The numbers from my campaigns
Since the spots all have different targets, that affects CTR and number of impressions from unit to unit. I have some spots that have been served from 2,872 times to 785,107 times with CTRs ranging from 0.03% to 0.14% averaging around 0.06%.
As for total numbers, ads have been running for 5 weeks now and over 1,617,539 times. This has led to 940 clicks to my site or about 40% of my March traffic.
And, since I add unique tracking codes to my links, I can determine each unit's conversion rate and can see that one particular ad unit has 50% more visitor drop off after coming to my site and that helps me determine which ads I should ultimately keep or pull.
I have a $20/day spend limit, but, since half my ads run to a small population, I typically rack up around $10/day in charges. So far I've totaled $315 in bills. It is easy to forget how $5/day is the same as $150/month. So, unless you pay attention to your spending and your returns, you can end up going through a fair amount of cash.
And, what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, how much business did all this drive? Well, the hand-full of inquiries I've received have yet to lead to any business, but there was a wedding booking that came from this an will end up more than paying for the ads that have run so far. The ironic part is that the business I got was for an area of shooting that I wasn't even advertising.
Summary
So what would my summary of the experience be? Well, I didn't get as much business as I would've liked (isn't that always the case), but it was a wonderful experience and as I get more resources to devote to advertisng you can bet that facebook will be on the list for sure.
If you need a quick way to reach a lot of people or reach a very specific and targeted group then this is a great way to start.
