Episode 755: How to Drive Traffic and Sales on Just $5 a Day Using Facebook Ads With Nicole Kelley

EBT755 – Nicole Kelley

[00:00:00]  Supercut 

You are going to want to download our bonus Supercut that gives you all the information you need to master Pinterest. Head to eatblogtalk.com/masterpinterest to download today. 

[00:00:14] Megan Porta  

Do you think that Facebook ads are too complicated? Or maybe that they’re just for the big bloggers? No. Think again. Nicole Kelly is here to bust the myths and show you how ads can turn your best blog content into traffic leads and sales even with just $5 a day.

We talk about why meta ads might be the missing ingredient in your monetization strategy, how to test new product ideas quickly, and why running ads doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It actually means you’re ready to scale. So get ready to see ads in a whole new light. I hope you are so inspired by this episode.

[00:00:56]   

Hi, food bloggers. I’m Megan Porta and this is Eat Blog Talk, your space for support, inspiration, and strategies to your blog and your freedom. Whether that’s personal, professional, or financial, you are not alone on this journey. 

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[00:01:31] Megan Porta

Nicole. Hello. How are you today? Welcome.

[00:01:33]  Nicole Kelley 

Hi, Megan. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

[00:01:37]  Megan Porta 

Yes, me too. I’m super excited. And if you guys are listening, come over to YouTube because you have to see all of Nicole’s amazing plant life. I love all of your plants. Behind you are you. You’re a player.

[00:01:48]  Nicole Kelley 

My kids. I am a cat mom and a plant mom.

[00:01:52]  Megan Porta 

What? Do you have a favorite? I love it.

[00:01:55]  Nicole Kelley 

Come on. You can’t have a favorite. You can’t tell them. I mean, yeah, I don’t know if I have a favorite.

[00:02:01]  Megan Porta 

Off your left shoulder is beautiful. What is. What is that over here? Yeah.

[00:02:06]  Nicole Kelley 

So there’s a fiddly fig at the bottom and then there’s a monstera.

[00:02:09]  Megan Porta 

Oh, they’re different. Okay.

[00:02:10]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, they’re different.

[00:02:13]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my gosh. I’m just gonna gaze at your plants.

[00:02:17]  Nicole Kelley 

I guess my, like, claim to fame with my plant is I usually. I like to buy them small and then I do grow them myself. So I don’t like paying $400 for a plant. So I’ll get it for $20 and then it’ll turn into a $400 plant.

[00:02:29]  Megan Porta 

Oh, I love it. Well, yeah, we have gotten to your fun fact yet, and you’re learning all kinds of fun things today. We’re Going to talk about Facebook ads, something that I feel like a lot of food bloggers aren’t super educated about, myself included. I just. I know absolutely nothing. I. I want to do them, and I think it sounds like a good idea.

[00:02:48]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah.

[00:02:49]  Megan Porta 

But I have no idea how to actually do it. So you’re going to educate and enlighten us today, but do you have an additional fun fact to share with us before we get to that?

[00:02:59]  Nicole Kelley 

I would say my fun fact is, when I was 30 years old, I quit my corporate job and I solo backpacked for a year around the world.

[00:03:11]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my gosh.

[00:03:12]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, it was. Oh, it was mine, too. And you can do it. It’s the best. So that’s. Yeah, that’s my.

[00:03:23]  Megan Porta 

Oh, that’s amazing. And I mean, I asked about if you. I asked you if you had a favorite plant. Did you have a favorite place or was it all amazing?

[00:03:31]  Nicole Kelley 

Obviously all amazing. So I can narrow it down to three, because obviously people ask this all the time. So I’ve kind of gotten used to answering it. So three for different reasons. New Zealand was like a bucket list place for me, and I just loved it. It was beautiful. Turkey. I really enjoyed turkey.

[00:03:45]   

Like, that was kind of a surprise for me. Like, I just really enjoyed being there. I would definitely go back. And then Japan was kind of my biggest surprise. I think it was not expecting to like it as much as I did. And, like, from the second that I stepped off of the train in Japan, I had this weird sensation of being home, which felt so bizarre.I’ve never felt that anywhere else. And so, yeah, that was really cool.

[00:04:10]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my God. I got goosebumps when you said that. I know.

[00:04:13]  Nicole Kelley 

It was so. It was. I mean, I had goosebumps at the time because I was just like. I showed up in this random place in Japan first. It was like 11pm I was, like, late, like, getting to a hostel, and I just had this, like, sense of calm. I was like, that’s so amazing.Travel’s just so cool like that.

[00:04:28]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And that’s something you need to listen to. Right. You can’t ignore those feelings when they.

[00:04:34]  Nicole Kelley 

100%. Yeah.

[00:04:36]  Megan Porta 

So how long were you gone for that adventure?

[00:04:39]  Nicole Kelley 

I was gone just under a year. So the day. So, like, the day that, like, probably like, within a week of me leaving, one of my best friends got engaged. And so I came back in time for her wedding. So it was cut a little bit short. It was like 11 months and two weeks, but I was like, just under a year.

