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What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

candyjapan.com

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Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#81

Post by libertine »

gk1 wrote: post #77
libertine wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely - "marketers" these days don't grasp the concept of brand building. Just because you can measure directly results it doesn't mean the goal is to get a direct conversion - specially from a platform like youtube where people are actively consuming content - not buying stuff. The idea of compound investment into brand building doesn't seem to exist. I don't know if these guys thought that decades of TV adverti…

What marketers are you talking about? Who are "these guys"? I work with marketers and I am one myself, and the concept of brand-building is as familiar as loops are to software developers. No doubt you've encountered misguided individuals, but please don't generalize from specifics.

Anyone with a Google Adwords Certificate is a marketer these days.

> No doubt you've encountered misguided individuals, but please don't generalize from specifics.

When the community gives visibility to bad examples, specifics gain other dimension. So instead of blaming me for generalization, maybe understand the context.

I'm a marketer as well.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#82

Post by foota »

jhou2 wrote: post #29

The ad was terrible. It explained how Candy Japan works. I don't care how Candy Japan works. I want the why should I buy Candy Japan. It should have focused instead on the candies that you can get. Delicious, weird, unique candies only available through this service.

I wonder if this could be a culture thing?

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#83

Post by jackgolding »

hnaccy wrote: post #2

>But the cool part is that you can also track when someone views your ad, and then a bit later types in your web address to make the purchase without ever clicking the link. >In other words you can track both people who click through an ad directly, or who see your ad and then visit your site a bit later How does this work?

These are called conversion pixels, Google Analytics should have nothing to do with it (assuming there is a Chinese wall between AdWords, Doubleclick, GDN and Google Analytics.) Obviously Google offers some built-in integration within its products but you can achieve this within the ad-buying platform itself.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#84

Post by ggg9990 »

ttul wrote: post #9

People inexperienced in online adversities often think that they can pay for conversions. That is not the case. You’re paying to get your message out. Very very few people will immediately act because of an ad. But if you hit them enough, they may later convert. Tracking those late conversions is imprecise. This does not mean advertising is useless. But it is not generally a game for those with a tiny budget or a sho…

Disagree. I had a startup selling a piece of software that immediately solved a major problem for a small niche of users. Paid for conversions on common search terms and they were ROI positive since each click converted at 25% to signup, and then the product spread around the companies where one user adopted. Sold the company for >$10m.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#85

Post by r0fl »

lwansbrough wrote: post #34
nukeop wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes one wish we'd get closer to 100% adblock coverage...

Who do you think pays for the content you consume?

Advertisers do. If the economics stop making sense then the content stops being created. As a consumer it’s not my concern as to how money is made. That’s the creators job.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#86

Post by BartBoch »

While the Candy Japan lost the revenue on YouTube ads, I wonder how those posts, that hit front HN and certain Reddit subreddits convert.

Would you make money back, if you would include all the signups you will get within next 96 hours? The "mistake" cost you real money, but on the other hand, it allowed you to generate a content on a very interesting topic, that surely will get you thousands of new visitors, right to your website.

Also, the animated video is... well, it is not good. You can easily get highest quality animated videos on Fiverr or PPH for way below $1K.

I would suggest you get featured on unboxing video of some semi-famous guy. I am sure, you will get much more conversions for your buck since those channels are watched by people willing to buy a product.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#87

Post by lotyrin »

janekm wrote: post #67
jliptzin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better ad could have been made a lot cheaper and faster too by just having a friend (or an actor) opening the box and eating the candy and enjoying it with a voiceover explaining the benefits.

Even better would have been paying one of the popular unboxing channels to make that video (well... not too popular or it would be crazy expensive!).

His competitors are already doing this very aggressively (based on a number of channels I've unsubscribed from because I don't want to watch them eat candy), so it seems like it works.

Re: What I Learned Burning $14k on YouTube Ads for Candy Japan

#90

Post by [deleted] »

kyo3 wrote: post #33
jhou2 wrote: post #29

The ad was terrible. It explained how Candy Japan works. I don't care how Candy Japan works. I want the why should I buy Candy Japan. It should have focused instead on the candies that you can get. Delicious, weird, unique candies only available through this service.

I've gotta agree with this, I feel like I should have a subscription like this and couldn't talk myself into it even when I was trying. What's so cool about Japanese candy? There are a ton of other services out there like this one, why should I get this one? These are the questions I had that talked me out of it. I say this hoping it helps, I felt really inclined to want to subscribe from past interest and I don't kn…

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