your strong suit.
Let me know how you make out or if I can ever be of help.
What you had here is awesome stuff! You made me think that I should do this to my website. I wanted to proliferate my presence online and I wanted to use facebook. I might not be a musician but your method could be definitely used by other people. Thanks for these information! I would definitely use it for my website.
What a great read, I always knew about Viral and paid advertising for Facebook but never considered using my mailing list 🙂 Thank you
super
Great article. Thanks for the share mate. 🙂
Great insight, no wonder musicians like rihanna do so well, they have embraced the power of social media..
I know artists like Rihanna constantly use social media to promote their music…great insight..thanks
I am not a musician, but I certainly appreciate music. This article was great value and straight forward. I guess K.I.S.S (not the band) still holds true. Keep It Simple Sweetheart. Just updated my ads to hopefully see a shift. New 3 week old page only 351 likes. Check it out tell me what you think. http://www.FaceBook.com/AbundantJourneys
btw – I liked your page! 🙂
Thanks for the kind words. I’ll check it out. Cheers.
john. can i get in touch with you? i need just 5-7 minutes of your time. i have done everything, everything to put the stuff rollin, but still i’m experiencing some obstacles.
5 minutes, just?
Hey David, shoot me an email at john@mmmanifesto.com.
great article like seeing other peoples real results. this
SEO , IM stuff has a lot of in and outs.
Thanks
John
Awesome stuff. Hopefully my website will get as much traffic as you are getting.
Hey Major, it’s not just about the paid advertising, the real trick here was using the default ad rather than customizing it. Let me know how it goes for you.
Good stuff man. We’ve been thinking about the facebook ad thing for a show we’re promoting, but I think we’ll pass right now. Without a cohesive 3 pronged approach like you’ve outlined above, I don’t think it’d be worth it. We’re experimenting with selling tix to the show on our website, and after only 2 days, the response has been amazing. All the money goes right into our paypal account. No one else (venue, promoter, manager, etc) touches it. We pay them…that’s a nice twist. If you get a second, check it out at http://www.bihlmanbros.com and let me know what you think.
Thanks for the manifesto man, it rocks!
jabo
Hey Jeff,
The landing page looks great. Glad to hear it’s working. Geo targeted advertising is a fantastic way to go.
As others have mentioned, thanks very much for your candor and especially for the real numbers rather than pie-in-the-sky. (I think we’ve all had enough of that!) I’m looking forward to the 3rd part.
Thanks Jan, you’re welcome. Should have part 3 by next week.
If they want to kill the golden goose….go for it. But what I don't like is when someone, lets use shinedown as an example, puts up their music and a third party coil.amnsp… there is a problem….
I’ve tried many courses, Ebooks, etc that promise the world to musicians, but I have to say John, that your stuff is the ONLY info I have found that is real “nuts and bolts-here’s how I did it” useful information. I’m still working on putting it all in action, but the fact that I am still sticking with it proves to me that your info is light years ahead of all the other so called “experts” that run rampant in the music/entertainment industry. Keep putting out quality info like this, and Music Marketing Manifesto, and you have a customer for life!
Thanks so much Greg, I really appreciate that. You’ve made my day 🙂
Thanks, John. Good stuff. You’ve confirmed what I have been experiencing.
I do NOT lose money, even in the short-term, on facebook ads, but I haven’t been making much there either (in the short-term). I’ve experimented with different ways of getting my FB costs down. It always seems to be a trade-off of one thing for another. Nevertheless, I do see FB generating excitement among my fans, and my conversions from subscribers to paying customers seems to be really good.
Basically, what I’m doing is asking subscribers to leave a comment on my FB page after they receive their free download (I give two downloads about a week apart in my followups). Just so you can see what that’s doing for me, here’s my page: http://www.facebook.com/LangerMusic.
– Charley
You’re doing a great job with all of this Charlie. Keep it up!
Thanks for sharing John! Will be doing a Facebook Ad soon before my album release, so I was just curious if you would recommend your most recent way of using a Facebook Ad, or your original way which you explained in the Marketing Manifesto, or both?
They are two totally different strategies. The method in the course is a way to advertise on the backs of other similar artist’s names.
This method was specifically to get maximum “Likes”.
Your post is really refreshing. Here’s why – you actually told us exactly what you did, the costs, etc. You were honest. Most “marketers” leave things out – like using Facebook ads -in order to impress the readers more.
Thanks for your honesty,
Tom
You’re welcome Tom, and thank YOU for the comment.
Hey John,
It’s good to see a music marketer coming up with something that would even impress the IM gurus!
Really enjoying the blog so far, keep up the good work.
– Chris
Thanks Chris, much appreciated.
Nice post, but it was just like i predicted it to be 😀
One way to get the cost down on paid advertising is to target friends of people that like your page. On last campaign my CPC was 0.08€. I did it so that first i made 60 mixed creatives targeted to 24-44 women. After one week one creative was greatly above all so i took that and targeted it to 24-44 males. Clicks skyrocketted in first day. The old truth applies: “Get the girls in and boys will follow”. This generated viral effect as the likes went peoples feeds and as some we sharing same friends they got lots of: “xx is liking this page.” That made them to like it too.
I spent few hundred euros and i’m not waiting to get the money back anywhere soon. My goal was to generate general awarness that the band exists. Maybe one day i can monetize on those likes 😀
I sent the ads to this page:
http://www.facebook.com/bubblescum?sk=app_4949752878
I personally hate squeeze pages, so i can’t use those myself. I rather make landing pages that suggest to become fan/join maillist and let the first HEAR the music.
In my experience squeeze pages out perform just about everything in terms of gaining subscribers, but your FB landing page looks great. I’m sure it will get you a great “like” conversion rate.
Cheers…