[00:04:59]   

Yeah, it was amazing.

[00:05:00]  Megan Porta 

Incredible. I always hope so. We have two teenage boys and I always hope for them that they want to travel and when they see the opportunity to do so, that they do it because it’s life changing. There’s so much in trouble that you can’t learn anywhere 100%.

[00:05:19]  Nicole Kelley 

And I hope that you encourage them to do that too. I think that that’s like so different about the US than like how most other countries, like, treat travel. Like a lot of people, like, they take the gap year they take, they travel before they go to school, before they decide what they want to do.

[00:05:34]   

And it’s not as encouraged here, but I think it’s getting better. But yeah, I would. You will never, like, not like, not enjoy, like come back with some sort of learning experience from traveling.

[00:05:45]  Megan Porta 

Like, it’s amazing. This is a, a good message to share with the youth and to everyone.

[00:05:49]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes, everyone. Everyone. Not even. Yeah, we’re never too old to travel. Like, exactly. Just get out there and see some new things. It’s so cool.

[00:05:58]  Megan Porta 

Yes. I’m inspired to go, go explore more parts of the world now. Thank you.

[00:06:02]  Nicole Kelley 

I know. Is this a travel podcast? Let’s go. Yeah, we’re taking it on the road.

[00:06:10]  Megan Porta 

Oh, I love it. Well, let. We would love to hear a little bit about your business. So who is Nicole? Tell us a little bit about you.

[00:06:17]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, I mean, forget travel. We’re talking about Facebook ads. It’s so exciting. Okay, so I said that I quit corporate to travel around the world. I ended up going back to corporate. But since then, like in 2020, I left the corporate world for good and started my own thing. So now I work with female entrepreneurs, mostly anyone that is having a business that they absolutely love.

[00:06:43]   

I tend to work with people that have like a personality driven business. So who they are and what they love to do is a important piece of their business. So food bloggers, I think that that is a perfect match right there. And I work with a lot of like coaches and people that have created courses and digital products, a whole bunch of things like that.

[00:07:03]   

But my one thing is I like to work with people that love what they do. I do Facebook ads, so I have Facebook and Instagram and I pride myself on like working like the whole funnel. So I help people with every step of the process. So it’s not just the ad itself, but making sure that the rest of their business is set up in a way that could benefit from the ad traffic.

[00:07:22]   

Because it’s really easy to sen traffic to your website. It’s a little bit harder to make sure that it’s set up in the right way that actually works for you, and so you’re not just, like, giving Zuckerberg a bunch of money and it’s actually coming back and, like, you’re getting the benefit from it. So I help people with that whole process. Yeah.

[00:07:39]  Megan Porta 

I love that you do this. I feel like we need more Nicoles, because that’s exactly my problem. I know. Like, I know I can probably get people to my website, but I’m probably not doing it the right way so that it’s actually sustainable and all of that stuff. So I am beyond excited to learn from you.

[00:07:59]   

What. What inspired you to go that route. Is this something you’ve had experience in where you had a misstep or success or anything like that?

[00:08:10]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. So that’s interesting. I feel like I kind of backed into Facebook and Instagram ads. So my background is in, like, more organic social media. So I worked for some, like, bigger fashion brands and retail on the organic social side and, like, influencer marketing. So I have a lot of experience in that world.

[00:08:28]   

But when I moved over here, I think it’s mostly just like a personality trait. Like, I wanted to have something trackable that I could, like, prove to people was working in order to just build my business model of. Like, I wanted to. I feel like organic social media is a little bit harder because you never know fully if what you’re doing is contributing to the bottom line.

[00:08:48]   

Yeah, it’s a little bit harder to track. And with this, like, we know and it’s just kind of an amazing tool. Like, it’s. Just something that I enjoyed. And when I ended up realizing that it was so much more than just the ad itself, I just love that it’s like a puzzle and it all fits together and it gets to be creative and analytical and. Yeah, I’ve kind of just enjoyed it.

[00:09:10]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Yeah, I love it. So I’m actually going to write that down more than the ad itself.

[00:09:15]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes. Oh, full funnel is so important. Yes.

[00:09:18]  Megan Porta 

Right. It’s more than just the ad. I mean, anyone can go on and put an ad together, but you have to think through all of it, which you’re going to learn about.

[00:09:28]  Nicole Kelley 

Totally.

[00:09:29]  Megan Porta 

To kind of start. I know there’s a difference between just plain Google Ads and meta ads. Can you explain the difference?

[00:09:35]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes. So, obviously, I’m sure a lot of your audience, like, they’re probably more familiar with, like, the way Google works, because it’s like the se. It’s SEO, it’s the algorithm over there. But with Google Ads and meta ads, Google Ads are search based. So someone goes to Google, they type in something and that’s what you’re going to get.

[00:09:54]   

So for food bloggers, like you’re typing in a specific recipe that you’re looking to make and some search results will pop up and then the ads will be based off of like the keywords that you’re typing in. So with meta ads, so Facebook and Instagram, they’re interest based. So no secret that the algorithms over there are very sophisticated and very in depth.

