Somewhere in a college lecture hall on the first day of the fall semester a bored student stares into space.
Rather than listen to the administrator drone on about the campus rules, the student discretely scans his Facebook page on his smart phone.
He sees a picture of a man in a brown cape riding a horse. At the bottom is a caption which reads something like, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation. Not us.”
Curious, he reads the ad and fills out a survey. He may have never heard of Henry David Thoreau, but the ad challenges him.
For the next few minutes he answers questions that tests his interests and capabilities about living in a religious community. He enters his address to get a free book offered. He has thus begun an ongoing relationship with a group of men in a faraway place that might define who he is for the rest of his life.
Sparking interest
How effective is offering a free gift in getting prospects with a Facebook ad?
Quite a bit, it turns out.
We at TreeFrogClick recently ran two Facebook ad campaigns for a non-profit client. These campaigns sought names and emails of men who might be interested in joining a religious order. We asked respondents to “Test Your Call” with a 15-question survey, which asked about their interest level and aptitude.
In the first campaign, we were able to get 26 names at $15.49 per name in click costs. Click cost is the dollar amount paid to Facebook for the ads.
In the second campaign, we budgeted the same overall amount for clicks, and yet got 102 names. That’s a nearly 400% increase in response.
Why the increase?
No doubt the new ad image and different landing page (started on Day 3 of the campaign) that we used helped. But the second campaign also offered, beginning on Day 19, a free book on St. John Paul II, valued at $10. It also helped that the pope was canonized earlier this year, adding even more relevancy to the gift.
During the wildfire period, from Day 19 – 25, there were 74 responses, during which we spent about half of that campaign’s budget. The click cost per name during this time was only $2.58 each, or only 17% of the cost per name of the first campaign.
Just wanted freebie?
It could be argued that the free book drew a lot of people who were only seeking the freebie. But since the free item was directly related to what was sought – entering a religious community – these names will be good ones. Respondents also had to give their street address for the book, so that is another benefit to our client.
Here’s what our client told us:
“We had 3 men call us to visit the community who completed the quiz. We currently have one of them visiting us now. So to answer your question, let’s keep this going! I have cancelled all other promotions so that all of our resources are being spent on your campaigns.”
It pays to keep testing and improving for better ads and better landing pages. But don’t forget the benefits of a freebie.
Surveys are a popular way to gain new customers or clients for any type of business. So start getting new customers today by calling the number at the top of this page, or Contact Us.
Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee that your campaign will get exactly the same results as the above campaign.
