How Do You Advertise Products with Long Buying Cycles?

Question

Hi Jon. My name is Camilla and I have a question for you regarding how to advertise products on Meta that are very expensive and have a long buying cycle. If they buy, it's probably going to be outside of the normal attribution window of seven days. It might even be longer than the 28 days buying window.

So my question is, should I use traffic campaigns instead and just drive traffic to the website?

Because even if people buy, most of the time, I can't see those purchase anyways. Or should I continue running campaigns optimized for purchase.

Answer

Thanks for your question, Camilla.

So this is a common problem, particularly with higher priced products. Someone may click your ad and be motivated, but they can’t make the purchase at that moment for various reasons. They may need to discuss with a partner or spouse, or maybe it’s just something they need to give more thought.

So they’ll save the landing page and come back to it when they’re ready.

Now, the first thing I’d do is confirm that this is actually the case. This is behavior that is backed in data. How is it that you’ve determined that customers often convert beyond that 7 and 28-day window?

It’s easy to assume it because the product is more expensive, but it might not actually be the case. While the buying cycle might be longer, that doesn’t necessarily mean that 7-day and 1-day click are no longer relevant.

For example, someone may click on your ad and be motivated, but they don’t yet make the purchase within that 7-day window. But they see a different ad from you once they’re ready, then act on that ad.

Even though your product is more expensive and the time from the initial click is longer, it can still fall within a 7-day window. It’s just going to be a new 7-day window.

One way to account for this is to create multiple ads for different levels of awareness and intent.

I know that the way we used to approach this was by isolating these different audiences and running remarketing funnels. That’s not what I’m suggesting here.

Instead, it’s that different ads may appeal to different people, depending on their level of awareness. It doesn’t mean that all of the people who are at a certain stage will respond to the same ad either.

The point is to have more options that give them new reasons to click and consider that purchase again. Maybe offer a discount if you can.

So, I’d try this more traditional approach first of simply creating very different ads within your ad set.

Now, you may also be suggesting a completely different issue here without coming out and saying it.

The volume of conversions will be lower because you’re promoting a more expensive product. And when the volume is low, Meta has less data to deliver your ads optimally.

So if you aren’t getting the volume and your costs aren’t acceptable, it’s reasonable to consider alternatives.

Depending on the product, lead generation could be an option. So then the focus falls on the sales team and email automations to convert those new leads into customers.

The main thing is I’d remain dedicated to a conversion of some kind and get creative with the ads.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your question, Camilla!