General
What Is Dropshipping & How Do You Get Started?
Understanding dropshipping and steps to launch your own online business
May 2, 2024
16 min read
In this article, I will show you how to make sales for your dropshipping store through Facebook advertising. Yes, you have heard this all before, but then I have some tips that you may not have learned from anyone else.
I will discuss:
You will face tough competition on Facebook—big companies advertise here, and they have the money to spend to get the eyeballs that should have been yours. With the tips that I offer, you will have a fighting chance!
Facebook is the social media platform that changed the world and how people consume user-generated content. As of the time of this writing, Facebook, despite all the protests against it, remains the biggest social networking site in the world.
Here are some stats that you’d find interesting:
Sure, some countries block Facebook, but these countries are oppressive and have governments that want to control what their population consumes online. These countries are irrelevant to us dropshippers—we have no reason to dropship to these countries as most of them are also economically struggling.
Let us take a look at this data chart below from Statista:
As you can see, a huge chunk of Facebook users is between 25 and 44. These users, we can presume, have buying power. These are people who are also more psychologically inclined to make purchases.
If your product targets those between 18 to 24, then you still have a huge market as 18.1% of Facebook users belong to this category.
Facebook is huge, and experts predict that the growth of the platform will be less than 2% per year. Although it sounds small, it is understandable since Facebook has become so big already that it dominates about half of the world’s population.
With over three billion users monthly, there is no way you cannot find a market on the platform. If you follow the techniques I’ll show you in this article, I’m sure you will find success in dropshipping ads on Facebook.
Before you dive into Facebook advertising, allow me to give you a justification for why you should spend money on this platform.
Here are the best reasons:
Facebook has the highest return on ad investment among all platforms or the highest return on ad spend. It also has the highest potential reach. Just think about it—although TikTok is a widely used app, people on it are not really ready to buy. Most people on TikTok are teenagers—they do not go to the app to make purchases.
On Facebook, the people you will see advertising to are business owners, parents, schools, government institutions, and a whole lot more!
The first step to creating a Facebook ad is to have a Facebook page. A page is like a business profile that is attached to your profile.
To be clear:
You cannot use a Facebook personal page for business—you can only advertise on Facebook from your business page.
To set up a Facebook page, look for the dotted icon at the top of the page, on the right side, and then click on PAGE.
Then, you will see this screen:
On the left, type your Business Name, choose a category, and add a description. Here is an example:
Once done, click on CREATE PAGE at the bottom, and you will see this:
Add the information required. I will not show you mine for security reasons. Once done, click NEXT at the bottom of that panel.
You will see this:
Next, add your business profile picture, preferably your business logo, and then your cover photo. Then, click on NEXT at the bottom of the panel.
You will see the option to add WhatsApp. If you do not have one, click on the SKIP button.
The next screen will ask you to invite friends. Do not do this for now because your page is empty. You must only invite friends to like your page if you already have content.
Click NEXT and then click DONE.
Finally, you have a Facebook page for your dropshipping business. Mine looks like this:
There is no content because I did it in real time as I am writing this. The next step is to add content to the page, and make changes in your settings like your desired privacy levels, etc. Once you are done with all these, you are ready to create a Facebook Ad.
Click on the CREATE ADS button on the left side of the screen, and then you will see this:
Next, you want to change the GOAL, so click on the CHANGE button at the top, then you will see this:
In January of 2024, Facebook changed its advertising GOAL OPTIONS. You will no longer see CONVERSION as an option, as they reduced the options to a total of 6 to simplify the whole process.
As a dropshipper, you do not want to get traffic. What you want is to get sales. So, you must only choose:
One exception to the rule: I would still recommend GET MORE WEBSITE VISITORS since our primary goal for advertising is to take the user out of Facebook and to our dropshipping store.
If your page likes, Facebook will show your ads to people who are “active” in liking Facebook pages. This means nothing to us—we want people to buy, not to like our page.
Because of this, we must choose sales-related so Facebook would show our ad to people who are likely to take action and buy.
Right now, I strongly recommend that you use Automatic. Over the years, Facebook has accumulated so much data about user behavior that the algorithm now knows how to best show your ad to the right kind of people.
The next step is to select your media files:
Once done, toggle the options below:
Then, scroll down until you see this:
It is in this portion that you can create your audience. After clicking on CREATE YOUR OWN, click on CREATE NEW.