[00:10:16]   

And so based on just like your, how you’re scrolling your activities over on that platform and basically your Internet activities in general, like, it kind of has the ability to serve you something that maybe you weren’t specifically looking for. So maybe I’m just scrolling my feed and on my for you page a recipe pops up in front of me that maybe I wasn’t searching for, but because it looks enticing, it like fits like an event that I have coming up that I haven’t even thought about yet.

[00:10:46]   

Then it’s placed in front of me in a way that drives traffic in a way that’s more interest based versus searching for it specifically. Okay, so I think it just gives people. Yeah. More flexibility to like get in front of new audiences versus just people that are looking for one thing and maybe aren’t there to stick around and see what else you have going on.

[00:11:05]  Megan Porta 

Yes. Explained very well. Thank you for that. And then here’s a reason why, why I haven’t done ads over the years or why I haven’t really looked into how to do them. It’s that whole feeling of if I get enough traffic in other ways I shouldn’t need ads, or if I, if I do enough, if I do more, then I don’t need ads.Does that make sense? And do you hear that too?

[00:11:28]  Nicole Kelley 

I do. I think that that is, that is a challenge. But mostly that’s like just like a mindset challenge for a lot of people. Like, and I think people are kind of getting over that hump because a lot of things in the online world are changing so quickly and algorithms are changing, SEOs, everything’s changing.

[00:11:49]   

It’s getting a little bit harder to stand out. And so I don’t like people to look at ads as, oh, my business isn’t working well enough, so I need ads to like, save my business. That’s the wrong mindset to approach ads with. Think of it more as like, what’s working well in my business and how can I amplify it.

[00:12:09]   

That’s when they really tend to work. Like, that’s the sweet spot for me. Like, don’t wait until your business is failing and you need, like, a life raft. And then start thinking that ads in Google or Meta are going to save you. Like, that’s a little bit harder of a place to come at it from.

[00:12:24]   

But think about what you’re really good at, what your favorite things are about your business, and then just use the ads. It’s just like an extra boost to get your best content in front of a new audience.

[00:12:35]  Megan Porta 

So it’s not like, oh, crap, things are going south, I need to dig out of this ditch. It’s more like, oh, what can I do right now with what’s working so that I can, like, get the most juice out of my business?

[00:12:49]  Nicole Kelley 

And don’t get me wrong, people do it the other way as well. Like, it is like a life raft and it can. It can work in that way, but it’s better to. In my opinion, you get better results and it feels better when you don’t come at it with a little bit of desperation energy.

[00:13:05]   

And you’re looking at it from like, okay, like, I have built this amazing business. I have this amazing blog. I have all of these things that I’m super proud of. Like, how can I just amplify that and get it in front of more people?

[00:13:17]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I love it. That’s such a good message. So when I think of my business and my content and products and things that I have to offer people, there are so many ways to talk about the things that I have to offer. So where do we start? I mean, do we start with traffic?  

Do we start with ebooks? Cookbooks? I mean, that in itself could get me hung up enough to not.

[00:13:41]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, so everyone’s a little bit different, right? So everyone’s coming at it from, like, a different place of, like, what their goals are and, like, what they’re wanting. Obviously with food bloggers, like, your email list, like, you kind of live and die by, like, that, like, the email list and just getting traffic, like, back to the site.

[00:13:56]   

So you could start with, like a lead generator. So a lot of free recipes, Anything like free little ebook, just anything that gets people free to the site. And then you can indoctrinate them through, like, a welcome sequence that you probably already have. But that’s a good way to do it. Or it could be, maybe you get good traffic or maybe you have a large email list, but you have trouble with getting people back to the site.

[00:14:22]   

Like, maybe they are showing up for one recipe and they’re not sticking around. You can use it as a way to like, re-engage people. Like putting new stuff in front of them on a regular basis and hoping that they come in, they come back. And then obviously, like with digital products, like, those are everywhere right now.

[00:14:41]   

Like, that is an amazing way. Like, I know, like, cookbooks are one thing, but like now with digital products, it just gives you a brand new way to do, like smaller pieces of content that are a little less labor intensive, get those in front of new audiences and like, have like a separate revenue stream that you can run with ads as well.So there’s so many different ways you can do it.

[00:15:02]  Megan Porta 

Okay, so kind of, you know, thinking through your unique business and maybe what could I improve upon and starting there.

[00:15:13]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, so it’s like, yeah, traffic, obviously, that everyone can use more traffic as long as you have a place for them to go. Yeah, exactly. So think about it as like, what, yeah, what are my favorite pieces of content? And then you can drive traffic directly there. You do having a lead generator somewhere which most bloggers will have, like, a way to collect the email address.Having that specifically that you’re running ads to is a perfect way to do it as well.

[00:15:37]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Yeah, perfect. So let’s talk about actually how to do it. Where do we start?

