Facebook Ads Audit: Chris Guillebeau [+ Video]

Written by: Chenell Basilio
Published:

Improving Facebook Ads - Chris Guillebeau example

Before I begin, I would like to say that everyone has room for improvement in their marketing campaigns – every single one of us – and I recognize that I am in no way perfect when it comes to digital marketing. These posts were created simply to bring to light some of the ways we can improve our online ad campaigns and make the internet a more usable place. This in no way reflects how well or poorly a business is doing, simply that we are all human. Okay, carry on. 🙂

I was scrolling through Facebook on the train to work this morning and found an example of a Facebook ad that looks great up front – it’s very clean and simple, yet at the same time it’s eye-catching. However, the once the visitor clicks on the ad, they page they are sent to has some opportunity for improvement.

Chris Guillebeau is someone I admire for being able to essentially “travel hack” his way around the world, so I really wanted this to be a great example of a mobile ad campaign. And it is for the most part – but as with many mobile ads, it does have it’s flaws.

chris guilleabeau facebook ad

The ad itself talks about how to stop paying for plane tickets, and the button on the image says to “Get Started.” Once you click on the ad, you are taken to a page that talks about how to earn free flights. Makes sense, yes?

Here is a full video audit of the ad and the improvements that can be made. The text below explains each one further.

[convertplayer id=”nHejxqlZ6″ width=”640″ height=”360″]

 

Always Use Landing Pages

The first issue I noticed with this page is that they are sending users directly to the homepage of this site. Now granted, I believe this is a lead generation site set up specifically for this purpose, but if you know anything about me, you know I recommend using landing pages whenever possible in digital ad campaigns.

The reason for this is that you are essentially unable to test what works for Facebook visitors, vs those who organically find the site. In addition, when you pay for traffic you really want to make sure the call to action (CTA) of the page is crystal clear. Leave no room for guessing on the user’s end.

cta below the fold mobile

The second thing I notice is that the call to action is below the fold for a mobile user. While most people are accustomed to scrolling a lot these days, it’s still a best practice to add your CTA right up front where they can see it right away.

Since this is the homepage, there end up being two seemingly different calls to action:

  1. One button at the top that allows you to learn more about how you can save money on travel.

chris g fb 2 ctas 1

  1. The second is a generic opt-in form lower on the page asking for your name and email address.

chris g FB 2 ctas

Now, it turns out that the page you are redirected to after clicking the first CTA sends you to essentially the same form. This could be a seriously strategic plan on the creator’s side, or it could be a coincidence.

The one thing I would test is swapping the placement of the two on the homepage. This would mean putting the email opt-in form at the top of the page, and the Get Started button down below.

Why?

Well my thought is that if someone’s definitely interested, they may want to opt-in right away and don’t need to scroll through the longer page you get when you click on “Get Started”. Give them the option to sign up as soon as they get there, and if they skip that and go down the page further, then give them the option for more information.

I’d love to know if this has been tested, and what the results were! Seriously interesting stuff here.

Mobile Forms – Make It Easy to Enter My Email Address

On the opt-in form, once I go to enter my email address, the keyboard doesn’t change to be more “email” friendly. This can be fixed quite easily by changing the input type for this form field to “email” vs. “text” and has some seriously impactful results.

chris g fb ads email form inputs

Did I Opt-In?

Once I actually opted in to receive the offer, that input box just changes to text that says “Awesome! We got your sign up – get ready to earn miles and see the world. Check your inbox for an important welcome message right now.”

Clever wording, but when the page reloaded I could barely see that message because it got hidden behind the “sticky” navigation at the top of the page.

chris g fb clear confirmation

One of the ways to fix this can be using a completely separate page to thank people for signing up. I’d say that most campaigns do redirect you to another page once you sign up, so maybe they were trying to do something different.

I can understand the want to keep them on the same page if you want them to keep exploring the site, but when they opt-in you should be focused on getting them to their inbox to confirm the subscription and get their download. The download or free “gift” should serve as a way to get them back to the site if need be.

If you are stuck on the idea of keeping them on the same page, you can fix this by lowering the anchor link/”jump link” on the page so when it refreshes, the visitor is dropped at a higher up place on the page so that this text isn’t hidden.

Overall, this ad has few flaws compared to many others I’ve seen, yet because it was from a more well-known online person, I felt compelled to include this example to show you it’s not only the “little guys” who make mistakes with mobile advertising.

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