July’s Event-Susan Wenograd Presenting “Creating Sales Funnels with Facebook Ads”

This July, the Triangle Marketing Club is thrilled to welcome paid advertisement expert Susan Wenograd, as she shares her knowledge on creating selling funnels with Facebook ads.  I had the privilege of conducting an interview with Susan prior to her upcoming presentation. Susan is a brilliant individual with meaningful experience that has ultimately stacked her résumé and provided her with knowledge that has led her to become one of the most well-respected marketers in her field.

 

Susan’s Background

Where did you go to college?  What was your favoritecourse that you took?

 

“I went to Drexel University in Philly. I really loved Organizational Behavior, which I think actually lends itself to being interested in digital marketing!”

 

Who, or what, influenced you to get into the marketing field?  

“My dad was a marketer, and I think I inherited some of his instinct for it.”

 

What was your greatest win for a client?

“Recently I had a client sign on who had a CPA (cost per action)  that was creeping up, and had tried two other agencies. They were panicking, and it was affecting all areas of their business because the volume they were selling dropped since it was costing more to get a sale. Within six weeks I figured out the problem, have them back to their previous CPA, and pushing more volume than they had in 6 months.” Learn more about that issue here

 

What has been the hardest thing for you to learn as a marketer?  

“Managing client expectations. As a marketer, you know what it takes to succeed on platforms, but clients can have an unrealistic view of what it takes…digital marketing seems like you just push a button and get results, but it takes TONS of testing and tweaking to get it right. If you leave the client out of that discussion, it will create a lot of headache later.”

 

What is your advice for young marketers, marketing students?  

 

“Get your hands dirty. Intern somewhere, and have relentless intellectual curiosity…you’ll be 10 steps ahead of everyone else!”

 

Facebook Ads

 

How has the Facebook ad platform changed, and what do people need to know about that?

 

“While you can still rely on Facebook to do some heavy lifting on targeting, the costs are getting higher and higher. Diversification into their cheaper campaign audiences to build a warm audience is crucial to keep costs to where they will work for you.”

 

What are some things you have seen that lead to the best ROI in facebook ads?  What are some examples of that?

 

“Thoughtful creative really matters. A lot of accounts I see have 1, maybe 2 creatives that perform mediocre. It’s understandable, because a lot of times internal stakeholders are too close to their product/offer, and can’t think like a consumer.”

 

“I have one client that is awesome at messaging to cold audiences, and then having a PERFECT retargeting message. They put a lot of thought into it, and it pays off in spades.”

 

Facebook provides a ton of analytics that can be very useful for an advertising campaign, however, sometimes we see too many numbers and don’t know exactly how to interpret them.  What would you suggest companies focus on when reviewing Google and Facebook analytics?

 

“Look for trends over time. Facebook Ads are usually not an immediate sale, but Analytics can help give you a higher view of what these audiences do over time. The Funnels and Engagement reports in Facebook Analytics is super-helpful to see how things like Post Comments or Messenger engagement lead to customers over time.”

 

You post and work with ads on Facebook a lot, I was curious if there are any other social media platforms that you have found to be successful or that maybe you’re interested in learning more about?

 

“Instagram is treated like Facebook, but it’s actually very, very different. There are very specific product types it works for, and I have had success, but I really want to work more deeply with it this year.”

 

“I also haven’t had a chance to do Quora yet, but I’m very curious to play around with that as well.”

 

With the recent news involving Facebook and their data breach, have you seen any noticeable change in the way companies are investing their advertising campaigns into the platform?

 

“Not at all. The results and return are still there, so money still flows to it.”

 

Entrepreneurship

 

What was it like going out on your own and opening up your own company?

 

“The initial jump was scary, but in short order I was very comfortable with it. I have always had a very self-managingpersonality, and actually do better when I’m not overly-managed. I love that I can choose the clients I want to work with, and take on things that I’m excited to try!”

 

What do you enjoy most about your job on a day to day basis?

 

“I love the experimentation. I work in a field that didn’t exist a few years ago in any deep way, so I get to help write the best practices. It’s never dull, and at least once a week I try something new and find something that works.”

 

Which personal experiences of yours did you feel were most helpful in the transition to being the CEO of your company?

 

“I held a VP level position at an agency and got immersed in people management. This was the pivotal role I’ve ever had. I learned about what motivates people, how to communicate results to clients, testing, reporting…you name it. The company was great about support and it grew so fast I had to create processes quickly. It’s made me better at managing my own business as a result.”

Did you face any major fears that caused you to hesitate when you were on the verge of launching your company?

 

 

“Yes, I honestly wasn’t sure what demand would be like. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about, but there’s never any guarantee. You just have to do it and hope you’ve built up enough trust that the referrals will flow, and they will be the right clients.”

 

What advice would you give someone looking to start their own business?

 

Have a plan. Know what kind of client you want, and don’t take the ones you’ll hate. The money from them is never worth it. When you say “yes” to something you (incomplete answer)

 

I would like to say that it has been a tremendous experience being able to be in communication with Susan and that myself, along with everyone at the Triangle Marketing Club, are extremely thankful that she was willing to take the time out of her schedule to participate in this interview.  We look forward to seeing everyone at this month’s event on July 24th, don’t forget to RSVP ahead of time!