[00:15:46]  Nicole Kelley 

Where do we start? I like to start like what I call just like your highlight reel. So I like people to have at least like 10 pieces of content that they like, really enjoy that they think is like their best work. Of, like, if you put it in front of someone that has no idea who you are, it would give them a good idea of who you are, what you do, why you should stick around, and what they can expect from being indoctrinated like into your world.

[00:16:12]   

So that highlight reel, I think is a great starting point. And then obviously the lead generator, like, you will never not benefit from having an engaged email list. So think of one thing that is entice would be enticing enough to a broad audience that also matches, like the personality of you and your blog and your business and start running traffic there so you can get more leads added to your site every day.

[00:16:38]  Megan Porta 

Do you have some examples to talk through for food bloggers specifically, just so we can kind of envision what you’re saying?

[00:16:45]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. So for the lead generator, some sort of like recipe roundup, like, again, you would want it to be specific to like, your brand and your ethos of, like, who you are and like, what you’d like to do the most. So having a recipe roundup and then having like a creative like hook or headline of like why someone, why it would stop the scroll.

[00:17:04]   

So it’s like quick 30 minute meals that you can make when you like forget about dinner. Like so things that are like a specific audience. So anything like that for lead generator and then for the other stuff, again it’s kind of like just thinking about your like best, your recipes, which ones get the best reviews on your site, which ones represent the type of people that you hope stick around. Yeah. And then stuff like that.

[00:17:32]  Megan Porta 

Like okay, so for video versus like creating a static image, do you have thoughts on that?

[00:17:41]  Nicole Kelley 

I like to play around with both. Again, if you’re, if, if you’re a food blogger that does video, obviously those are some of the most in depth videos that I’ve ever seen. Like from like content creation side props to everyone that goes through that because that seems, seems so labor intensive. So obviously like reels style videos that are quick that show the, the content really well, like will do well.

[00:18:08]   

But you can also do a lot with still images. Like you don’t need to have the super professional edited videos. Like you don’t need to. The thing that I love most about the Facebook and Instagram ads is why they work so well is it that they blend into the feed. And so anything that looks like organic content tends to do the best. So as organic as you can make it, like match the feed, then that’s what works best.

[00:18:38]  Megan Porta 

Ooh, that is such a good tip. Yeah, because you don’t want it to be like, oh, this is definitely an ad speaking to me. You want it to be part of. And I see those too when I’m scrolling and I’m like, oh, that was not actually an ad. That was really well done.

[00:18:52]   

Yeah, that’s gold.

[00:18:54]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. And like sometimes, I mean obviously sometimes you need a stronger call to action. Like when you want people to do something with the ad, but having it blended in with some of the other content where it is more organic looking, those do really well.

[00:19:08]  Megan Porta 

Okay.

[00:19:08]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah.

[00:19:09]  Megan Porta 

So for length of video it would kind of be what, whatever is standard on Facebook or Instagram at the time.

[00:19:19]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. 10 to 15 seconds is what you’re usually wanting over there. But then again, like depending on how good your content is, like I myself have sat and watched a food video on Facebook and Instagram and sat there enthralled like by the whole thing. It doesn’t need to be that short.

[00:19:39]   

But for ads around 10 to 15 seconds is a good okay is a good marker. And like it could just be B roll. Like just get in the habit of filming content while you’re cooking, while you’re in the kitchen, while you’re doing anything related to your blog. Just. Yeah. It doesn’t have to be super professional, super in depth videos, like just B roll with an overlay of text, like can work really well.

[00:20:03]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Or a voiceover.

[00:20:06]  Nicole Kelley 

A voiceover too yeah.

[00:20:07]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Okay. Once you have that set so you’re doing video or still image and you’ve got, you know, you’ve decided that’s it has a good hook and it’s good to go out. What do you do from there?

[00:20:21]  Nicole Kelley 

So for these, like I would say making sure. Okay, so we’re going back to the beginning, making sure you have the Pixel, the Facebook Pixel installed on your website. So as a blogger, obviously like you’re living and dying by the traffic that you’re getting to your site. And so you already have a lot of people that are in your universe that you can use with the Facebook like Pixel.

[00:20:43]   

So having the pixel on your site will track people that have visited your site. And then also you’ll also be able to retarget people that follow you on Instagram, have interacted with your Facebook page. Anything like that. So that’s kind of like very beginner level. Like easy, low hanging fruit for ads is just to spend a couple dollars a day reengaging people that have already been on your site before and driving traffic back to your best content.

[00:21:12]  Megan Porta 

Okay, so literally like $5 a day or what would you say for.

[00:21:17]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, so let’s say you had five different pieces of content, like five different recipes that you felt really good about. Or maybe you have like a 10 recipe roundup, like your top 10 page on your site. So just five different pieces of content. You only have to do like a dollar a day for each one.  So $5 a day would get traffic back to all five pieces of that content and re engage people.

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[00:22:25] Megan Porta

Okay, and for how long do you suggest starting this?

