Has anyone ever bought a Facebook ad?

[Former_Member]

Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone has ever purchased a facebook ad for their Etsy shop?
Was it worth it?

Thanks,
Cara

[Former_Member]

Cara,

I tried it for 3 days, it cost me $21 and I had a lot of impressions but very few clicks through to my page. That being said, I am not sure if I set it up right. In my experience it seemed a little pricey. Happy sales :)

Trina

[merriweathercouncil]

I have done two facebook ads, i wrote everything i could about my own experience on my blog if youd like to see: http://www.merriweathercouncilblog.com/2011/02/etsy-sellers-facebook-ads-my-experience.html

[Zehland]

I ran Facebook ads before Christmas. I had click-through, but no sales from it. It was more pricey than Google ads because Google ads I could limit to $1 per day, but Facebook was a minimum of $3 per day. But I may try again at some point.
There's no knowing for sure until you try.

Janet

[Former_Member]

merriweathercouncil...what a great blog article. It gave me a lot to think about, especially about the budget and bidding. I didn't fully understand this before, and now I think I understand a little more.

...and thanks to everyone else!

I might give it a go and see what happens!

[VeraidaGifts]

I did, spent a lot of money, but it was not worth it, because I had approximately 30 items in my shop, and my pictures were worse. But I will definitely will do it in the future.

[LaPellaPottery]

I've bought ads on behalf of the EtsyMudTeam and we were very pleased.

My tips are:

•Make the photo very dynamic. I was lucky - I had over 200 shops worth of photos to choose from.

•Pay for clicks, not impressions. We tried both and paid less for more click-throughs by paying for clicks.

•Use a pre-paid Visa debit card not tied to your bank account. Our accounts were repeatedly compromised and when we started using the pre-paid debit cards for the Facebook ads, it stopped happening.

•Bid low. There is no need to pay more for your clicks. We tried bidding at the suggested level and bidding about half of that. The only difference was we paid more for half the clicks.

•Target your audience well. Make sure the folks who see your ad are the buyers. If you make jewelry, don't target people who like making jewelry or crafts, target people who love to shop and accessorize.


We ran ads for our EMT web page and had great traffic. We used Google Adwords, Facebook ads, and something else. I only handled the Facebook Ads, but overall the ads from both were effective and not too costly.

[Former_Member]

Wow. This has been super helpful. Thanks so much merriweathercouncil and LaPellaPottery!

[Former_Member]

Thank you LaPellaPottery! Very helpful!!

[Former_Member]

Definitely give it a go. I had good luck with it last year, and got a couple big sales and a ton of FB fans.

I did try again this year and no sales, but I still say it's a good way to get your name out there, and facebook/etsy fans etc.

Sales were definitely a bonus, and I think I may have purchased ads at a bad time (mid feb). Where as, last year it was right before the holidays.

[StudioJulieAnn]

Great blog! Truly helpful information. So nice to hear your experience with this!!

[Former_Member]

I just bought an ad for a couple days to try it out...we'll see how it goes!

[Former_Member]

Well here's my verdict...
I purchased 3 days, ended up spending $36, got lots of clicks, LOTS of impressions but no direct sales. I think I got some people who favorited my shop from FB...so hopefully they'll come back to shop later! All in all though, it was a waste of money. I get more sales from renewing daily for about the same cost (or less)! Maybe other times of the year are better (before holidays). I would maybe consider trying it one more time at a different time of year.

[empapers]

I spend a lot of money on Facebook ads, and I'm still on the fence about them. I pay for clicks and have gotten some big sales, but I'm using it more for 'brand awareness'

A couple of the reasons I like FB ads:

*They are easy, I find it less complicated than AdWords

*You can really target. Since I'm selling wedding invites, I can target based on relationship status "Engaged" as well as select for 'likes' for sites and blogs of my target group (DIY, etc.)

I'm keeping my eye on it. I have my Google Analytics set up so that I can trace sales back to their source. I get a lot of traffic from the FB ads, but so-so sales, so my campaigns have yet to pay for themselves. I'm going to let it run through the summer and if they don't perform more than just bringing in traffic, I'll probably stop.

[PoetryUnspoken]

I appreciate the helpful information from different users, thank you to all as I have been considering this. Specially the idea of using a prepaid debit card, I will definetely use this when creating the FB ads. Thank you :) ♥

[HildesJewelry]

merriweathercouncil,
Thank you for the article :-)

[HeritagePlateArt]

great topic, I've been considering a FB ad for a while,maybe coincide it with fathers day shopping. merriweathercouncil wrote a great blog on this topic, very informative. thanks Tom

[Former_Member]

Disappointing that I can't have a Facebook business page and a personal page...only one or the other. :(

[Former_Member]

I have a business page and a personal one...why can't you have both?

[Former_Member]

I bought a facebook ad a few weeks ago...it was a little confusing to me. I spent $20, and got a lot of 'impressions', a few clicks, and no sales. I'd rather spend my ad $ on independent blogs, I think.