- Joined
- Mar 6, 2016
- Messages
- 394
Rep Bank
$1,080
$1,080
User Power: 86%
Hey guys,
So I've been working on this (my very first real) project/online store for 5+ months and spent near $100 dollars on Facebook ads with 0 sales. I would really appreciate some advice on what to do next. Is there still any hope for a successful store or should I take the lessons and start another project? What is wrong with my shop?
I was looking for a product to start selling until I came across an ad for Plazmatic x (same product) on my facebook news feed. We've all heard the advice that if we want to be successful, we should model what successful people do. So I thought to myself: it should work with business too, so I'm going to model what Plazmatic X is doing. They are advertising and they've been in business at least for the 6 months I've been working on this, so they must be doing good business and this product is selling on Facebook. If they did not make money, they would be out of business right?
Why invent everything yourself from scratch, when you can model something that is already working? So I thought...
I decided to start selling the same kind of product, an electric lighter, but with a different (more beautiful in my opinion) style.
My online shop www.thorarc.com was born.
I modeled a lot from this competitor company. The facebook ad video is very very similar, my ad copy and layout is very similar, pricing is exactly the same, product is similar. I even paid to have a promo video made for the website (the first video on the site).
Only the website theme is different, but I've included many elements of their website that I thought were important. This is how their website was (they've changed their site now)
https://web.archive.org/web/20161024102259/https://www.plazmatic.com/collections/plazmatic-x
They didn't link the facebook ad to the product page, rather they linked it to the homepage where there is no add to cart button but a grid of the different styles you can choose from. I did the same, maybe I should have linked to the product page with the add to cart button.
I've had 260 visitors to my website through my facebook video ads. Bounce rate is 89,32%. Average session length is 19 seconds. 0 sales. Click through rate of the ad was5%, so that's good.
I spent $15 on PPE objective to get some social proof for my ad. After that I spent $52 on Click to website ads. I also spent 13 dollars on Conversions objective while running the Clicks objective, but cut it because it was underperforming compared to the click to website objective.
I'm still running retargeting ads, with no success. With one of the two retargeting ads I gave the people a coupon code of $20 discount (making the product sell for $29.99), but it apparently doesn't work.
The Clicks to website objective accounted for 80+% of the website visitors and I started that ad on the 17th December (facebook ad disapproval has been a pain in the ***). So it might have been that people already had bought everything for Christmas, so I may have been too late.
I targeted this to men between 18 and 35 years old. I chose men because it seems logical that men want these type of gadgets and also a $3 PPE Ad confirmed it a little bit: 136 men engaged with my post compared to only 41 women.
I targeted my ads to people who like gadgets AND smoke (cigarettes, weed etc).
So, I thought I would have at least gotten 1 sale. How come my competitor is selling, but I can't sell even 1 product?
What should my next steps be? Is there anything so wrong with my website that if I fixed that, I would get sales? Or is it a product that is not selling and I should move on and choose a different product?
Really curious to your opinion.
Thanks guys!
So I've been working on this (my very first real) project/online store for 5+ months and spent near $100 dollars on Facebook ads with 0 sales. I would really appreciate some advice on what to do next. Is there still any hope for a successful store or should I take the lessons and start another project? What is wrong with my shop?
I was looking for a product to start selling until I came across an ad for Plazmatic x (same product) on my facebook news feed. We've all heard the advice that if we want to be successful, we should model what successful people do. So I thought to myself: it should work with business too, so I'm going to model what Plazmatic X is doing. They are advertising and they've been in business at least for the 6 months I've been working on this, so they must be doing good business and this product is selling on Facebook. If they did not make money, they would be out of business right?
Why invent everything yourself from scratch, when you can model something that is already working? So I thought...
I decided to start selling the same kind of product, an electric lighter, but with a different (more beautiful in my opinion) style.
My online shop www.thorarc.com was born.
I modeled a lot from this competitor company. The facebook ad video is very very similar, my ad copy and layout is very similar, pricing is exactly the same, product is similar. I even paid to have a promo video made for the website (the first video on the site).
Only the website theme is different, but I've included many elements of their website that I thought were important. This is how their website was (they've changed their site now)
https://web.archive.org/web/20161024102259/https://www.plazmatic.com/collections/plazmatic-x
They didn't link the facebook ad to the product page, rather they linked it to the homepage where there is no add to cart button but a grid of the different styles you can choose from. I did the same, maybe I should have linked to the product page with the add to cart button.
I've had 260 visitors to my website through my facebook video ads. Bounce rate is 89,32%. Average session length is 19 seconds. 0 sales. Click through rate of the ad was5%, so that's good.
I spent $15 on PPE objective to get some social proof for my ad. After that I spent $52 on Click to website ads. I also spent 13 dollars on Conversions objective while running the Clicks objective, but cut it because it was underperforming compared to the click to website objective.
I'm still running retargeting ads, with no success. With one of the two retargeting ads I gave the people a coupon code of $20 discount (making the product sell for $29.99), but it apparently doesn't work.
The Clicks to website objective accounted for 80+% of the website visitors and I started that ad on the 17th December (facebook ad disapproval has been a pain in the ***). So it might have been that people already had bought everything for Christmas, so I may have been too late.
I targeted this to men between 18 and 35 years old. I chose men because it seems logical that men want these type of gadgets and also a $3 PPE Ad confirmed it a little bit: 136 men engaged with my post compared to only 41 women.
I targeted my ads to people who like gadgets AND smoke (cigarettes, weed etc).
So, I thought I would have at least gotten 1 sale. How come my competitor is selling, but I can't sell even 1 product?
What should my next steps be? Is there anything so wrong with my website that if I fixed that, I would get sales? Or is it a product that is not selling and I should move on and choose a different product?
Really curious to your opinion.
Thanks guys!
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Last edited:
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today