Facebook AffiliatePPC The Lazy Way

What up, my name is Alexander Tsatkin and this is a guest post on my call with a Facebook Account Manager.

Most Facebook publishers know how frustrating it is to have no support, getting ads denied with vague reasons, and overall lack of answers. After getting some BS internal error for over 72 hours I decided to contact my Affiliate Account Manager who was able to get me in touch with a Facebook rep.

I got a call at about 7:00 PM his time, which suprised me. I asked as many hard questions as I could, and here are the answers I got. Some of these will be obvious to people who have doing Facebook for a while, and for others it will helpfully save you the headaches the rest of us experienced.

Is Acai/Wu Yi Dead?

Yes, too many Facebook users were complaining about these “negative” charge diet offers, so Acai and Wu Yi ARE dead. The ads you keep seeing are legacy ads, so if you don’t have an acai ad, chances are you won’t get one through.

Are Ringtones Dead?

Yes… they have been dead for a while.

Are Quizes Dead?

Yes, Facebooks goal is to only allow quizes that do not require any personal information at the end… no credit, zip, or email.

How to get dating ads through?

Do not use the words single, reference the users age, reference to users location, or use provocative language. The ad is more important than the landing page in terms of skin being shown, but neither can be to too reveling. Mention the offer in the ad text itself. Do not make the condition of “being single” as being negative.

How to get health related ads through?

Do not use quantitative numbers that cannot be verified (loose 10 Lbs in 10 Days). Do not put down persons with a condition.

Here are some other nice tid bits I learned…

Their system does assumes your ad has a CTR of .07% when launching, so getting a higher CTR should be your goal. Your bidding does not effect what position you are in when three ads are being shown at the same time. They do not take into account time of day when launching, so the best way to split test is launch the same set of ads at different times of the day.

Here is the best thing I learned “intern.facebook.com” DOES NOT stand for “intern”… but instead stands for “internal”. So here we were bashing Facebook interns, when apparently its a separate team all together. No such thing as an intern nazi party?

If you are running Facebook and need someone to talk to to understand EXACTLY why your ads are not getting through then shoot me a note on my blog and I will hook you up.

Shameless Plug : Google Sucks

Picking a campaign for the Facebook audience is a lot harder than most forms of PPC. Unlike search engines, Facebook has a rather useless keyword targeting system. Believe me you, I’ve picked plenty of campaigns I thought would convert at 1:10 on Facebook, but BAM I end up losing $80 in 15 minutes with just a look of astonishment to show for it. So how do you pick a campaign? Pick one that will apply to the masses.

A problem that plagues us all is this acronym called EPC (Earnings Per Click). A lot of Facebook marketers I know will start their campaign search by first sorting a list of campaigns by the EPC. This is just downright wrong and stupid. Each traffic source will have different people with different mindsets clicking on their ad. Furthermore, each advertiser goes about promoting a campaign in a different way. One person may prequalify their traffic with a more specific ad/lp, well another may just want to pump as many clicks at an offer in hopes that it converts. A good example of this is the eHarmony campaign on NeverblueAds. Currently the EPC for that campaign is $0.13, which would be rather impossible to make profitable on Facebook, yet somehow I’ve managed to get ads approved that bring me in an EPC of around $1.50-$2.00 depending on the day.

So if you can’t choose your campaigns via EPC, how do you? Good question! When you figure it out, let me know. Unfortunately there is no sure fire way to pick a campaign. The best and unfortunately most costly way is trial and error. There are however “golden rules” to help you along with your selection process.

Golden Rules:

1. Facebook users hate to pay for things. That’s not to say they won’t, but that it’s hard to get them to. Stick to giving them stuff rather than charging them.
2. Facebook users are lazy. Absolutely lazy. If you select a campaign that is a 4th page submit with a double opt-in. GOOD LUCK.
3. Can you get an ad approved. Before you select a campaign, assure that it is within Facebook’s advertising guidelines, otherwise have fun with the Facebook Nazi Interns.
4. How many people are in your target age group. If an offer is for Depends diapers, your target age group will be very small. Will it be worth it?