Question

I would like to learn more about FB advertising and I am fairly certain my company would finance the course if I asked them. What course/s would you recommend I take? Background info: I work for a company that sells products at big box retailers. Unfortunately we don't have ecom capabilities on our own site yet, so I just have to push traffic to the retailer's site instead, or push to our own site and then the user has to take an extra step and click another link which leads to the retailer's website to complete the purchase. Without exact proof that the ads are converting, it's difficult to scale and I can't use audiences related to ATC, checkout, etc.  

Answer 1

Facebook Blueprint

Answer 2

Definitely fb blueprint don’t buy random people’s courses.  

Comments

I hear a lot of people say start with FB Blueprint. I guess it's kinda disheartening to hear other people's courses aren't worth it. I was hoping there would be at least one that's truly valuable and worth it! :(

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@tehee Facebook is constantly changing. I learned everything I know through YouTube and trial and error. Never needed a course.  

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Always open to answering questions! As everyone here is available to help too.  

Answer 3

If you already know some, a mentor might come handy. Shot me a message for details.  

Answer 4

Install the Facebook Pixel and track with Custom Conversions. If that does not make sense, let me know :) Happy to help. At the same time it is worthwhile to install Google Tag Manager and Analytics

Comments

I msged you if you don't mind replying :)

Answer 5

The company I work for was in the EXACT same situation you’re describing about 6 years ago. 100% of our business was through b2b accounts. Now about 40% of our business is b2c. If there’s ever anything you have questions about or need advice on when it comes to the transition, just shoot me a message! Glad to help in any way I can.  

Comments

Thank you, I appreciate it and will reach out when the time comes. Was there much you could do when the business was 100% B2B? Or was it pretty limited?  

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Well I think that greatly depends on your role in the company. For me, I was brought in to help transition our business to B2C so my focus was always in building our B2C. In the beginning it was more ME that was limited by our B2B because we had to be extremely careful to not do anything that could jeopardize our relationship with the B2B re sellers.  

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In your situation, no matter what you do it'll be tough to fully measure your marketing efforts but creating more awareness and content for your brands will help both B2B and B2C. I know in our situation it was challenging because we were using multiple ERP systems, multiple warehouse, selling in 100+ countries, and have a multi-company structure that makes creating a "simple" site to sell direct to consumer was a sloooooow process that came with a heavy price tag and timeline. It's a challenge no doubt but if the company you work with is smaller or a more simple setup then it should be much easier to get a B2C site up and running. Which could be where this ad money would be better invested. But I'd have to know quite a few more details about the company to be able to give more insight here.  

Answer 6

Facebook Blueprint + pay someone for a few consulting hours (ask for the references, case studies, etc. )

Answer 7

Creating an online presence (e-commerce shop) is super cheap nowadays. If you have an ads budget sacrifice a part of it towards creating it, it will make a huge difference. Regarding courses, fb blueprint has everything you need. Your initial success doesn't come from how well you structure your campaigns but from how creative you are with the ads. If you understand the basic targeting and campaign goals it's enough.  

Comments

Thanks, the problem with setting up the ecommerce shop isn't cost or capability. We already have that ready actually and can turn it on anytime we want. We just don't have the distribution centers ready. I will check FB Blueprint though since everyone is suggesting that. :)

Answer 8

One way to achieve this tracking wise is through an affiliate program for the big box retailers. Seen smaller merchants do this with Nordstroms, Macys, and a few others (these were approved of course, your experience may vary). You can drive traffic, and depending on the affiliate platform get some good information. Not as deep as if you owned it, but you don't. Agree with many here, FB programs are good, but FB Blueprint taking 3 months to scale from small to larger ad spend based on performance is wise Even with a course, you'll spend the same time doing your own project, so if you do learn, run a live, small campaign at the same time.  

Answer 9

Hey @tehee I'm pretty stoked to see that people here aren't recommending other people's courses because of lack of quality - that's exactly why I and my team started our 8-week program for Facebook advertising. We have training with one of the best satisfaction scores and support in the industry. A lot of the "experts" out there have been through it! :D I would be more than happy to show you around and see if it's something for you. :)

Answer 10

Hey let's jump on a call and I'll give you some useful advice i could have used when i was getting started.