Whether you’re new to investing in ads or have years of experience, the truth is investing takes serious strategy and commitment; the difference, however, between those who have experience investing from those who haven’t can be monumental. Having worked with both, but now focusing on high-revenue coaches, I have seen what it’s like from all perspectives.
What I talk about in today’s episode are some of the key differences between the way 7-figure coaches may invest in Facebook ads compared to newer coaches. I will then talk about the behavior differences between the two and how it also affects their success. And finally, I talk about ways to prevent any bad experiences you may face when doing it for your own business. Stay tuned!
Here’s a closer look at what I discuss in this episode:
- How newer coaches invest in ads and why it DOESN’T work
- How experienced coaches invest in ads and why it DOES works
- The behavior differences between different experience levels
- How to prevent a bad ad experience in your business
Resources:
Podcast Transcipt
Christina: (00:01)
You are listening to the scaling to freedom podcast. I’m your host, Christine and Behar. And in this episode, we are talking about how seven figure coaches invest in Facebook ads. So I do want to point out that I’m not meaning to create this like separation or put too much emphasis on the whole seven figure mark. Um, but there is a difference and I’ve had the privilege of working with newer coaches, um, and more experienced coaches over the years. And as our, um, services have gotten more and more sophisticated, our ideal clients have, um, grown with us. And, um, so we’ve just have bigger accounts now and I’ve worked with both. And so I’m mostly referring to when I’m talking about the two different kinds of coaches and there’s not really two different kinds because it’s more fluid. Right. But, um, I’m referring to like those beginner coaches who have maybe, you know, maybe they don’t have a lot of experience in ads and they’re just now kind of diving into ads.
Christina: (01:01)
Um, and then I’m referring to the coaches who have maybe been investing in ads for years, and a lot more experienced knows what to expect and that sort of thing. So the two people that I’m referring to those two different categories, they get very different results, um, and they get different results for, um, different reasons, but I’m going to go over the most common reasons why the results are so, so different. So I wanna talk about how newer coaches often invest in ads and end up getting burned, um, and why that is. Um, I wanna talk about how not to invest in ads and why, because, um, I’m really focusing a lot of my content on trying to prevent people from having bad experiences with ads because something I see, so, so often, um, and even more so now PA uh, post iOS 14 update because things have changed so much.
Christina: (01:54)
Um, and I’ve had, I’ve done past episodes on what has changed and how those changes, um, have affected things. Um, so if you wanna look back in the podcast, scroll back a bit, I’ve talked a lot about that. Um, so, and I also want to talk about today, um, how experienced coaches invest in ads and why that works, um, and how to prevent, you know, a bad experience with ads for yourself. So let’s go over how newer coaches or amateur ad investors start to invest in ads, and I’m gonna talk about their behavior, um, and, uh, see if this resonates with you. Um, this is hopefully going to help you understand the differences and why the two different, um, kind of behaviors have different outcomes. So with newer coaches or, or newer ad investors, all of my clients are coaches. So that’s why I’m referring to coaches, but really this applies to anyone who is brand new to investing in ads. A lot of the times, um, one of the things that they do is they want to spend as little as
Christina: (02:58)
Possible and as a business owner, who has to also make a lot of investments into a business, I completely understand this. I’m not saying, um, that I don’t understand, I fully resonate with this, right. Um, but they want to spend as little as possible, but the thing about ads is that ads actually need fuel. They need data, the algorithm needs that data, and we need it to actually have the fuel that it needs to give you any kind of result. Um, so with ads spending too little can actually be a complete waste. Um, and we often value our money over our time, which I talk about every now and then, uh, which is really interesting, cuz most of us agree that we actually like we can see that our, um, time is like a limited resource, whereas money. We can always make more of it, but we still just kind of behave in this way where we just value our time.
