Can't drive Facebook ads to my landing page for idea validation - what now?
As the title indicates, I'm currently undergoing the process of validating my idea but hitting an unexpected wall.
Specifically, I'm hitting a wall trying to set up facebook ads for my landing page product.
The process outline seems simple enough:
- Come up with a pain or a solution/product for a specific pain.
- Create a landing page that describes the value of your solution
- Create ads to drive traffic to your new landing page
- If X number of users sign up and seem interested, continue building product (preferably reaching out to them).
I always felt that in step 3, Facebook Ads has been implied; they're great for new audiences right?
Well that's where my problem comes in: I have had so many different variations of our ads banned on Facebook that my Page has now been prohibited from advertising.
The reason I am given is Bad Business Practices (?). I have been unable to get an explanation for why.
That means I am unable to edit the current ads or create new one.
In short; I can no longer use facebook ads to drive traffic to the landing page.
Here's the landing page by the way:
https://subscribepage.io/get-elric
I'm told that some elements on the landing page can influence facebook in this sort of direction, although I don't know which elements in particular.
What other options do I have?
I feel like Google Ads (which would be my second go-to) isn't an option, because it's more suited for people who are either problem-aware or solution-aware.
Has anyone else encountered this problem and if yes, how to overcome it?
I would gladly welcome a "playbook" on these (simple) steps and what others have done in the past.
I feel I have already done things by the book and tried to follow as many instructions and best practices for the idea-validation process as I could.
I hope you can help me out Indie Hackers 🙏
It might be the page URL. On an unrelated note, I find the value prop confusing. Sure, I'll get some feedback but will this be on a post I enter in the sheet? Is this a dynamic spreadsheet where I enter a post URL and then it scrapes a bunch of things about my post giving me custom feedback? Plus you might want to make the image clickable, I can't see what's on it.
Thank you tons @zerotousers, that is amazing feedback! 🙏
I have gone back and forth on the landing page copy a few times and originally didn't offer the sheet, but offered the solution the sheet provides, as a SaaS (which is ultimately what I'm trying to garner interest for).
The idea is that the sheet connects to your FB/LI/whatever account and gathers stats on your posts. From there, using pre-set calculations it will give actionable feedback; ie. basically letting you know which posts that performed well, and which didn't, so you can write more of that and less of those that didn't perform.
I'll make sure to clear up the value prop on the website, thank you!
I'm not sure what Facebook would find problematic here. Maybe speaking to their support team can help? Can you also share the ad copy and creatives that you ran? Maybe there's something problematic there.
Apart from that - Have you tried speaking to any social media managers 1:1 whether they need this kind of tool or not?
To me the value proposition is not clear from the landing page.
Is it a simple Google sheet with data? I can get that from every social media platform any way. What's the value add here?
I may be missing the point of the page maybe, please correct me in that case...
Turns out that one is not allowed to advertise for products that promises more likes or engagements, which is what we're implying on the landing page.
So they legitimately have a rule against this. I'm surprised, but it is what it is.
It just further underlines the issue at hand: facebook is ruled out.
Thank you for your criticism, I don't think you're missing the point.
As I'm still in my infancy as an Indie Hacker, I'm trying to learn how to nail the validation process. So in my eagerness to test out my hypothesis (landing page -> drive ads -> measure signups), I just chose some idea, not necessarily the best one or the one I'm most passionate about.
I'm simply trying to learn the process (which makes your feedback all the more valuable!).
I have spoken to (very few) SoMe managers about this tool, and they both claimed it would be valuable. Yes, all 2 of them 😄
This is why I wanted to try this model out for validation: If the landing page attracts signups, there is definitely pain there that calls for a solution.
As for the value prop, I will allow myself to copy-paste what I answered above:
Thank you for your insights!
I think it's a solid idea and if the target audience thinks it's valuable then you should definitely build an alpha version of it and ask them to test it to give you feedback.
Their response will help you better craft the positioning and copy on your landing page as well as the ad copy.
Another strategy can be to give away a free checklist/ebook to social media managers via ads and then upsell them the tool via email. Bypass the facebook restriction this way.
Thank you for the insights!
I was actually trying the latter with the current iteration of the landing page, but it's still declined for the same reason.
But I'll keep that thought top of mind.
But definitely. I actually started with an "avatar in mind" in order to make the copy etc more straight forward even at this phase already. I think it's a solid approach for understanding the target market.
Well to start with you should put your landing page in this post.
I had this problem too, back when I wanted to launch Bank Statement Converter I placed some ads on Facebook and then got banned. So I bought some Google Ads.
Post your landing page and I'll have a look, maybe I can give you some more specific advice.
Thank you a ton @Anguruso
I've updated the original post to include it, but for convenience here it is:
https://subscribepage.io/get-elric
is that a generic landing page builder domain? Maybe you're blocked because of ads someone else ran for the same domain?
@aabreu holy smokes I feel silly right about now!
It sure is and it very well could be something like that 😱
I feel that paid ads often do not work for indie makers. They require a lot of money to get results. What I recommend is for you to go to forums where your target users hangout and share your product in a well-thought post. If there is demand you should be able to drive some users to your page.
Really?
I heard entirely otherwise, which is why I decided to go ahead with the ads route.
I really like the idea of going to forums for feedback, and is certainly something I have had success with before.
I may have omitted in the original post, but I am specifically trying to experiment with an ads-driven way to test the solution hypothesis (can my product help). At least theoretically, it should be much easier to drive a high volume of traffic to a landing page using ads.
Twitter might be a better way.
We develop a tool called CreateTargetAudience. With this product, you list people who write social media in their twitter profile.
You can show ads to people on this list.
Good targeting.
But I think you should overhaul your landing page.
Hey @sanlav, thank you for your input!
I'd love to explore this tool if you can help me get going with it. Sounds like a great way to reach the right people.
What do you have in mind when you say overhaul the landing page?
As far as I'm concerned this looks terrible, but it is by all accounts and examples I've seen good enough to do what it needs: Get signups.
So I will likely improve the look and feel and split test landing pages against each other as I become more experienced as an Indie Hacker 😄
Hey again.
I suggest Julian's playbook for landing page. He's number one and say about everything this topic.
demandcurve.com/playbooks/above-the-fold
We make launching coming soon and have a waiting list.
Also out of the tool, there will be all tips about twitter ads.
We offer only limited number of people. We would love to see you there. Or on twitter, @sanlavdenizcan
createtargetaudience.com
Best,
Great tip, thank you!
I actually got the same landing page (Julian) recommended for looking through his checklist in order to improve my landing page.
I have applied as many of the tips that I found relevant to the limited design, but thank you very much for linking it.
I'll throw you a follow on twitter, thank you very much! 🙏
How much do ads on facebook cost anyway?
Uhm, I think the answer is the same that developers often tend to give: "It depends" 😅
I think what you're implying is "more than they used to", which is correct, but I believe it is still a reasonably good way to drive traffic to a landing page.
At least it's one of the better channels I can think of, but I'm open to suggestions if you have another idea? 😄