Mike Huberty said
Hey guys,

I made our Facebook squeeze page and am going to do an ad around an event we have in Madison in two weeks.

 

Before I start running some ads on Monday, I'd love some feedback (and indeed just to see if the thing works!)

 

http://www.facebook.com/sunspotmusic

 

Thanks!
Mike

Hey Mike,

I think the page looks great. My only criticism would be that I think the headline can be improved. "Rock Music That's Smart, Fun, And Powerful" doesn't really entice me personally or generate much imagery for me. But I suppose you won't know until you test. I would also remove the "last name" field and either replace it with just a "name" field or even a "first name" field. You don't really need the last name for anything and as a general rule, the more steps the better. And remember, if you drive ads to it, drive ads to the page itself, not your main wall. You will be able to find your page in your list of apps when creating your ad.

In aweber you can use the firstname-fixed field from the personalization options and it will just use the first name that people enter and it will even capitalize it for those that write it in lower case. It's a cool little tool and solves your problem.

As for the add, I think that whats happening is that you are sort of putting out your hand before any desire has been created. Your ad sort of says it all, but because there is no familiarity, there is no real interest yet. The only real good thing about that is that it means you are essentially getting free exposure, and there is a place for that.

I might try something like:

Free All Ages Rock Show!

17 half price tickets left. Click here to claim yours. 

...or something along those lines. then take people to an opt in form at tell people that the first 17 people (or however many - odd number intentional), to sign up will get sent the tickets. If you can do free that's even better.

I think some kind of universal incentive is necessary seeing as most people seeing the ad are not yet familiar with your band and there is no pre-existing desire. Another angle is to only advertise to your existing fans either through a custom audience or a connection to a Fan Page of yours. Many people think that it's a waste to advertise to people you could just email or FB blast, but that's not the case. A click from someone who is already interested in what you do is very valuable and is totally worth the price.

Sorry, I think I'm a little confused. The ad sounds a lot better to me but where are you taking them? To this page: https://www.facebook.com/sunsp.....8062820330?

I think it's really important that there be some congruency with your ad and the squeeze page headline. I see that you mention the show and offer in the supporting copy but the headline really needs to broadcast the main hook. Right now you might get a click from someone who wants a free gift, only to confuse them when they are introduced to the band first. 

I also still think it would be worth playing with the ad headline if you want more clicks. I don't know if "Sunspot" will mean enough to people who are not yet familiar with the band. I think conveying the benefit will be stronger than the band name. Because the band name also has a meaning as just a word, I think it can be a bit confusing. Like... Why are there gonna be sun spots at Brat Fest I also don't know that people would care half as much about pint glasses from a band they don't yet know, as they would discounts or even a free CD. On the other hand, if you are advertising to your fans then this would totally work.

The idea is to find the hook of your offer and then distill it into a sentence or two. Then build your add and your squeeze page around that, and then point to your opt in form to take the next step.

So it would be like...

ad headline: get something cool for free (or a discount).

ad copy: click here to do it.

Squeeze page headline: Here's where you can get this cool thing for free and why you want it.

Squeeze page copy: supports the headline with social proof and further instruction.

Hope that makes sense and that I'm not coming off as a dick. Just want to see you start getting those clicks and sign ups.

Awesome, sounds good. Go get'm.

Hey Annie,

1. The app is basically just an iframe. It will display any website that the app is set to display within the designated iframe. If you configure everything as you normally would, using the provided template, you should get the same thing.

2. That sounds like a security setting on your boyfriend's computer. I am unable to duplicate it. Your FB squeeze displays perfectly for me.

3. Hmmm, I'll have to look into that. It does sound like a FB app. It's difficult to diagnose without actually sitting over your shoulder. Are you sure all of the steps have been followed? Can you post the link to where the page is hosted? You might not need it, it depends on the mods. But it's a good idea whenever advertising. But because it's a FB page, my guess is that you would get away with not having it.

Hi,

I have attached a screen shot of me viewing it in Explorer. Works fine for me. I think you are just experiencing something that is specific to your specific security settings within explorer. All you can really do is run a small test campaign and see if it converts better or worse that the normal page. Security settings or not, that's all that really matters in the end.

Hey Charley,

I've been wondering where you've been. Good to see you back in the forum. Good suggestion on using the paid SSL. Just not the one everyone wants to hear Glad to hear it solved most of the issues for you.

That gig that I mentioned turned out to just be someone using the same free service, so I removed the link some time ago. There are no doubt new gigs in fiverr you could explore. They are so cheap you could just give one a go based on ratings and see if it works or not. It's a $5 risk. If you find one, please share it.

An SSL certificate is just basically a certificate that sates that your site is secure. I barely understand it all myself. The easiest way to do it right would be to contact your host and say you need an SSL cert for the site. They will charge you a few bucks for it and then your sites url will be https instead of http, and then FB will accept it. I used the free option and it works, but has some issues with some browsers. Presumably because it's not quite as authentically secure.