Christina: (03:53)
Like we’re more willing to spend extra time on something than extra money on something and a lot of scenarios. Um, and Facebook ads, um, or meta ads is definitely one of those things. Um, for newer, um, ad investors just wanting to not spend very much money and this can be a total, uh, waste of time, honestly. So there is a threshold where if you’re not willing to spend a certain amount, um, then it’s probably just not even worth your time at all. Um, now I will say that, do you might hear some mixed messages about this because back, you know, a few years back, um, I would say that this was a little bit different that you could actually get a little bit more traction with a lot less money. Um, we just don’t live that time anymore. So we really need to make sure that we’re ready to invest if we’re gonna actually go all in on this.
Christina: (04:41)
Um, another thing is that they are using money that they can’t afford to lose so ads take time and data. Um, and if, you know, EV if all of the cards are right and you know, the funnel is performing really, really well, the offer is super proven and all of those things and your ads account is very warm and it has all the data it needs. Um, then you will absolutely make a return on your ads, but in the beginning when your ads account is cold and you haven’t ever ran ads before, and that you have no data to go off of, um, sometimes in the beginning, what you’re gonna be getting is more data than you are a return. It does take time. Um, and it does take a specific journey. It’s a process. So it’s going to be very, very stressful if you’re concerned with just making it buy financially because paying for data and to get things off the ground is really difficult if you’re struggling financially. So that’s one thing that I see is, um, just newer ad investors, wanting to try and use ads to fix problems that ads don’t fix. And typically what I’m referring to is an offer. That’s not exactly selling. So if you are trying to use ads to sell something that is not selling organically, that is not the role
Christina: (05:56)
Of ads and it’s not, it’s not likely to work. Um, and so when you are going through that process and you’re using money that you absolutely can’t afford to lose and you need a return, um, it’s going to be a very, it’s gonna be one of those nightmare experiences more than likely. Um, so that’s another thing that I see also, another behavior that I see I’m gonna go over four. So the third one is they want to try it out just for a month or two. So if you are a coach and you work with clients, um, think about this timeline. Um, if someone’s like, oh, I just wanna try it out for a month. Most of the time, even in the coaching space, um, your like the process and everything takes time, um, even, you know, building a business or trying to get things off the ground or anything that we’re trying, that we’re going into new.
Christina: (06:48)
It often takes more than a month or two to see actual results. Now with ads, we do get instant feedback where we get really quick data, but as far as them being perfectly optimized and tested and all these things ads take time. So we need data, your ads account needs data, um, for the algorithm to work. So the algorithm is actually gonna use that data as well. And then we are also going to use that data to help guide the algorithm, put in the right, um, creatives and the right targeting and all of that. We need to test copy. We need to test videos, creatives, audiences, we need to test different freebies. There’s just a lot of trial and error and proven offers and funnels make this a much easier road, of course, but it’s still a process regardless. Um, another thing too, to keep in mind is what your purchase cycle is.
Christina: (07:37)
So can you close leads instantly? Um, a lot of the times this isn’t the case, and most of the time we have a purchase cycle, meaning that whenever someone goes into your world or goes into your funnel, there’s a certain amount of time before they actually invest with you. Especially if you have a higher ticket program, a lot of times, people in your world for a while before they actually purchase. So to expect a return on cold leads within a couple of weeks, it doesn’t actually make sense when we sit down and think about it. Um, so most people are aware that, you know, they’re not gonna get a return on a cold lead right away yet we invest in ads and think that we’re gonna get a return right away. Um, so you just have to also just really apply this to how your business works and understand that ads are just amplifying what’s going on in your business.
Christina: (08:27)
So we can’t, you know, expect that purchase cycle to just be a few days or a week, um, when it never has been. So that’s something that I see fairly commonly. Um, and the last one is that they quit too soon. So think about also if you’re familiar, most of my clients are familiar with, um, their own journey with Instagram, um, and you know, starting an organic audience. Um, think about if you started to, to just put content on Instagram and started to like build up this audience, and then you just stopped. It’s like not probably going to get the results that you want because you lost your momentum, you just stopped. Um, and it’s the same thing with ads. Um, the algorithm is cranking up. Your ads account is getting warmer and warmer. You’re starting to test things out and figure out which creatives are working, which audiences are working, which videos perform the best, all these different things.