[00:22:49]  Nicole Kelley 

I personally view Facebook and Instagram ads as like an ongoing piece of your marketing strategy. If you have like a specific event or thing that you’re pushing, like if you’re going, if you have a cookbook launch or if you have anything time sensitive that those are times when you can amplify like the amount of money that you’re spending on traffic.

[00:23:09]   

But I would love for people just to get in the mindset of like, this is a system that works for you in the background of your business that you do not need to maintain very often. When done right, it can be a set it and forget it type of model and just get used to spending that five to $10 a day just to have it humming in the background and just always kind of working for you.

[00:23:34]  Megan Porta 

Okay, that’s. I mean for a dollar a day, if it’s this, if you’re. I’m sure you can do multiple ads obviously, but for this kind of set it and forget it approach, a dollar a day, $365 a year. Yeah. I mean if it kicks that in traffic and get you sales on products and whatever your goal is, then that’s a no brainer.

[00:23:54]  Nicole Kelley 

Absolutely. Yeah. If you’re trying to sell ebooks or if you’re trying to get people to like fill out a form and like sign up like to be on your email list, I mean still those you’ll have to spend a little bit more money because you’re like asking for like a more involved action.

[00:24:11]   

But even for lead generation, if you’re just trying to grow your email list, you can be very successful on five to ten dollars a day.

[00:24:19]  Megan Porta 

Okay.

[00:24:19]  Nicole Kelley 

And then once you see it’s working, like people get like a lot of people are scared to start ads, but if you start small and then you see that it’s working, then you get a little less scared and you’re like, oh, okay, well If I’m spending $10 a day and I’m getting 15 people a day, like signed up to my email list, like, oh shoot, what happens if I spend 20?

[00:24:39]   

Like what happens if I spend 30? So then you can kind of adjust it there. You don’t have to start huge in order to see results.

[00:24:47]  Megan Porta 

Right. It can give you a little boost of confidence. Like, oh, this is working and keep experimenting and going. Right. So what do we need to know about funnels is like what do we have to have ready on the back end before we get all of this moving?

[00:25:03]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes. So if you have, if you, you always want to have like a call to action, like for people to like take the next step. So always thinking one step ahead. So for the re engagement ones, like I’m assuming that most people probably have some sort of pop up or something on their website that might pop up.

[00:25:20]   

Like if you send them to a recipe PA if you want to be more direct with it, like having a separate page with a form attached to it and then just having that email sequence attached to it on the back end as well. So once you get that email address, they go through an indoctrination sequence to get to know you and get to know like your content.

[00:25:39]   

But basically that’s it. You just need the form. I would keep it separate. I think I’m big on data, so keeping it separate from what you already have on your website. So creating a separate form for Facebook ads will just help, you know, data wise, like what was already from your site, what’s from your organic traffic and what’s coming from Facebook ads.

[00:26:03]  Megan Porta 

Okay, that’s a good tip too. Yeah, I would not have thought of that.

[00:26:07]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. So you’d want like a separate landing page that just goes for Facebook traffic, a separate form. It can be the same email sequence, but you just want to be able to track exactly who’s coming up from Facebook and who’s coming from organic traffic or other traffic sources that you’re working with.

[00:26:21]  Megan Porta 

And for these ads, do you. This will show you how long it’s been since I’ve created a Facebook ad. Do you just go into the Meta business suite and do everything there?

[00:26:34]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes, I think there’s a lot of how, how would I like to say this Meta makes it very easy for you to give them money and that doesn’t always work. That doesn’t always work in your favor. So they make it sound very easy to like boost a post. I do not recommend boosting posts.

[00:26:52]   

If you’re going to do anything with ads traffic and you’re going to spend any money with Meta, do it from business manager. So do it from the business suite. You just get more control over who you’re targeting, who the ads are getting in front of, and stuff like that. When you boost, it’s very easy, but it’s more kind of just vanity metrics of, like, what you’re actually doing.

[00:27:15]   

You’ll get more likes, you’ll get more shares. Like, you will get more traffic to the ad. But I would always recommend not doing it that way. And just if you’re gonna spend $10, just do it from Ads Manager inside, like, the business suite.

[00:27:29]  Megan Porta 

Now that you’re talking through that. I remember having moments in there, because there are so many options in there, which is great.

[00:27:35]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes.

[00:27:36]  Megan Porta 

But I always. I feel like I was always like, oh, gosh, this is so stressful. I don’t know, like, who do I. What is my target and who. What tag do I put and all of those things. How do I get past that?

[00:27:49]  Nicole Kelley 

So that is something that is interesting because now, like. Because I know it so well, like, it’s hard for me sometimes to capture, like, that beginner’s mindset of, like, what it feels like to go into Ads Manager, like, the very first time you’re in there. I will tell you, the biggest secret with Ads Manager is not knowing which buttons to press.

[00:28:10]   

It’s knowing which buttons and sections you don’t have to do anything with. There’s a lot more. There is a lot more in there that you do not need to worry about. That could easily trip you up into thinking, like, oh, my gosh, I don’t know what to do in this section. So I think one of the things that I’ve enjoyed with how I run my business is, like, I kind of pride myself on, like, getting, like, that starter.

