Facebook Marketing: A Case Study

Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
The past few years, I have run a $99 special for HS Seniors that runs the entire month of August. I don't do many price slashing promos, but this one has worked well for me. Last year, I even did a session giveaway for an underprivileged teen that not only made me feel good, it generated even more business.

Facebook has been changing how business pages work, and how often your posts show up in news feeds. Big companies like Sprint and Applebees can afford to promote their posts to still get them in front of people, but small businesses don't have that kind of budget. I've paid to promote my business page in the past, and it has been met with limited success. I've gotten more page "likes" from promotion, but it isn't really getting people to sign up for a session.

This year, I thought I would document my progress, or lack thereof. The image below was just uploaded to Facebook (11:17pm EST).

Boost settings:

  • $50 initial budget
  • Target audience: page fans, friends of fans (other option=demographic settings)
  • Estimated reach: 7,900 - 21,000

Within a few minutes of uploading the image, there are already 15 views and 3 shares. Late night is a good time to start something like this, because a lot of people check Facebook before bed.

Sale.jpg

Let the games begin!
 
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K

Krs_2007

Senior Member
That's a heck of a deal for 99.00 Anthony. 2 hours, multiple locations and multiple wardrobe changes. You might get request than you expect. Do you set a distance on the two locations?

Also, I hear several pro's saying stop using DVD's and use USB drives. I do digital downloads and starting to look rapt custom USB drives, but they are just not as cheap as a DVD.

Curious of the outcome, so report back and good luck.
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
Yes, it's a heck of a deal. I normally charge 3-5x as much.

On days where I have a packed schedule, yes, I keep the 2 locations as close as possible. This is a relatively small area, and getting around isn't that difficult anyway. But I've run myself ragged before, and it sucks. I'm worried about this year to be honest. We've had a lot of rain here, and if I have to deal with rain delay rescheduling during this promo, I'm going to be a very sad panda.

I've been looking more and more at USBs. I burn custom DVD covers with Lightscribe, and not many do that anymore. It adds a personal touch to the packaging. I've also got quite a bit invested in my current DVD packaging, so I'll be sticking with those for awhile. At least until supplies run low LOL.
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
Update @ 24 hours

Statistics
  • Budget spent: $49.05 (of initial $50)
  • Total reach: 7,896 (7,660 = paid)
  • New page likes: 9
  • Total bookings so far: 12 ($1,188 income if all sessions are completed)

12 bookings out of 7,896 views = about 1%. That's a bummer statistic, but this was not a targeted promo. If I drop more money into this, I'll check out Facebook's demographic targeting. I highly doubt I could get as specific as "parents of HS seniors", but it might yield a higher return on investment.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting the whole $50 to be eaten up in a single day. I figured it would take at least a week. No complaints though. There are still a lot of open time slots available in August, and if I can commit to doing $50 each week and getting this many bookings out of it, then this is a solid investment.

Behold the power of social media.
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
Round #2

This time I'm boosting a photo with a $40 budget. Instead of a blanket campaign, I'm targeting:


  • Specific cities within a 50 mile radius
  • Women ages 15-40
  • Interests in high school, fashion, and photography

Hopefully this time, I'll draw in more page likes, which will broaden my overall audience. My $99 Senior Special is bookmarked at the top of my business page, so it will still be highly visible.
 
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