You will see this window:
The things you need to do here are:
Scroll down and you will see something like this:
As you can see at the bottom, our audience size is between 3.5 million to 35.9 million, and the bar is green, which means it is a good audience size.
However, our product is about phones (iPhone), so we want to target people who have iPhone 14. The phone case that I showed earlier is an iPhone 14 case.
To implement detailed targeting, click on the box that says DETAILED TARGETING. Then, type some keywords, and Facebook will automatically show some options.
I am choosing iPhone 14, and now my target audience looks like this:
As you can see, I have a smaller target audience now, but Facebook still says this audience size is green (optimal). Finally, I can click on SAVE AUDIENCE.
Once you get to the main page, choose the radio button for the audience that you created.
Next, scroll down to determine your ad timeline and budget. You will see this:
Toggle the number of days you want to run the ad. It is at this point where you will see how much you must spend per day, at minimum, for your ad.
Finally, take a look at this data on the right side of the page:
This information will tell you how many link clicks to expect and how much you will spend. The more you increase your budget, the more accounts you will reach, and you can also expect more clicks.
Scroll down further, and you will see your credit card details. If there is none, Facebook will ask you to add one. Once everything is set, click on PUBLISH, and you are done!
One last word: It would help if you set up your Facebook pixel with your dropshipping store. This way, Facebook can track what people are doing in your store and give you better data for you to analyze later on. There are many instructions on YouTube and on websites on how to set up Facebook pixels.
Once your ad is running, it makes sense to check it weekly. Do not check it daily—let Facebook do its job. Making edits often will muddle up Facebook’s algorithm.
To visit your ad stats, go to your page, and in the upper right, click on your profile pic, then select META BUSINESS SUITE > ALL TOOLS > ADS MANAGER, then you will see this, it’s the facebook ads manager:
The rows represent the different ads you launched. From here, scroll to the right, and you will see this:
Here are some important things to know:
You will also see stats like CTR (click-through rate), clicks, frequency, etc. Here is an example:
Frequency refers to the number of times an ad was shown to one person. Ideally, this should not be more than 3. If a person saw your ad more than three times (the Frequency is 3), this person is likely to experience ad fatigue.
Clicks tell you how many times people clicked on your ad, and CPC is the cost per click or how much you are spending on each click. CTR is the click-through rate or the percentage of clicks against the number of times your ad was shown. For example, if your ad was shown 10,000 times, and it got 1,000 clicks, then your CTR is 1,000/10,000 = 10%.
The things that matter are impression, CTR, and conversion. You want them to be high. If your impression is low, it means that Facebook cannot find the right person to show your ad to. You need to change your audience in a situation like this.
If your CTR is low, it means that your ad is not enticing enough for people to click it. Consider changing your thumbnail or ad text.
If your sales or conversion is low, it means that people are interested in your ad, and they click. But once they get to your website, they do not buy. In this case, you need to do a serious investigation as to why they’re not buying. Perhaps your offer does not give enough value, or perhaps your site looks unprofessional—there are many possible reasons for this.
Finally, the cost per result is what you are paying per sale—or your acquisition cost. If you spent $100 on the ad campaign, and 26 people converted or paid, then your cost per result is $100/26 = $3.85. It means that you paid $3.85 to acquire a customer.
If your product capital is $10, and you sold it for $12, and your customer acquisition cost is $3.85, you are losing money. Why? From your gross profit of $2, you need to subtract your ad spend of $3.85, and you get -$1.85. In this case, you must increase your selling price to a higher one to make a profit.
The best place to get Facebook ideas is the Facebook Ad Library. Just fill out the details below.
Once you do that, you will see this:
Now, you can browse each active ad on Facebook and Instagram to get ideas. Find successful Facebook ads by looking at the account size and engagement. Click on the SEE AD DETAILS button, and you will see this:
My main issue with this report is that it does not show us the ad performance all the time. Because of this, you have no clue if this ad worked or not.
However, if you chance upon an ad that has data, you will see something like this:
Click on these drop-down selections, and you will see these things:
From here, you can assess the strength of the ad and decide if you want to pursue the same strategy or not.
One alternative to this is to use an ad spy tool for Facebook where you can find data easier. Some examples of these are:
These ad spy tools aggregate ad results from Facebook. They can show you valuable data about the performance of ads. As such, you can filter your research to ads that have the highest CTR, and then create your ad similar to high-performing ads.
