Presented by Patrick Costello, co-founder of Naytevwww.naytev.com

How to Test Facebook With Dark PostsGet Your Message Right, Every Time

Dark Testing: No Longer in the Shadows

• What: A/B test messages among target audiences on Facebook

• Why: Drive engagement and sales, quickly test concepts, and more

• Who’s doing it: The fastest-growing brands and publishers

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TEST TO WINIT WORKS

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5 Primary Reasons to Run Dark Tests

1. Sales: drive site visitors and sales

2. Brand Development: grow engagement and fanbase

3. Message Discovery: learn what resonates most

4. Audience Discovery: learn who engages most

5. MVP Prep: quickly test your ideas before diving into MVP

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Facebook A/B Testing Drives Results

Viral Nova(top publisher)

• Message testing credited as a key driver of growth

• Became a $100 million company with only 3 content farmers

WishPond(lead gen platform)

Jon Loomer(Facebook wizard)

Facebook’s Own Case Study (for event company)

“A/B Testing works. It means a simple change of image increased our click-through-rate by 80%, and another change of image and target audience doubled it.”

“How I Got 35X ROI on Facebook Ads: During the past 30 days, I spent $297.96 on Facebook ads that returned $10,510.50 in direct revenue.”

• Transmission Events increased indie music festival ticket sales.

• They “gained valuable insight into current and potential audiences…They saw a 30x return on ad spend.” 9

Outperform the Don Drapers of the World

6Get your message right, every time.

ANATOMY OF A DARK TEST3 KEY COMPONENTS

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Facebook’s Unpublished Page Post Is Your Test Vehicle

• Sponsored post shown in News Feed, but not your Page feed

• Not seen by existing Fans, shown only to your target audience

• Group of people that resemble an audience you care about

• Resemble people who like your Page, visit your website, you pick.

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Your Messages Make or Break a Test

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Dark Test = Unpublished Post + Audience + Messages

10Learn more at www.naytev.com

DARK TESTING IS EASYKEEP A TIGHT SCOPE FOR CLEAR WINS

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Two Ways to Dark Test: Programmatic and Manual

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How to Dark Test Manually with Facebook’s Power Editor

1. Create a Campaign

2. Create a Lookalike Audience

3. Create an Ad Set

4. Set Lookalike As Target Audience

5. Create a new Ad for each test message (recommend at least 6)

6. Set your budget, schedule, conversion goal, and placement (e.g. Mobile)

7. Submit your Ad Set for review

8. When the results are in, copy the best message and post to your Page

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Manual Setup:1 hour or more per test

Create Your First Audience In 1 Minute

• 3 Audience Types: Lookalike, Custom, and Saved

• Start with Lookalike Audience based on Page Fans

• Go to Power Editor > Audiences > Create Audience

• Set source to your Facebook Page

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Advanced Audience: Expand Top Of Funnel

• Add Facebook tracking pixel to your website

• Create a Custom Audience tracking Pricing page visitors

• Create a Lookalike Audience based off this Custom Audience

• Run test targeting this audience

• Lookalike Audience auto-updates every 3 to 7 days, improves with more visitors

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Sample Scenario: Quick Turnaround Message Test

• Learn the best messaging for your product

• Create 9 Ads within a single Ad Set

• Pick 3 Images (at least 600 x 315)

• Pick 3 Sets of Text (Post Text + Headline)

• Skip the description (it’s rarely seen)

• Set target URL to landing/conversion page

• Optimize for Link Clicks to Website

• Set Lifetime budget of at least $40

• Set run time to at least 24 hours16

9 Test Messages3 Images + 3 Sets of Text

Results: Focus on The Right Metrics

• Sales: Website Click CTR and Conversion (use UTM parameters + GA)

• Fan Acquisition: Page Likes/Impressions

• Traffic Arbitrage: Website Click CTR and CPC

• Viral Potential: Shares/Impressions, Shares/Likes

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Optimized Test v. Forced Split Test

• Facebook ads are already optimized

• Some companies force a split test with Multi Ad Sets; this is expensive and slow

• Single Ad Set test, which uses machine learning, is most efficient

• Don’t fear the machine. The end result of both approaches is typically the same

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Single Ad Set Test

Multi Ad Set Test

No test

Time

Perf

orm

ance

Illustrative Performance by Test Type Over Time

Ad Platforms Aren’t Designed For Testing

Manual Testing with Facebook Power Editor

Programmatic Testing with Naytev

Platform Type Advertising Platform Testing Platform

Training Days, self-taught Minutes, guided

Setup Speed 60 min per test 5 min per test

Insights Basic Advanced

Support Email-based Live chat, dedicated expert

Cost Free platform Plans starting at $99

Learn More www.facebook.com/ads/manage/powereditor www.naytev.com

19Next Steps: Brainstorm, Pick Your Tool, and Test

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Try it at www.naytev.com