A lead for six months buys from a webinar that was promoted on Facebook and Email.

Our last two posts have followed a lead called Maximus through multiple marketing offers from the Wicked Good Juice Company. In this post we track him through a webinar that was promoted on Facebook and email before he finally makes a purchase. Maximus is 20 years old, male, and likes the Boston Red Sox.

The Customer Journey for Conversion Path #3

  • November 1, 2015: Maximus triggers a Wicked good Juice ad on Facebook because Maximus he likes the Boston Red Sox. The ad is “[Free Report] – How Juice Made Me More Handsome.” He clicks on the ad, goes to Wicked Good Juice’s landing page, and joins the email list.
  • November 2015-February 1, 2016: Maximus goes through a 60-day automated email sequence. He, occasionally opens and clicks but never buys anything.
  • April 10. 2016: Maximus goes on Facebook and triggers a Wicked Good Juice ad because he is part of a custom audience of “Wicked Good Juice Email List” with a video ad “20% off great juice” that tells him how great the juice is, and that there is a 20% off sale right now. All he has to do is click on the link in the ad. Maximus does not click on the ad but he watches the video.
  • April 25, 2016: Maximus returns to Facebook and triggers a Wicked Good Juice ad gets triggered because he is part of a custom audience of “Wicked Good Juice Email”, with an ad “Super Juice Webinar on April 30th.” Maximus clicks on the ad but does not optin.
  • April 28, 2016: Maximus gets an email “Super Juice Webinar on April 30th“ and opts in for the webinar.
  • April 30, 2016: Maximus attends the webinar.
  • May 1, 2016: Maximus receives an email “Webinar juice offer ends in 24 hours.” He clicks on the link, and buys.

Which ads report conversions?

Although Facebook actually helped quite a bit with converting this customer, the credit will go to the wrong ad.

Facebook will report a conversion for the April 25th ad for “Super Juice Webinar on April 30th.” This is because Facebook detects a click within seven days along with the fact that the person who clicked on the ad also ended up on the conversion URL. It’s too bad that wasn't the reason Wicked Good Juice added the prospect to their list, or got the prospect on the webinar, or turned the prospect into a customer.

This misinformation is not good news for WGJ's ad budget because they might decide to invest more in this webinar campaign when it really didn't deliver. After all it didn't cause the webinar registration and it did not drive Maximus into finally buying his juice.

The marketing program that converted the reluctant Maximus from a prospect to the customer was actually the email on May 1st. With proper tracking on the emails and proper naming conventions, Wicked Good Juice could detect that the webinar email campaign with price scarcity was what really worked this time!

But where did Facebook actually help?

What will you do to find more customers?

Some gold can be found in the data -- if the company is tracking, capturing, and attributing it correctly. Here are the first two important questions:

  • How did the customer first hear about you?
  • How did the customer first join your email list?

No help on the answers, though, because the customer first heard about Wicked Good Juice and joined the email list from the Facebook adset “likes the Boston Red Sox.” The ad “[Free Report] – How Juice Made Me More Handsome” converted Maximus to the Wicked Good Juice email list. It shows zero conversions, however.

That’s too bad, because Wicked Good Juice would have known exactly where they found the customer Maximus (On Facebook, and he likes the Boston Red Sox). They also would have known that showing those future customers the ad “How Juice Made Me More Handsome” would interest them enough to hand over their email address.

That is a powerful ad because it was the first exposure to their brand and the prospect was already convinced enough to join their email list right away. This doesn't happen so easily anymore.

What makes my existing list re-engage with me?

The email on April 28th got Maximus to optin for the webinar. However, that optin triggered the Facebook conversion event for the ad click on April 25th.

What made my customer buy?

Facebook will report that the April 25th ad for “Super Juice Webinar on April 30th.” We have covered why that is simply bad information.

Facebook can sometimes CRUSH IT for people using webinars, however.

Next: We’ll explore that situation as we examine Maximus's fourth and final conversion path.