[00:28:34]   

Like, I help rip the band aid off and, like, make it less scary for people to get started. And so if, like, if you and I work together on a project, I would set everything up for you. I would get that first ad campaign running, and then after that, you just will have more confidence with it because you’ll be able to kind of mimic what I’ve done.

[00:28:53]   

You’ll be able to see what I press, what I didn’t press. And it’s kind of just like that first one where you’re, like, not. You’re not as worried about it, because I just go in there and do my clicky thing, and then it’s all off and running. And then it just gives you something to kind of look at and, like, learn that way based off of, like, your business and what your goals are versus trying to watch like a hundred different YouTube videos where the objectives are like, so different.

[00:29:18]   

Like, if you like, you like, watching a YouTube video for like an e-commerce website is going to be a lot different than watching it for like just trying to capture an email address.

Yeah, knowing that you’re watching the right content and just I think having the peace of mind of having like that smaller investment of like making sure that you do things the right way from the beginning and that you’re confident that everything is set up properly and that it’s all working before you kind of go rogue and start experimenting, I think is a huge, like, yeah, a huge benefit.

[00:29:53]  Megan Porta 

I’m glad to hear that. I’m. I’m probably not alone and being overwhelmed by that because I kind of feel stupid. Like, I should probably know all this, but it really. Some of. It’s just such a lot. Foreign language. Like, I don’t. This is not a language I speak. What is going on in here?

[00:30:11]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, and it’s, it, it is very interesting in there because it’s. I think it. You would, you would think that the way, like the success of Meta is that it’s like super easy to use. I kind of find it the opposite. Like, I don’t think Ads Manager is super easy to use. It is if you know exactly what you’re doing.

[00:30:33]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:30:33]  Nicole Kelley 

But if you don’t, like, I think a lot of people, I don’t think that you’re alone. I think that there’s a lot of people in the same boat that would open that up and be like, what?

[00:30:41]  Megan Porta 

Okay, no.

[00:30:44]  Nicole Kelley 

And it changes all the time.

[00:30:46]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:30:46]  Nicole Kelley 

I’m an Ads Manager every single day and I will log into different clients accounts and they’re all, they’re always experimenting with like different, different formats and stuff. So, like, it’ll change from day to day. Little things will be different. My account will look different from your account sometimes. And so if you’ve taken any time away from the platform, it probably looks way different than.

[00:31:08]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, if I went in now, it would probably be like, yeah, I don’t know what I would be seeing, but. Okay, so I would love to ask you just if someone’s listening, I think a lot of food bloggers will be listening right now and thinking, well, do I need this? Is it something that could definitely help as we’re moving into Q4 with traffic and boosting sales or doing whatever the goals are?

[00:31:32]   

Can you just give a little bit of encouragement? Like ROI versus, you know, time actually getting it done?

[00:31:42]  Nicole Kelley 

ROI, I mean, obviously it’s going to change a little bit for everyone. Like not, I guess not all food bloggers, like sell something particularly. Like a lot of the money is made like on the advertisements, like in the platform and like, stuff like that. So depends on what’s the most important thing for you.

[00:31:55]   

If traffic is super important, 100%, this can help. If growing that email list is super important, 100%, you will see an ROI very quickly with Facebook ads at a very low rate. If selling digital products is important to you and that’s something that you want to do, or you’ve thought about creating a digital product and you kind of wanted to test the waters there and like kind of prove your concept, then they can help as well.

[00:32:22]   

Those will be a little bit more expensive. I will be honest there. Those are a little bit more expensive to sell. To get direct sales from Facebook ads to a cold audience, it’s a little bit more involved. But all of those things very easily can see a positive ROI from Facebook ads without a huge investment.

[00:32:42]  Megan Porta 

Okay. And time spent, I assume.

[00:32:44]  Nicole Kelley 

Yes.

[00:32:45]  Megan Porta 

I imagine it’s one of those things where when you learn it, the amount of time you spend creating the ad is like non existent in my mind. I build it up like, oh, it’s going to take me two days to create an ad. It has to be the perfect video and hook and like.Yeah, just start experimenting, I’m assuming.

[00:33:04]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. And similar to like people that have spent what, multiple hours on any type of like reel or TikTok video or anything like that, and it doesn’t get any engagement and the one that you, you put up, put up there with no makeup, like having your coffee and like just like having a real conversation.

[00:33:22]   

Like sometimes though, do those do better? So yeah, I would definitely. If you’re the type of person that gets in your head and like overwhelmed with like needing it to be perfect, I would try to avoid that. Like just get stuff out there, make sure that. Yeah, make sure that it looks good.

[00:33:39]   

Like it should represent your brand. But as food bloggers, you guys already have so much content. Like you have a blog, like your content, like content is what your business is. So I have never met a food blogger that had a hard time coming up with images that we could use for ads.

[00:33:54]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And then experimentation has to be a huge part of this as well. So putting something up, seeing how it’s received, seeing if it’s actually achieving the goal you set out to achieve and then kind of tweaking from there.

