Aileen

documenting my dropshipping journey from zero

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@BlockByBlockHQ went mof, targeting solution-aware people!

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

learnings from my second failed product:

- ignore older, scaled stores. look for newer stores that launched within the past few months and are running a lot of ads

- the product’s benefit needs to be immediately obvious to the customer. ideally, the customer shouldn’t have to think about how it works. don't pick a confusing product

- copy what's working. test with comp's working concepts and avatars

- test different concepts and avatars that your comp isn't already running (to broaden tof reach) only after the initial test works

- eliminate the product as a variable when testing. you want to validate that people already want the solution your product offers (validated through proof of recent low-scale competition/active ad count in ads library)

- validate the product heavily according to criteria so you can focus on diagnosing issues with the ads/funnel when testing

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@lukasenECOM yes for this prod, however I usually give it $200-300 spend before cutting the camp. I do cut individual ads once they spend past my breakeven cpa w/o a sale. open to advice

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

day 39: brushed up on product research today

this is my new approach going forward:

1. look for new stores that are running a lot of ads
2. test with comp’s working concepts and avatars
3. (only after successful validation) test different concepts and avatars. as in broadening tof reach

I need to copy what’s working. I’ve been too creative with product research

now it’s time to put my learnings in action and find another product to test

dropping my second failed product and learnings here tonight

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@ecombender agreed! biggest takeaway from this prod. I was being too clever

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@EcomModulo I cut ads when they spend past my breakeven cpa w/o sale

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

day 37: got a sale on day 1

cpcs & cpms are stupid high even though I ran statics. cut 2 ads that spent too much w no buying intent

didn’t cut any ads in the ad set that made the sale bc I heard they help each other?

impressions are low in relation to my cpms

if cpms don’t drop, I’ll cut the camp tomorrow

not sure if I’ll relaunch or move on to a new prod

talking w someone tomorrow to help me read my data

…I have a lot to learn

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

day 38: cut the camp after a day, expensive metrics

a problem I’m running into is I can’t attribute the bad results to any one variable—there could be multiple reasons

feedback I got re product selection:

1. my prod’s benefit is not immediately obvious
2. don’t go for prods that are “old”. meaning, scaling competitors haven’t already tested different avatars/concepts, put up multiple name pages, etc. ask: how broad is their reach in terms of their tof ads?

learned that everything is downstream of product—better product validation makes everything marketing-wise easier

product isn’t everything, but I’ll definitely adjust my approach to product selection moving forward

tomorrow I’ll drop my second failed product and learnings on x

stay tuned!

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

idk what i'm doing

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@leonishuang W

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

thought about 10% min spend on ad sets but ultimately taking mark’s advice so the cbo acts more like an abo

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

day 36: test is up. I’ll share day 1 results tomorrow

I tested with CBO but controlled it so it acts more like an ABO

each ad set has a minimum spend requirement of $26

that’s 80% of my total campaign budget ($100)

with 20% for meta to allocate however it wants

I did this because I want to make sure each concept is tested

the caveat here is minimum spend only accounts for ad set level starvation, not ad level starvation

meaning meta can still dump majority spend into one ad within an ad set

just trying things! I’m treating this mainly as concept testing

[cryingvault @cryingvault]

I wish I could say niggas doubted me but everyone believes in me

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@leo016I @sabianchase @shauneng I wanna read the advertorial jus for kicks bahaha

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@EcomGoku ima try the wall thing and fixing my sleep first 🫩🙏🏾

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

day 35: realized I’m slower than I’d like for 2 reasons:

1. I’m struggling to make time for learning while also preparing assets for testing

2. my own bad habits (no protected deep work hours, getting distracted, not enough sleep) hamstring me

I’ll try time blocking after I get this next test up

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@FaithDeGlobal1 what about it

[Aileen @dtcaileen]

@eliasrrecom bring back racism