I Think I've Changed My Mind About Facebook Ads

[Post-Doctorate D]

I think I've changed my mind about Facebook ads.

The other day, this super smart person on Facebook shared a post from some random whoever.  Now, first you have to remember is that this person doing the sharing is super smart and, in case you have any doubts, she'll not infrequently remind you of how super smart she is because she worked at NASA or some brainy organization and did some super smart stuff in the 1970s.  So, she is super smart and don't you ever forget that.

Anyway, she shared this I guess it was supposed to be some super insightful post from some random person.  And I read this rambling post that jumped from this to that and made connections that made no sense and you're like, what the heck did I just read?  And I am reminded of that scene from Billy Madison:

And that same post popped up again last night.  This time, I read through some of the comments.  And people were thanking this guy, and agreeing and praising his excellent points and I'm left thinking, you people are stupid.

Sometime after that, I realized that I think Facebook has become the social media hangout for stupid people.

Then, I saw Facebook ads in a new light.  I've posted elsewhere that I've come to regard things in Facebook ads as scammy and why would anyone want to run ads on Facebook and potentially become guilty by association?

I mean, I've seen ads for items and there will be comments supposedly from Facebook users saying how they love the product and how wonderful it is and so on.  But then you look at reviews outside Facebook and you discover the product is a piece of junk.

Or, I have also found that, if you search Amazon for a product you see advertised on Facebook, you'll often find that it is one half to one third the price on Amazon than it is sold for in the Facebook ad.

So, yeah, I'm thinking Facebook ads are geared toward stupid people.  If they are stupid, they won't research the price and will end up paying two to three times what they might have paid on Amazon.  But if they buy instead on Amazon, they are still buying your product so you win either way.

Also, they'll buy junk so you don't have to worry about whether or not your products are good enough.  Throw some slop on a stick and sell it for $49.95.  Whatever.

From that perspective, I'm thinking Facebook ads could be effective, maybe especially if you also sell direct where you can have a website that prices your book or other product at two or three times the price you have for it on Amazon.

[Bill Hiatt]

My problem is that I wouldn't want to write books designed to appeal to stupid people...

[Post-Doctorate D]

My problem is that I wouldn't want to write books designed to appeal to stupid people...

Maybe make the book ads appealing to stupid people?

[Jeff Tanyard]

And that same post popped up again last night.  This time, I read through some of the comments.  And people were thanking this guy, and agreeing and praising his excellent points and I'm left thinking, you people are stupid.

Are you sure those "people" were legit and not just bots or paid shills?

[R. C.]

...
Are you sure those "people" were legit and not just bots or paid shills?

According to the research I'm conducting for my next project, we are all bots in a simulation...

R.C.

[Post-Doctorate D]

And that same post popped up again last night.  This time, I read through some of the comments.  And people were thanking this guy, and agreeing and praising his excellent points and I'm left thinking, you people are stupid.

Are you sure those "people" were legit and not just bots or paid shills?

Their comments were more sophisticated than the typical bot.  They could be paid shills but, as the post wasn't selling any products, I'm not sure why anyone would pay shills to praise a rambling post.

[The Bass Bagwhan]

ALL adverts, since the beginning of advertising time, have been aimed at stupid people. Do you really believe that cloth will clean your stove with a single wipe? The cream will remove your wrinkles overnight? That 4WD truck will drive up that hill where the trees are suspiciously growing at an angle? That burger is really that big?

Aside from very rare exceptions where an inteliigent message is aimed at a discerning target market, all adverts are based on the audience being dumb as a stump. Advertising agencies have always known that their campaigns won't pass an educated assessment - they're not expected to. And fake endorsements have been a thing forever as well.

It's the biggest challenge of promoting any product, including books. Convincing the audience the product is real, is as good as you say, AND backing it up with a product (book) that actually is both.

Facebook is no different. However, FB's exposure is enormous and therefore you'll undoubtedly prompt a lot of stupid feedback. A lot. The trick is somehow filtering that out as much as possible, either with targeting or presentation.

[Bill Hiatt]

I don't think just stupidity is in play. Part of it is a willingness to believe what we want to believe.

One of my favorite emails spams of all time was one advertising how to lose weight while you sleep. Of course, that's nonsense--but wouldn't it be wonderful if it were true?

This is also the root of confirmation bias. We tend to believe what agrees with your worldview and disbelieve what doesn't, and any evidence to the contrary be damned! Now, it is true that some people who aren't exactly intellectual giants fit this profile, but we are all predisposed to reason that way. It takes sustained conscious effort not to.

[Post-Doctorate D]

One of my favorite emails spams of all time was one advertising how to lose weight while you sleep. Of course, that's nonsense--but wouldn't it be wonderful if it were true?

Actually, you do lose weight while you sleep.

For one, unless you sleep-eat, you're not going to eat while you sleep, so you certainly won't gain weight while sleeping.

Outside of that, sleeping does burn calories.  One would think that if you avoid sleep and stay up longer, you would burn more calories while awake than sleeping.  But, I have found that I lose more weight overnight when I get restful sleep than on nights when I don't.

As an example, you will burn more calories during 8 hours of sleep than 1 hour mowing the lawn with a push mower.

If you walked for 3 hours, you would burn almost as many calories as you would during 8 hours of sleep.

Of course, exercise burns more calories than sleeping and watching what you eat is important too.  But the value of a good night's rest for weight loss shouldn't be underestimated.

[Bill Hiatt]

Apparently, people do lose some weight during sleep. About 83% of it is from water loss, but there is some fat-burning as well. Long-term sleep disruption can have an adverse effect on weight because that 17% can add up over time. Results may vary because of differences in people's metabolic rates.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/do-you-lose-weight-when-you-sleep#how-does-it-happen
That said, I think the company was peddling the idea that it had a way to cause you to lose more than average. But even if there were something that could increase metabolic rate during sleep, it probably wouldn't be safe. (Diet pills in the old days worked, but they were amphetamine based and had dangerous side effects.)

[Post-Doctorate D]

Been a while since I looked into increasing metabolic rates, but I think there were factors such as when you exercise and even certain foods that affect your metabolic rate and when to exercise or eat those foods in order to maximize their effectiveness overall as well as during sleep periods.

But, yeah, there is certainly bad advice that is often freely given as well as sketchy products that probably aren't going to do anything.

There's one that says you can lose x amount of weight simply by cutting out soft drinks.  Been there, done that.  There was a year or two where I didn't drink any soft drinks and kept everything else (diet, exercise) roughly the same.  And there was no significant difference over that period.  And I started occasionally having soft drinks again and, again, no significant difference.

I mean, I think you are better off not drinking soft drinks or drinking them in moderation, but I doubt that it has a significant impact on your weight unless you're guzzling two-liters on a daily basis or something.  A can of soda is about 150 calories depending on brand and so on.  The average pound of body fat is about 3500 calories.  So, 23 1/3 cans of soda is one pound of body fat.  If you drink one per day over the course of a year, then, going solely by the math, you should gain 15.6 pounds in that year.  Reversely, if you stop drinking soda on a daily basis, you should lose about 15.6 pounds in that year.  But that's not really how things work out.

So, there is advice that may be mathematically true, but in practice, it doesn't work out that way.  Your metabolism adjusts, your body adjusts, and things go on that you don't have full control over.  So, while it is best to reduce or eliminate consumption of sugary drinks, if you're doing it strictly for weight loss, it may not be as effective as you hope.