Using Facebook ads to grow a list. Announcing a new co-host.

Aug 5, 2015

—

I turned to Facebook ads this week in my quest to grow the Julep beta list to 100 subscribers.

If you’ve been following along, I’m actively developing a new plugin that will make your WordPress images a little more fun for readers. The plugin hit a bit of a snag these last 2 weeks, with a critical bug that is stopping me from shipping the first version.

I’m in a bit of a time crunch as I’m ramping up for my wedding at the end of the month and then off to honeymoon. I’m looking forward to getting this bug squashed and releasing it within the next week. Getting a workable version before I leave is an important goal for me so I can hit the ground running when I get back.

Currently I’m sitting at 87 beta subscribers which isn’t too far off from my short-term goal.

Listen to this episode

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/matt-report/using-facebook-ads-for-list-building-a-new-co-host” title=”Season 2 – Episode 3″ artist=”Matt Report” ]

Results: $20 Facebook Ad

Here’s a screenshot of the $20 ad spend on the Julep video introduction.

Performance wise, I was satisfied.

Even though the ad didn’t have a huge impact on overall list growth — about 6 to 10 subs — it reached a decent number of viewership, which at least broadened general awareness. The takeaway from this? Create a more optimized ad next time, something with a call to action to subscribe to the list.

Perhaps a direct link in the copy or embedded in the video/image will do better. Facebook does offer a one click call-to-action on their video ads now, so I’ll give that another go and see if I can’t hit that 100 subscriber mark.

Announcing a co-host for Season 2

Since the start of Season 2, I’ve been searching for someone to share in similar business-building experiences along the way.

Finding someone that was deeply interested in growing a product company, while they still operated a general practice agency, was very important to me. After searching high and low, I finally found someone that aligns well with what I’ve got going on in my own business.

Meet Devin Walker, founder of WordImpress, a theme and plugin shop.

Devin recently launched Give, a plugin aimed to solve donations for WordPress powered websites. Together we’ll share our stories — good, bad, and otherwise — about running a WordPress product business.

If you have any immediate questions for us, let us know below.

Comments

One response to “Using Facebook ads to grow a list. Announcing a new co-host.”

Lisa

August 7, 2015

After listening to episode 3 season 2, it sounds like the freemium business model (offer theme/plugin on .org, sell add-ons/pro version) creates a catch-22 for support.

As a consultant/implementer, when i install a free plugin, I do not have any expectation of free support for my client websites. My idea of true plugin support is when the plugin author continues to adjust the code of plugin as WordPress versions changes so that the plugin does not create havoc on a client project later.

I think the definition of support is ambiguous. To the everyday WordPress user, it’s hard to distinguish between a real plugin functionality problem, theme problem, hosting problem and a website specific problem. I see evidence of this confusion in my participation in the WordPress.org support troubleshooting forum.

Reply