This tips email is a long one ...
However, if you absolutely need leads for your business right now, you’ll find it super helpful.
Because I’m walking you through how I just picked up 3 leads (from cold traffic) in about 9 hours for a brand-new venture ...
At a total advertising cost of just $13.60.
Here’s the deal:
On Sunday morning, I challenged myself to start a side hustle from scratch as a test.
My plan was to target a new industry where I have zero history and see how quick I can generate leads.
I settled on the restaurant industry because it’s a market that needs help right now.
What I decided to offer was a service called geofencing.
This is a location-based technology that allows businesses to section off a geographic area (e.g., a restaurant) and communicate with devices that enter that space.
For restaurant owners, this means they can use mobile IDs to identify customers who enter their restaurant and then present promotions on all devices they use to access the Internet.
The cool thing is, using geofencing, you can go back and identify customers from as far back as a year.
Pretty slick, right?
The only problem is, I don’t have the software to do geofencing.
So I decided, as part of this test, to give away the leads to a friend who can fulfill the service.
The first step I took (at 9:36 a.m. on Sunday) was to create a landing page.
You can see it here: https://marketingacceleratorformula.lpages.co/diner-reminder/
Notice how it’s super simple -- just bare-bones information and an offer for a free demo.
When you read the copy, you’ll see I also offer to share a couple underused marketing channels for restaurants.
So there’s an immediate deliverable and a no-risk offer.
I hit snag pretty quick, though …
You see, because the landing page collects email addresses, and I planned to share this information with another company, I had to make sure I was legally covered.
This is especially important when you use Facebook Ads to drive traffic. (Hat tip to my buddy Charlie for the warning on this.)
Unfortunately, getting the legalese squared away took almost 3 days.
While waiting, I drafted out the email and set it up as an autoresponder so recipients receive it after registering on the landing page.
The next step was the Facebook Ad.
I used copy on the Facebook Ad that basically mimics what’s said on the landing page. That way the messaging remains consistent.
The only difference is the first sentence, which reads …
Restaurant Owners and Managers: If you could reach almost every customer who walked through your restaurant or bar’s doors during the last year, what impact would this have on your sales?
(You’d be shocked at how many ads drive traffic to pages that are unrelated to what’s mentioned in the ad. Please, please, please, don’t make this mistake.)
Yesterday, I finally received the legalese I needed and added it to the landing page.
I then logged in to my Facebook Ads Manager to submit my ad.
Now, I’m far from a Facebook Ads expert. But what I know with absolute certainty is that Facebook is an incredibly effective tool for targeting specific audiences at a low cost (especially now as businesses cut their advertising budgets).
In this case, I selected “Conversions” as my objective. As of late, I’ve found this to work well for getting quick leads.
Next, I selected my audience.
As you might expect, I targeted restaurant owners and managers throughout the United States. Then I set my budget at $20 a day.
The ad went live at 1:05 p.m. yesterday.
By 8:07 p.m., I picked up the first lead. I spent $9.46 up until that point.
The next lead came in at 8:52 p.m. -- at a cost of $1.19.
Another hit my inbox at 10:30 p.m. -- at a cost of $2.35.
So, after the first day (and just 9 hours with a live ad), I received 3 leads and spent only $13.60.
A few takeaway thoughts …
-- When I do this again, I’ll test using video on the landing page and in my ads. Based on past experience, this will likely drive down ad costs even more.
-- There’s far more that can be done with this test to expand outreach, especially by incorporating the pieces of The Marketing Accelerator Formula. I only targeted a single market with one message and a single ad on one channel.
-- As you can see, there’s lots of opportunity to establish your marketing dominance in an industry right now. If I did this is just 9 hours, imagine what’s possible when you put forth a determined effort.
-- Did you notice the leads all came in during the evening (even though the ad started running in the afternoon)? This makes sense, especially because most restaurant owners/managers are probably too busy during the day to look at Facebook. If I keep running ads, I may get away with only showing them during evening hours (which could cut costs even more).
-- Yes, this is a small sample size. My goal with this test was to simply prove that you don’t need a big budget, notoriety or a complicated marketing strategy to quickly gain traction in an industry right now.
-- I wrote this email real fast this morning. If I missed any details you’d like to know, let me know. I’ll share whatever you need.
Talk soon,
Tom Trush
Direct-Response Copywriter/Marketing Strategist
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are a couple ways I can help you:
1. Work one-on-one with you.
If you'd like to work directly with me to develop some marketing initiatives for your business, you have a few options. Just reply back and tell me a little about your business and what you'd like to work on together. I'll follow up with additional details.
2. Join my Marketing Multiplier case study group.
During this case study program, we go after specific marketing goals in your business over a 90-day period. We work together to implement strategies and test concepts to reach these goals. Along the way, we also look to uncover overlooked revenue within your existing outreach.