Facebook ads can be one of the quickest ways to make money – if you do it right. However, they can also be one of the quickest ways to LOSE money – if you get them wrong.
Every time I stand on stage, I ask two questions:
“Who here has tried running ads before?” Everyone puts their hands up.
I then ask: “Who here has seen success with their ads?” All the hands go down.
Every single time.
I see this over and over again. Most businesses have tried running ads on Facebook, but most fail to make them work.
What does this mean?
Where most businesses go wrong with Facebook ads
There seems to be a common thread amongst newbie advertisers.
And that is… they go straight for the kill.
Often when I look into new ad accounts, the person advertising thinks all they need to do is stick up an ad offering something like “20% off” and the floodgates will open…
But it’s not that easy.
We don’t just buy from strangers. Especially strangers who try to sell us something.
We only buy from people we know, like and trust.
Just because we’re spending money on Facebook, targeting people with an interest in our industry, doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy from us.
When someone sees our ad for the first time, they don’t know who we are and don’t CARE who we are either.
Which means, we need to make them care.
How do we use Facebook ads to sell?
Introducing… the VF Method.
The Value First Method.
The VF method is an example of how we turn strangers into customers. If we’re running paid media, like Facebook ads, we need a system like the VF method.
Once we get the VF method converting at a profit, we have a predictable, consistent and scalable business.
If we know that most people don’t like ads and don’t care what you have to say, we need to consider how we make them care.
We need to approach them in a way that provides value to them.
That makes them feel good. That adds to their feed when they visit Facebook, not annoys them.
The VF Method is exactly how we do that.
Step One: Create incredible video content
We start off by creating incredible video content.
Content that your potential customers would actually want to see as they scroll to their feed. For example, content that:
- Answers their questions
- Solves their problems
- Helps with any pain points they have
…all done in an entertaining and informative way.
When we create this content, we must focus on providing value without asking for anything in return. We never ask for the sale or make any sort of offer.
Why? Because as soon as you try and sell to a stranger, you annoy them and they switch off.
Let’s look at how someone in the fitness space might utilise the VF method.
The fitness professional is looking to work with women who want to lose belly fat.
That means they would create video content that speaks directly to that demographic. They might create a video titled something like “10 ways women can lose belly fat”.
Step Two: Offer Something For Free In Return For Contact Info
The next step in the VF method is bringing the person who consumed your content further into your funnel.
The best way to do that is by offering them something for free.
By offering something for free, we are giving that person an opportunity to take things further. We might offer them something like:
- Free Guide
- Free Ebook
- Webinar
- Video Series
- Free consultation
It needs to be hugely valuable and relevant to your original content.
Our personal trainer cour create a free guide called “5 Exercises For Women Looking To Lose Belly Fat”. In order to download that guide, you need to hand over your name, email and phone number.
If someone watches a video on losing belly fat, you can guarantee they’ll be interested in the free guide.
All of a sudden, we have women (in a specific area, if we use ads to promote it) who have consumed our video content and downloaded our guide whom we know are interested in losing belly fat.
Step Three: Convert To Sale
Once someone has consumed our content and taken us up on our free offer, it’s time to try and convert them into a customer.
If you’ve done your job correctly, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Our personal trainer knows they’re interested in losing belly fat, they know they live in a specific location and now we have their name, email and phone number.
Which means we can call them, email them and can continue to run ads to them to convince them to purchase from them.
This isn’t just a way to generate more leads and sales. This is a system to generate better leads and sales.
Once you crack it, you’ve got a consistent and scalable business. Who wouldn’t want that…? 😉
I explain all this in more detail in the video training here
