Facebook Ad

Activists List
1

Hi Matt and All,

I noticed the No on Prop A ad on my Facebook page. Looks really neat and professional. The words of warning about "the really big bill" should entice people to click to see "What really big bill!?!" We need the clicks to promote not only our position on Prop A, but also the LPSF website. (BTW, if this is Pay Per Click, I hope Matt is keeping close track of the clicks!)

I posted on the LPSF Facebook page calling attention to the ad. Maybe those of you with Facebook pages can do the same on your pages.

Marcy

2

Hi All! Thanks to Matt and Starchild for getting the ads up and running. The ad in the Golden Gate Xpress looks real nice, and I am happy with its placement. I haven't seen the Facebook ad since I'm not on Facebook (yet), but I'll take Marcy's word for it that it's intriguing. Been getting a lot of "Yes on A" political junk mail the last few days--nothing of substance in any of it, just more talk about that "lockbox" and "protecting SF's financial future." The measure will surely pass since it's got the backing of all the major players, but I am pleased with our work on this issue, and it was definitely worth the effort. Again thanks to Matt for jump starting the whole thing. We will review the results of the election and our efforts during the November meeting.

Thanks!
Aubrey

P.S. Thanks to Marcy for picking up copies of the Golden Gate Xpress and constantly promoting our campaign and website.

3

Hi Matt and All,

I noticed the No on Prop A ad on my Facebook page. Looks really neat and professional. The words of warning about "the really big bill" should entice people to click to see "What really big bill!?!" We need the clicks to promote not only our position on Prop A, but also the LPSF website. (BTW, if this is Pay Per Click, I hope Matt is keeping close track of the clicks!)

I posted on the LPSF Facebook page calling attention to the ad. Maybe those of you with Facebook pages can do the same on your pages.

I set a maximum budget, so we wouldn’t spend more than we agreed upon. So far, the stats are:

Campaign Reach: 132,402
Frequency: 6.9
Clicks: 238
Click-Through Rate: 0.026%
Total Spent: $186.19

Again, reach is the number of unique Facebook accounts we’ve been in front of, while frequency is the average number of times each person has seen it. Frequency is rising as the campaign runs its course, and began to really climb around day 3.

Rising frequency is ok, because it means people are seeing the ad a lot. The stats suggest we've gotten a LOT of clicks from third or fourth displays — the click count almost doubled yesterday, even though the reach count rose at a much slower clip. Our cost-per-click has fallen rapidly as the ad has run. At first, we were paying about $2 per click. As of yesterday, we’d paid about $1.10 per click, and today that number has fallen to $0.78.

Based on the data I’ve seen so far, I anticipate we’ll spend *about* $350 for the whole campaign — leaving some money from our agreed-on budget for future campaigns.

Lessons for future campaigns:

1) We should build out the LPSF’s Facebook “Page”, so that we can run Newsfeed ads on subscribers’ feeds.

2) For Newsfeed advertising, we’ll need a bigger logo asset.

3) It might work best to run a series of staggered, smaller campaigns (2-3 days each) in the weeks before the election.

4) Online ads are cheap and don’t require much creative effort, if the content backing them is good.

5) We need more places to run display ads (AdSense?)

6) We should build out the Twitter presence of the LPSF. We can run content on the LPSF’s Twitter feed, then have the campaign committee account pay to “Promote” it, establishing a clear delineation between party/committee.

- Matt

4

Interesting about the click though rate increasing with the number of times people see ads, which agrees with the age-old idea that it takes a number of exposures (sales calls, for example) to get people's attention.

I very much like LPSF expanding into Facebook ads, and possibly other on-line ads. I think though that the ads to be most effective for their cost need to be part of a more extensive promotional effort. Aubrey tried the opinion piece to go along with our NO on A campaign -- good start, and we need to keep trying until we get the attention of newspapers.

Although I think Tweeter is the lamest invention since Barbie Dolls, I guess we need to increase our presence there since that is what "everyone" is doing. However, my mind is failing to grasp how we could specifically build out a Tweeter presence. Maybe we could have a teach-in addressing the LPSF's specific needs?

I like the idea of doing more with Facebook ads, although I would have to think about developing enthusiasm for News Feed ads, which I personally do all I can to get rid of (side bar ads, like the one we have now, I like a lot more).

Meanwhile, before the next political campaign, there is a lot of free opportunity to increase LPSF's visibility both on line and in print.

Marcy

5

Matt,

  What's the URL where we can view the ad stats as they are updated?

Love & Liberty,
                                ((( starchild )))

6

There isn't one. Facebook ties the ad stats to the account of the person paying for them (me) so I'm unable to provide a direct link. Periodic updates are the best I can do. Sorry!

- Matt

7

Hmm. Can you send us some periodic screen shots?

Love & Liberty,
                                 ((( starchild )))

8

  Hmm. Can you send us some periodic screen shots?

I’m hesitant to send those to the list, because screenshots are big (700KB) and bulk up people’s mailboxes. I sent you a copy directly. Since you asked for it, I feel no guilt about bloating up your mailbox. :stuck_out_tongue:

For reference, latest stats (changing as things update):

Campaign Reach: 158,880
Frequency: 9.6
Clicks: 390
Click-through: 0.026%
Spend: $305.78 ($0.20 per 10,000 impressions)

Notably, click count rose by 63% from the stats at 1pm today. So, apparently, advertising right up near the election works, for some definition of "works". Caveat, of course, is that without a standard of comparison, it’s hard to say how we’d have fared a week or two sooner.

I was expecting a dip in impressions as the night wore on, as was the case on the weeknights the ad ran. That seems not have been the case tonight — maybe people stay up later on Sundays? Anyway, looks like we MAY actually spend what I budgeted.

- Matt

9

Hi Matt and All,

Thanks for the stats, Matt! The LPSF website article hits support the ad stats. I am addressing the Facebook ad because that is the new thing we did this year. Here are some numbers from the LPSF website. It is important to admit that the hits are miniscule compared to other more popular websites, but what we should focus on are the improvements (or lack thereof). Also, obviously, the longer an article is on the website, the more hits it will have a chance to get.

Article Hits:

November 2011 Recommendations posted 08/13/11: 738

November 2012 Ballot Recommendations posted 09/19/12: 404
Note: These recommendations were confusing because I posted each recommendation in separate articles, but one has to assume that whoever clicked one recommendation went on to click the others. Each of the articles got around 380 hits.

November 5, 2013 Recommendations posted 09/28/13: 893

For comparison, here are the hits on some other articles:

Leslie's article on Leno's Disclosure proposal posted 10/25/13: 134
Starchild's LPSF Press Release on 2013 Proposition A posted 08/19/13: 296
Update on LPSF opposition to Proposition A posted 08/20/13: 437 (this is probably part of the ad's influence)

Marcy