“Double Advertorial” cut his CPA by 50%+

Question: Does a shorter funnel always perform better?

In this week's Funnel of the Week new funnel breakdown, John Belcher had a lot to say about this question.

Specifically how adding an EXTRA (and very unconventional) funnel step…

(in this case a very specific type of advertorial)

…Cut his CPA by over 50%.

How?

Let's get into one highlight from the Funnel of the Week team’s call with John...

This "Double Advertorial" cut his CPA by 50%+

Here's the setup:

First, if you don't know John, he is ex-Google, co-built AdSkills, built GiddyUp's elite internal testing/traffic "Delta Team", and has helped many brands scale from 7 or 8 figures to 9 figures + with his patented traffic & conversion focused approach he calls "Funnel Plumbing."

Go here to get in touch with John, he's a beast: https://johntbelcher.com/

John was tasked with helping GiddyUp re-start efforts on of their top ecommerce products, Fixd:

(Fwiw right now, Fixd is scaling on YouTube, with over $2M spent in the past year. Here’s a quick look at all their active ads & landing pages from inside VidTao)

(Go here to see all Fixd’s ads and landing pages inside of VidTao.)

Let's see what John & his team were working with...

Phase 1: Mini VSL -> Product Page

To get Fixd off the ground, as a starting point John & his team tested running a mini VSL to the product page.

Phase 1 Funnel steps: Mini VSL -> Product Page

Results?

Meh. Not great.

Time to try something different...

Phase 2: Mini VSL -> Advertorial 1 -> Product Page

So John did what he usually does:

Added an advertorial to the funnel to increase buyer intent:

Phase 2 Funnel steps: Mini VSL -> Advertorial 1 -> Product Page

The result?

Getting better. $3-$5k/day while hitting CPA targets

But John saw something interesting:

For this phase 2 setup:

While add to cart rate was great...

...The add to cart to purchase rate was FAR below his benchmark of 30% for typical ecommerce funnels.

What to do?

Phase 3: Mini VSL -> Advertorial 1 -> Advertorial 2 ->Product Page

Enter phase 3: adding a SECOND advertorial, immediately after the first advertorial:

Phase 3 Funnel steps: Mini VSL -> Advertorial 1 -> Advertorial 2 -> Product Page

But this new 2nd advertorial was a very specific type of advertorial...

And while advertorial 1 explained the problem and the product & the offer...

Advertorial 2 focused on SOCIAL PROOF:

What effect did adding this 2nd advertorial have?

Before we get into the CPA / bottom line impact, some quick on-page behavior stats for you:

• CTR on advertorial 1: 30%

• CTR on advertorial 2: 80%

(^^ adding these numbers in case you're skeptical and thinking "I don't want to add more friction to the buying process!" etc...)

Now here's the payoff:

Adding this 2nd advertorial to the funnel cut CPA by over 50%.

...allowing John & his team to scale this to $20k/day+.

Pretty cool right?

Here's the Takeaway:

Don't be afraid to experiment with adding ADDITIONAL funnel steps when you identify a weak spot in your funnel.

Go here to watch the clip from this week’s Funnel of the Week with John that gets into this and why it worked.

Earlier this week Funnel of the Week also dropped this clip of John breaking down a top advertorial to VSL funnel campaign, specifically about these 27 ad tracking parameters they are using:

These are clips from a full episode & breakdown that's inside the Funnel of the Week Members Area, go here to learn more about it. 

More on What’s Inside Funnel of the Week Members Area

The big idea of Funnel of the Week is this:

They break down a new DTC funnel (including ads, front end offer, upsells, post-purchase emails/sms/etc.), each and every week.

Here’s a quick Google doc walking through what the Funnel of the Week team has got in store for you, each and every week:

Check it out. They’re doing a special “early bird” price for access for a limited time.

And if you want great funnel insights delivered to your email inbox, multiple times per week? Go here to sign up for their Funnel of the Week email newsletter (it’s free) funneloftheweek.com

Direct Response YouTube Ads Brainstorm Session (free)

Want help scaling your Direct Response offer/product on YouTube, Connected TV and other Direct Response Video Ad Platforms?

Schedule a FREE Brainstorm Call with Inceptly, the team behind $950M in Direct Response revenue here:
https://inceptly.com/call

That’s all for today.

Have a great week!

The VidTao Team

PS - Go here to claim a Free Trial of all-new VidTao 2.0 YouTube ad library (complete with 10 million+ unlisted YouTube ads & their landing pages)

PPS - Are you spending $1k/day+ on Paid Ads? Go here to set up a free YouTube Ad brainstorm chat.