[00:34:06]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. And I think that that’s also a part that people might get a little too attached to. Like, if you’re not spending hundreds, thousands of dollars a day on Facebook. The testing phase is not as in depth as maybe some people make it sound. Like in videos, like, you should be able to, like, I’m confident the people that I decide that I like work with.

[00:34:33]   

I’m confident that, like the ads that we put up, like, you will start to get results. Like, right when we do it. Like, there’s not like weeks of testing and tweaking and doing all of these things. Like, can results always get better? Great. Yes. But you’re already having success, like, within that, those first few days of running an ad and then it just becomes a game of like, okay, well, can we beat that number?

[00:34:55]   

Can we make it a little bit better? Like, can we try a different piece of content and see like, what the lowest, like cost per lead is? But you should be getting results almost immediately from the platform. And if you’re not, then that tells you enough right there. Especially if you’re testing new concepts or new hooks or anything like that.

[00:35:16]   

If you’re not getting a result within the first few days, then it just. That’s. That’s information in and of itself. Like, okay, let’s try a different angle.

[00:35:24]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Reassuring. Definitely. Yeah. Is there anything else we need to know about just getting things set up and get getting going with this? If we are doing a DIY situation.

[00:35:34]  Nicole Kelley 

I would say that I think one of the most important things, like the biggest piece of advice I can give is like, if you are going to DIY it, like, making sure that the content that you’re following like that, like who you’re learning from, the process that you’re following, just make sure that it directly aligns with your type of business and your specific objective.

[00:35:59]   

Because ads are run differently for different businesses. And so if you are following a video for like an e commerce business and you’re a blog and your objectives are different, like, it’s. It’s just not going to get you the right result. So specifically looking for the objective that you’re following is super important.

[00:36:18]   

And make sure that it’s a new video because ads change so much. Don’t get stuck watching a video from 2021. Like, it’ll be completely different and you’ll just get confused.

[00:36:29]  Megan Porta 

Okay.

[00:36:29]  Nicole Kelley 

So make sure that it’s the most current and that it matches your exact objective and like your business model.

[00:36:35]  Megan Porta 

Okay, that’s simple enough.

[00:36:36]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah.

[00:36:37]  Megan Porta 

So if we don’t want to DIY and I don’t know why it’s hard for me to say that. DIY It’s a hard. If we want help doing this, this is what you do. So just curious about, do you offer packages, what’s the investment, that sort of thing. And like how easy is it to get started and to get help with it?

[00:36:58]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. So for a lot of people I don’t do like longer term contracts, so I like to do like individual projects. I just think it’s a little bit more accessible for people and it gives. Since a lot of the people that I’m working with are brand new to ads and they’re kind of just like testing it out as a business model.

[00:37:14]   

So I work with people like on a project. So you would come to me and be like, okay, a lot of times it’s lead generation. Like that’s our first project together. So what we would do, we would have a call, we would talk about your specific business, what makes you unique, different angles that we can approach for lead generation.

[00:37:32]   

Come up with that first lead magnet. Whether it’s a group of recipes or a video. Video or whatever you want to be as your email list generator. And then I kind of take every. Take over everything from there. So I would build the landing pages, make sure the email list is connected, do everything on the back end and run that first ad campaign for you and run it for 30 days so that you are set up that it just runs in the background from then on with like very little input like from you.

[00:38:03]   

So that’s usually my intro package. And then included in that is also kind of those retargeting apps ads in the background as well. So we’ll take some of your best content and just re engage people that are already in your universe and get people back to the site. Yeah. So yeah, investment. Yeah, investment for that is usually around 2,500 and it’s like a one time fee and then the ad spend is always paid directly to Facebook. So that could be as low as $5 a day for that.

[00:38:29]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:38:30]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah.

[00:38:31]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Amazing. I. I have so many things running through my head. Like I could obviously traffic, but then there’s this instant pot course I created a couple years ago that’s so valuable. I put so much work into it and love into it. I love the way it turned out and it’s actually helpful for people.

[00:38:51]   

But I just have never taken the time to get it out there and I think Facebook ads could be such a great way to do that.

[00:38:57]  Nicole Kelley 

And that would be a good thing. Yeah, yeah.

[00:39:00]  Megan Porta 

For sure.

[00:39:00]  Nicole Kelley 

That would be a really good thing. Yeah.

[00:39:02]  Megan Porta 

Because people struggle with their instant pot. Right. This is a real issue.

[00:39:07]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah. I lived with my sister for a little bit where she was going through a kitchen remodel and we depended on an instant pot. And that thing is tricky. You need, you need an expert to give you the cheat code to that thing because we failed more than once. So for you, if that, if that’s the example that you wanted to use, like, what I would recommend to you is like, you could do it two ways.

[00:39:30]   

If you had a little bit more money to invest, you could go straight to sale. Like, you could just sell the digital product directly from an ad. That might cost you a little bit more money in order to get a conversion. But you’re doing a direct sale. You could also do some sort of like freebie, so maybe like a checklist or a guide or like a recipe list and then sell the course on the back end of that freebie.