Christina: (09:20)
And then if you just pull out, you like missed the opportunity to carry out your entire full purchase cycle and see what the ads did for you. Um, and so this is something that I often often see and, um, I think a big reason for this is because of the part of where they’re using, um, money that they can’t afford to lose. So this is something that I see a lot when people are first starting out with ads. Um, and I used to have clients that were newer coaches. So this is something that I was, I became very, very familiar with. Um, and so that’s why now I’m always educating. And like we take on, um, clients that have more, uh, proven offers and things like that now. Um, and we’re at a higher price point. Um, so I don’t see this as much anymore, but I do like, I’m very, very familiar with this.
Christina: (10:11)
Um, so these are the most common things that I see. And, um, if any of those resonate with you, you just might not be in the best place to invest in ads yet, which is perfectly fine. Like totally fine to not be ready for ads yet. What’s not exactly fine is if you jump into ads and then you just lose a bunch of money, you waste a lot of time. And then you have one of these really disappointing experiences. That’s what we don’t want to happen. So let me talk about how seven figure coaches or experienced coaches, um, invest in ads and how these behaviors are so different. And this is why they have such different results, like drastically different results. Like if you’ve ever had a nightmare experience with ads and you got no return, and you’re seeing all these other people get these crazy returns on their ads or in their launches, you’re probably wondering like, what the heck, like how, you know what I mean?
Christina: (11:06)
And this is how so I’m gonna break this down for you. So the coaches who are more experienced, um, or more experienced ad investors, um, the first thing is that they invest in the long term. They know that marketing and business is a longer game and ads are no different, um, ads are going to be a big part of that as well. And so they’re investing in ads because they have this bigger, longer term vision for their business and they want to amplify what they are doing. Another thing that, um, is different is that they invest when they have a funnel and an offer that are working. So ads are going to, again, they’re gonna amplify what’s working and they’re gonna amplify. What’s not working. So if you are, um, trying to put a funnel in front of people like you’re putting,
Christina: (11:53)
Um, a free offer, a webinar, um, in front of people and you are eventually trying to get them to convert into a paid offer. Um, if that is not working organically, just by putting more people in is not gonna make the funnel convert better. Um, it’s just going to make you lose more money because you are just invest. Now you’re investing lots of money into it. And maybe because of higher volume, maybe overall, you’re getting more sales, but you’re not getting an actual return. So we need to invest in ads when we actually have that funnel working and that offer is selling. We have tweaked it, we’ve done our market research. We’ve done all the things that we need to do. And of course this is a never ending process. So I’m not saying you are at a point where you never have to tweak your funnel ever again.
Christina: (12:36)
That’s absolutely not gonna happen. But, um, you are at a place where that funnel is converting. People are purchasing that offer. You have a very clear vision as to why they’re purchasing that offer. So it’s not something that’s just going to change overnight, and you’re not gonna have any idea what to do. You really understand your ideal client. And you’re in a place where what you have now is so worth amplifying that you are in a great place to start investing in ads, another behavior that more experienced, um, coaches or ad investors have, um, or do is, um, they, they see the value in collecting data and doing it right. Um, so, and what I’m referring to is I’ve had experiences where, you know, a lot of people have asked, um, or a lot of like newer ad investors. They often ask, do we have to do all of this testing.
Christina: (13:28)
I ran this one ad before and it worked really well. And the answer is always like, yes, we have to do this testing. Um, and the biggest, like, reason for that, it, it’s not just that it won’t work if we just throw something up because sometimes that does work. Um, but it’s not typically sustainable. So once that ad starts to decline in performance, which it absolutely will, every ad will even a tested one will eventually not work anymore. Um, once it starts to decline in performance, we’re not gonna know why, and we’re just gonna be back at square one. So taking shortcuts often puts you back at square one, and sometimes even further back, if your shortcuts happen to like hurt your reputation anyway, or, you know, take a ton of your money, um, things like that. So we want to make sure that we are doing it right.
