To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Arthur Casey says
Thanks Jeff for the great insight into Promoted Posts ,. I have recently run promoted posts and used the friends of friends option and received heaps of negative comments from Haters demanding to get my post out of my news feed . I replied to most saying it’s not me it’s FB and after reply deleted comments.
Once again thank you for heads up on promoted posts i will certainly be taken your valuable advice 🙂
Jeff Johnson says
Sometimes I wonder if those same people send hate mail to networks for running ads on TV, or to Apple for running ads in the itunes store, or Google for running ads in their search results.
I’m not talking about those people that don’t realize it’s an ad, I’m talking about those people that tell you they know it’s an ad and they still take the time to bash you for it.
Personally I just ignore ads that aren’t of interest to me. Why waste time and energy telling someone you don’t like their ad? it’s much easier to simply ignore it.
Phil Maguire says
First of all, thank you for taking the time to put this video together.
However, I’m confused. I thought that when you posted anything on your facebook page it would automatically notify people who had liked it and their friends. I thought the whole point of purchasing ads was to contact people who don’t know you and tell them what you are doing
Have I got it wrong? And if I haven’t, why are you paying for something you get automatically for free?
Jeff Johnson says
Facebook doesn’t show your fan page update to all of your fans, only a small percentage of them will see it.
Facebook will show a larger percentage of them your update if you pay them for it, which is one of the ways FB makes money.
I’m not saying you can’t use the “friends of friends” option, I’m just warning you to be careful about how you use it, especially if you are just starting to advertise on facebook.
Megan says
Hey Jeff, thanks for helping us out with this. It’s a trap for young (and expert) players! Cheers.
Tom says
Hey, Jeff, thanks for always using reasonable bitr ates on your videos. I get so tired of waiting for the buffer to load on the videos from those idiots who must think they are showing a Hollywood Blockbuster. And your content is always better than theirs too.
Jeff Johnson says
🙂
JJ says
Good timing, Jeff. I experienced something similar as I was launching a FB page just a couple weeks ago. I ran some ads just to get some initial likes and momentum going. What I didn’t realize, however, was that when I created my regular ads, FB also automatically created a corresponding “Sponsored Story” for each one (guessing this is akin to the “Promoted Post” option you mention).
Everything was fine the first couple days of the campaign until one afternoon when I checked my email and found some FB users had commented on my page. Great! Or so I thought. Imagine my horror when I opened the emails to find what they had actually posted was nothing but the most hateful vulgarities and they said this was payback for hijacking their FB feed.
As you say, for some reason, there are bizarre individuals who have this strange notion that *they* own their Facebook profile and feed, rather than Facebook. If they are going to get that upset about seeing ads wherever FB places them, they need to leave FB for their own mental health.
The whole experience made me sick to my stomach and made me wonder if FB ads were for me at all. I ended sticking with a couple regular ads but not sure I’ll ever go back to “Sponsored Stories” as, with my luck, even if I was targeting only those who had at one time liked my page, I’ll get some who either forget or one day are under the influence and then go on another vulgar tirade on my page and it’s just more than I care to deal with. I’ve got too many other struggles in life than to deal with mentally unstable people.
As for responding to mere negative comments, I didn’t have any of those. Only pure hate. I deleted them, but not before screen-capturing them and reporting them as abuse of the system.
Jeff Johnson says
thanks for sharing 🙂
James says
Great point Jeff. I think I’ve heard the two step approach recently, but didn’t really understand what it was all about and why it works better. Now I get it!
Thanks Jeff
Jeff Johnson says
Definitely not a new concept (two step sales process) but definitely a powerful one!
Hector Sampson says
Thank you Jeff, this was a real eye opener! I was about to do that same mistake. Really thank you for taking the time to share this experience with us!
Jeff Johnson says
You are welcome!
Lee says
Hi Jeff,
I have to say, it seemed kind of obvious to me to target people who have actually liked my page first.
I generally find people who have come into my lead funnel from FB to be generally harder to sell to than for those who have come into my lead funnel from elsewhere.
I don’t know why, I just find FB traffic to be a harder sell, harder to convert.
You definitely cannot just blatently sell on FB, it doesn’t work.
I notice that FB are rolling out a lot of Ads to me on my own personal news feed from people I don’t even know, so I can only assume that is because people are promoting posts to friends of people who have liked their page. It’s irritating at best.
I like your vids because they are “to the point” with no fluff.
Good vid Jeff.
I’ve been on your mailing list for some time now.
Jeff Johnson says
Yes, I agree it seems obvious which is why I don’t understand why Facebook doesn’t default to that option. I’m sure most people will just go with the defaults and roll out an ad. Seems like they could reduce a lot of the clutter in the news feed, and by default reduce the “anger” over too many ads in the news feed.
But they are worth billions and I’m not so what do I know 🙂
Ian says
Thank you so much Jeff, great sharing!
Jeff Johnson says
Glad you enjoy it 🙂
Gary Jenkins says
Great tip. Thanks for sharing it.
Jeff Johnson says
You’re welcome, thanks for checking it out!