Where to begin? facebook ads for an artist’s small business

I’ve heard here, there, and around that facebook ads are in fact worth the investment. Damn, facebook. The desire to cut all ties with this social network is repeatedly trumped by its amazing marketing potential.

As I dipped my big toe into the pool that is facebook ad campaigns, a chill of ignorance shocked me. Although I’ve always been a supporter of a cannonball rather than a ladder descent, being a starving artist has taught me that financial tentativeness is critical, even if not necessarily ideal.

Here’s what helped:

Ilya Lichtenstein, in his blog insight.io/blog/, did a really nice job of laying out some basics for me in a series, here are two I took into consideration as I began structuring my ad campaign.

1. http://insight.io/blog/2011/02/the-ultimate-guide-to-facebook-ads-bidding/
2. http://insight.io/blog/2011/03/facebook-bidding-how-to-rapidly-optimize-campaigns/

Also facebook provides insight, some of which contradicted Lichtenstein. I appreciate both sides though, and I’ll know which are more relative to Ann Bernadette Jewelry as I watch the ad insights and changes in traffic. Here’s facebook’s help page …

1. http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=409

My first inclination was to completely open the demographics to everyone, everywhere, any age. I’m in this wedding niche, which I completely enjoy, but I dream of my art representing more. It’s a wonderful place to start though, so for the time being I will face the music, and I’ve narrowed my target market to females with a college education who are engaged. This was hard to commit to. As a life rule I hate exclusion, you can never anticipate where support or interest will arise from. But when you have $50 to spend, you gotta generalize I guess.

As far as bid options, I went CPM $0.75 per click, it recommended higher, but Lichtenstein insisted these were somewhat arbitrary numbers.

We’ll see how it goes. If anyone has any insight feel free to share, I’m a learning sponge!

Why does Detroit love me? Reason #3

Because it’s Midwest.

If you don’t know what that means, than you’ve never had a stranger help you make a left turn, waving enthusiastically to indicate his viewpoint from the sidewalk. A passing pedestrian smile with genuine intention. A joke shared spontaneously at a bus stop in the sleeting snowy rain.

If you don’t know what it means to be Midwest, than take a moment to dissolve the dominant and prominent image of ruin porn which litters national representation of Michigan, and think of the individuals who continue to reside, work, raise families, tell jokes, share dinners, donate blood, argue, throw parties, sing karaoke, tie their shoes, give birth, attend funerals, and watch the same nonsense television shows you watch.

But with laughter from a boisterous personality which can only be birthed from long frigid winters.

I gotta a lotta love for you Michigan. It’s good to be home.

Why does Detroit love me? Reason #2

Detroit does not love me because, Detroit loves me by being.

It does not love me because it is a creative space. That is the reason I love Detroit. It loves me – it returns that love - by being a creative space.

DC3 [Detroit Creative Corridor Center] is a relatively new addition to the city. It acts as a hub for the artists that span and crawl through the blocks of this city. It gives recognition to the population that has moved, inspired, and put music and voice to the city. It hosted the third annual Rust Belt to Artist Belt Conference this week, informing and inspiring all over that beautiful venue.

While Detroit continues exuding love, I’m happy to be here to absorb a little.

Why does Detroit love me? Reason #1

By “Detroit loves me” I mean to say, it gives  love to me. It fills me with inspiration, excitement, and leaves me with lips stretched into a crescent. The kind of positive response I’d like to find in a lover.

Now where was I? Oh yes, the reason aforementioned, reason #1, it’s The Heidelberg Project.

What is The Heidelberg Project? It’s using art to provoke thought, promote discussion, inspire action and heal communities…

It’s providing an art classroom within Michigan, a state at the bottom of the barrel as far as funding for the arts and culture is concerned. It’s bringing light to current issues. Bringing color to a neighborhood. Bringing tourism to a city.

And it’s loving it’s patrons. It’s neighbors. It’s visitors. It’s inspirer-ors and inspirer-ees. It’s Detroit love.