Christina: (14:17)
Um, and you know, more experience ad investors understand this, and they see the value and they’ve experienced the value in collecting that data and just doing it right. Um, the last behavior I’ll go over, um, for these more experienced ad investors are that they understand their purchase cycle and what the return process looks like. So if you don’t know what this process is, your ads manager can help you with this. Um, just figuring, figuring out what your purchase cycle is, meaning like whenever people go into your world, how long does it actually take them to start working with
Christina: (14:50)
You, you and investing in investing with you, understanding this is gonna help you understand what to expect, because if your purchase cycle is, um, on average, let’s say 90 days, then you know that if you are able to, if your funnel is 90 days and you’re able to take a cold lead and convert them into a purchaser, into a client or whatever it is, um, within those 90 days, you will know that your ad investment that you make in February will have the return will happen in 90 days. So it’s gonna happen in, um, what like April may. So understanding this will help you have an idea of, you know, understanding whether your ads are working or not, or if they’re getting you the return that you need. So those are the differences in their behavior. So the things that newer ad investors do versus experienced ad investors.
Christina: (15:43)
Um, so I want to talk about how to prevent a bad experience. So you might already have taken some of these conclusions from looking at the different behaviors of both of the different kind of ad investors, but, um, let’s break down, you know, how to, and prevent these nightmare experiences that I hear about. Um, so the first one is don’t start until you’re ready, do not start ads until you have a proven offer. Your funnel is converting and you have the budget for it because you don’t want to, you know, invest too little. You don’t wanna be, have this like scarcity, like stressful experience the whole time, because, you know, like I said, it takes time. It does take data. We don’t wanna take any shortcuts. We wanna do it. Right. So make sure that your budget is ready for that. Um, there are so many different like time and money investments in business that there’s just no reason to start ads right away before you’re ready.
Christina: (16:37)
Um, so invest in ads when you are ready. And when you do be patient invest, when you have the money so that you can invest in the long term so that you can actually be patient and gather the data that you need, don’t take any shortcuts, do it, right. And it will absolutely pay off those, um, ad returns that you see people have. I see them every day, like this is what we do. And, um, it really does happen and it really can happen for anyone who has that proven offer. That is, will, that is in a good place to amplify. Um, I do have a Rowes calculator. Rowes meaning a return on adman calculator. Um, I can put a link in the show notes and what this is, is a calculator, and it’s a guided one that will help you determine if you would get a return based on your current conversion rates of your funnel. Um, and then that way you can also see it, has it laid out where you can see what kind of return you would get at different, um, conversion rates so that you can see if you wouldn’t get a return right now, what conversion rate would you need to have to be ready for ads? So this is going to be a really great tool. It’s like one of the, my favorite things I’ve ever created, because it’s so
Christina: (17:49)
Valuable. It’s something that we use with our clients before every launch to make sure we’re like spending enough money, to make sure that the launch is going to get a return and like all these things. And I’ve used it for so long. And I was just like one day, like everyone needs to have this calculator. So I created, um, I used what we use for our clients, and I just created it in a way where there’s more guidance and it’ll help you put in the numbers and know what those numbers are and where to put them and all of that. Um, and it’ll give you what those returns will look like. So definitely check that out. Um, you can go to Christina bernhard.com/roas freebie, um, R O a S um, freebie. Um, and that will give you, take you to the Optum page where you can, um, sign up for that. It’s completely free. I highly highly recommend doing at least that before you start investing in ads, if you are not completely sure if you are ready. Um, also if you’re not sure if you’re ready, you can always apply to work with us. We will let you know through your questionnaire, or if we need more information, we can get on a call and talk about your specific, uh, situation, um, to make sure that you are, uh, ready for them before you actually start.
Christina: (19:00)
So that is what I have for you today. I hope that it was helpful to see the different behavior of a newer ad investor versus, um, a more advanced one, um, and why they have such drastic different results. And hopefully you feel a little bit better equipped to know if you’re, you know, ready for ads next. Um, and if you are still not sure, definitely check out that calculator put in your numbers and just see what comes out of it. That way you can prevent any of these nightmare add experiences, um, and losing a lot of money and time. Um, but I will see you guys next week. That’s what I have for you for this week.