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The way everyone chases super low CPA on Facebook is actually costing you money in the long run
I run ads for a furniture store in Portland and kept seeing people online bragging about $5 cost per purchase. I tried that for 6 months and got cheap orders but almost zero repeat buyers. Switched to focusing on a $12 CPA but better targeting for higher lifetime value. My 90 day return on ad spend went up by 40% because people actually came back. Has anyone else seen this pattern where cheap initial conversions lead to bad customer retention?
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caleb2621mo ago
Lol the part about "cheap orders but almost zero repeat buyers" hit home. I think the real sneaky problem nobody talks about is how chasing low CPA messes with your pixel data. When you optimize for cheap first time buyers you end up training Facebook to find people who impulse buy once and never come back. That clogs up your audience pool with low quality users and makes it harder for the algo to find the good ones. So you're paying less per click but digging yourself into a hole where your repeat purchase rate drops and your retention tanks.
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phoenix_thompson41mo ago
Clogs up your audience pool" is exactly right. You're basically filling your pixel with junk data and then wondering why it can't find anyone loyal. That cheap CPA comes back to bite you ten times harder later.
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hunt.quinn1mo ago
Gotta disagree a bit here Caleb. I actually think cheap buyers can become loyal if you nail the post purchase experience, and @phoenix_thompson4's point about junk data ignores that some high intent buyers also come from low CPA campaigns.
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