Facebook, being the behemoth social network as it is, is easy to use for marketing. However, finding success is harder than you think. Many dropshippers quit because they never made a sale after spending hundreds of dollars on ads.
Do not be this dropshipper. Use Facebook the right way and then you will see results. Below are some of the best tips for Facebook dropship advertising that you must implement.
Earlier, we showed you how to create an audience for your ad. However, the best approach for your first ad is to choose one location only and then run the ad.
Do not narrow down the audience.
Why? It is because you want Facebook to gather as much data as possible about how people respond to your ad. This way, the algorithm will know exactly who to show the ads to next time.
If you choose detailed targeting only, you are not giving the algorithm the chance to explore people who may be interested in what you sell.
Let the algorithm do its job. In the future, it will show your ad to the right people, and you will reap the rewards.
Do not spend all your advertising budget on one ad. You must set a budget for different ones. As such, you should be prepared to spend a significant amount of money for three months.
Run an ad for two weeks, and then stop and analyze the data. If you have observed that men are more responsive to your ad, and these are men who live in California, then you can stop that ad now, create a new one, and then create a new audience.
This time, you will only focus on men in California. The result? Facebook will show your ad to these people only and you can expect more positive engagement from them. If you spend all your money on one ad, you are not giving yourself a chance to recover.
The ad copy matters a lot. It takes a lot of skill to create enticing headlines, photos, and ad texts to generate clicks. What you want is to stop a user from their tracks, read what you have to say, and then consider clicking your ad.
To create an effective copy, you must learn the following skills
Many dropshippers do not make a sale even if they choose the right audience because their ads are not convincing enough. If you master the art of copywriting and audience targeting, it is impossible not to succeed in your dropshipping business.
One thing that can help you is AI, like ChatGPT. It can write advertising copy for you, but you have to edit the result because sometimes, the AI produces cringey, overused, and stereotypical advertising scripts. Start from there and learn until you can write copy on your own.
Finally, I strongly recommend that you use videos in your ads. Photos, if ever, rarely get the attention of people anymore. The world wants videos.
There are many ways you can create videos:
Keep the video short, preferably not more than 30 seconds. If possible, refrain from saying things regarding the product’s features and benefits. Instead, show the viewer the product in action. As far as advertising goes, demonstration is better than just talking about what the product can do.
A/B testing, or split testing, is an essential method for refining your Facebook ad campaigns for dropshipping. This technique involves simultaneously running two versions of an advertisement to identify which one performs better. The complexity of ads means there are numerous possible variations to test, from targeting different demographics (such as men vs. women) to tweaking visual elements or headlines.
Many dropshippers fall into the trap of assuming their initial ad copy is perfect and will drive conversions. However, the truth is far from this. Success in advertising requires experimentation to discover the most effective combination of elements.
For instance, you might run two ads that are identical except for the image, or perhaps they use the same image but differ in the headline text. This process is crucial for understanding how different aspects of your ad affect viewer behavior and conversion rates.
Despite the variables you choose to test, one element should remain consistent: your call to action. As a dropshipper on Facebook, your aim is to direct viewers to your online store with a clear “BUY NOW” message. The focus must be on driving sales and conversions, steering clear of any distractions like seeking memberships or other engagements. Through A/B testing, you refine your approach based on concrete data, ensuring your ads are as effective as possible in drawing potential customers to your store.
Yes, Facebook works for dropshipping. It is the default social media for most dropshippers because of the sheer size of its users. Facebook also has the biggest demographics because it is used by all ages and all kinds of institutions.
The minimum cost of advertising for dropshipping depends on your target country. The system will tell you during the ad creation process how much you should spend per day at minimum.
Yes, it certainly is worth it. However, I recommend that you take things slowly. The competition is so tough on FB; it is best to learn little by little and scale the budget as you grow.
First, you have to create a Facebook page. Then, you can advertise your dropshipping business on Facebook. The other methods are to list your products in the Facebook Marketplace or create a Facebook Shop.
Facebook is the default social media for marketers. New social media sites will come and go, but Facebook has solidified its hold over people in the last 20 years. it is so huge that it is impossible not to find a market for any dropshipping product.
As always, take your time to explore the nooks and crannies of Facebook advertising. Do not rush results, and always make it a habit to analyze your ad stats. Advertising is a never-ending process, so prepare yourself to face the ever-changing landscape of Facebook marketing.
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