[00:39:54]   

So we call that like a tripwire campaign. So like you do a freebie and then on the thank you page, have it set up to like sell the course and then nurture people through email.

[00:40:03]  Megan Porta 

Do you have a sense of which one would be more successful in terms of selling the course or.

[00:40:09]  Nicole Kelley 

So how I like to come at it is when you do a direct sale, you only get the email capture when they buy and not a lot of people are buying. So if you already and obviously traffic super valuable email list, again, very valuable. Like, I think it’s better in the long run, like a full picture strategy to do the lead magnet and then sell on the back end because then it’s.You kind of get both.

[00:40:37]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

[00:40:39]  Nicole Kelley 

And sometimes people aren’t ready to buy right away. They want to get to know you, they want to hear like, why they should trust you. And it’s harder to do that in a direct sale ad, especially if it’s a cold audience. If you already have a large audience and we’re putting content in front of them and they already recognize you, they already know you, they already like, see what you’re all about and you’re getting that in front of them, then direct could work to a warmer audience audience.

[00:41:01]   

If it’s a cold audience, I always recommend doing an email capture as well as part of it.

[00:41:07]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So lots of different product options and services and things to think through. So it’s not just a one size fits all situation. Is the gathering from this?

[00:41:17]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah, no, it’s definitely not one size fits all. There are so many different options, like, that you can use it to, like, help your business. It’s just gagging clear on, like. Like, what your objective is for, like, this particular piece of your business and, like, what you want to test what. What’s been, like, your.

[00:41:34]   

Oh, I wish I could do this. Or, like, one day I hope to do this. Like, kind of writing those things down and then just attacking them one by one, like, with different campaigns and just seeing what works the best for you, what feels the best. A lot of experimentation with stuff like that.

[00:41:49]  Megan Porta 

Right?

[00:41:49]  Nicole Kelley 

Yeah.

[00:41:50]  Megan Porta 

Well, thank you. Is there anything else we need to know before we start saying goodbye?

[00:41:54]  Nicole Kelley 

I don’t think so. I think what I would just encourage people to do is, like, just try to change your mindset with meta, Facebook, Instagram, that whole thing. Like, just. I know it can be a controversial topic, but it is the number one ads. Like, it’s the number one platform out there, like, for a reason.

[00:42:14]   

It can do so much good for your business. Just don’t let it intimidate you. Like, it’s. There are so many different ways that it can help, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. It doesn’t have to take a ton of time. It just has to be set up the right way, like, from the beginning, and then it’s kind of off to the races from there.

[00:42:31]   

So I would encourage people to, if you’ve been nervous about it in the past, to kind of revisit it and just see, like, yeah, get a little bit more exploratory of, like, what. What it could actually do for your business, and then just use it as a tool. Like, it’s. It’s a powerful thing.

[00:42:48]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, we need options these days. People are looking for other ways to get traffic and sales and all of that. So I think, why not? Why not explore this? So thank you, Nicole, for bringing this to the table. I so appreciate this. It’s a topic I’ve been wanting to learn about for a long time, so I am extremely grateful.

[00:43:07]   

I like to ask all my guests if they have either a favorite quote or words of inspiration to share at the end here.

[00:43:14]  Nicole Kelley 

Let’s see. I think what I would like to say to people, like, more. More inspirational. There’s a lot of talk of competition, and someone’s already doing what you’re doing. It’s like, oh, that’s already been done. I don’t like to live in that world. I don’t think that there’s really any such thing as competition.

[00:43:31]   

I think as long as you’re Coming to the table with your own unique spin on something, your own unique voice and just being authentic to who you are, I think that the right people are going to find you. So as long as you’re out there doing what you love and it shows through in the work that you’re doing, the right people are going to find you every time.

[00:43:50]  Megan Porta 

Time. I love it. That is perfect way to end this conversation.

[00:43:53]  Nicole Kelley 

Yay.

[00:43:54]  Megan Porta 

We will put together a show notes page for you, Nicole. So if you want to head over to eatblogtalk.com/NicoleKelley, you can look at those and Kelly is spelled K E L L E Y. Will you reiterate where people can find you if they want your services or just want to check out your what you have to offer your services?

[00:44:11]   

Yeah. How can they do that?

[00:44:13]  Nicole Kelley 

So my website is nicolekelley.co. So NicoleKelley.co there. If Facebook ads have been something that you’ve been curious about and you want to have a conversation, you can book a call with me if you want. Kind of just like a written out version of like kind of what we talked about today.

[00:44:31]   

You can also download. There’s a free download on that site as well that I think will just give you a little bit more color around what Facebook ads can do for you.

[00:44:39]  Megan Porta 

Amazing. Thanks again, Nicole. It was so such a pleasure to talk to you and thanks for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time.

[00:44:48]  Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. If you are craving learning, connection and increased productivity at a low monthly cost, join the Eat Blog Talk Inner Circle. Go to eatblogtalk.com/focus to join. I will see you in the next episode.