3 Things to Do Before You Invest in Ads

Discover three things you need to do to drive FREE, organic traffic to your website and grow your subscription box business.

Throwing money at a problem is not a solution. And yet, I see so many subscription box owners trying to do exactly that. They invest a lot of money in Facebook Ads when they’re getting started, hoping those ads will drive traffic to their websites and some of those people will become subscribers. 

I believe in the power of Facebook Ads. I use them in my business every day. 

At SubSummit earlier this year, I told my audience something that shocked a few people. 

“If you don’t have an advertising budget, you have a hobby business.”

You will have to spend money on advertising. And some of that money should absolutely be spent on Facebook Ads. 

I recommend you start with Page Like Ads. When someone clicks your ad's "Like" button, they automatically become a follower - and your posts will appear in their news feed. 

When running a Facebook Page Like Ad, your goal is to increase your Facebook Page's audience. This can increase visibility, engagement, and potential reach for posts and videos. 

I just added a brand new training inside the Launch Your Box training library that tells you all you need to know about Facebook Page Like Ads, from setting them up to figuring out if they’re working. 

It’s important to understand Facebook Ads alone won’t solve a traffic problem. And they won’t help you build a successful, sustainable subscription business. 

There are three things you need to do before you invest in Facebook Ads. Three things that will drive FREE, organic traffic to your website. Three things that will allow you to connect with your audience, building the know, like, and trust factor that results in loyal subscribers.

1. Clearly define your niche. 

You’ve probably heard me say more than once, “The riches are in the niches.” We have countless examples inside Launch Your Box of subscription box owners who found long-term success when they got very specific about who they were for. Subscription box owners like Julie of The Pilot Wives Club. When she got specific - really specific - about who she was for, her business exploded. Hear more about Julie’s story in episode 96 of the Launch Your Box podcast.

A lot of new subscription box owners resist niching down. They worry that if they narrow down who they are for, they will have trouble finding enough people. The opposite is true. 

When you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one. Your messaging will be too vague which means it won’t resonate with the person who could be your ideal customer. 

Defining your niche is also super important to SEO. SEO is all about what you can do to help your audience find your business online. Getting specific about who you serve and what you sell makes it so much easier for your ideal customer to find you online. 

Niching down allows you to become more searchable. You have more keywords to help you get really specific in your messaging which helps you get found. 

Do you have a pet subscription box or a self-care subscription box or a DIY craft subscription box? I challenge you to get more specific. What kind of pets is your box for? What type of self-care products do you sell or what type of specific problem are you solving with your self-care box? What type of DIY crafts or crafters are you for?

Listen to episode 11 of the Launch Your Box podcast to hear what can happen when a crafter gets really specific about who her subscription is for. Tracy is a member of Launch Your Box, an alum of Scale Your Box, and a member of my Mastermind. She - and her story - are amazing! And she’s just continued to thrive and grow since that episode aired more than a year ago! 

No matter what kind of subscription you have or are planning, I challenge you to think about your subscription box and who it’s for. Are you for more than one person? If so, I want you to think hard about whether you have room to niche down and get more specific. 

Check out this blog post for even more about how choosing a niche can help your subscription box grow.

2. Make your copy clear and conversational.      

Your copy - all of it - needs to be clear and conversational. Copy is simply the words you use to communicate with your audience on your website, on social media, and in your emails and texts. 

The goal of all of this copy is to communicate clearly what you’re offering in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand. 

I want you to do a mini-audit of your own copy. When you look at your website, does the tone and feel of the copy match that of your social media? It should! So many people try to make their website sound and feel ultra-professional, only letting their personalities shine through on social media.

Your copy needs to be conversational. It needs to reflect who you are as a person and a business owner. I want you to show your audience who you are with copy that’s fun and engaging. 

Your copy should be clear and concise. If you use too many words or too many blocks of text, you’ll lose your audience. Make it easy for visitors to your website to find what you want them to see! 

When someone new to you and your business reads any of your copy, it should be clear to them what you do and who you do it for. Clear, concise, conversational copy increases SEO and conversion rates!

3. Have an effective way to capture people once they get to your website. 

A widely known statistic talks about how people need to see something 7 times before buying. Seven times! 

That means you can’t count on someone visiting your website once and deciding to become a subscriber. You need to continue the conversation, nurturing them and engaging with them. 

In order to continue this conversation, you need an effective way to capture people’s email addresses and/or phone numbers when they get to your website. It needs to be something that grabs their attention - a juicy offer in the form of a pop-up or opt-in.

The goal of an opt-in is to capture the emails of people who are interested in what you offer. For that reason, your opt-in should be something that your ideal customer wants or sees value in. Check out this blog post for more about opt-ins and to help you come up with the perfect opt-in for your audience.

Facebook Ads are a great tool to add to what you’re already doing well, not something to use in place of consistent, organic marketing efforts. Spend time concentrating on organic, FREE ways to drive traffic before you invest in Facebook Ads.