Assignment Instructions for Business Track Candidates

Congratulations on finding your way to the assignment! Inspired by actual scenarios we encounter on a daily basis, this should give you an idea of what our business is about. Understanding the concepts in depth and completing the assignment successfully will prepare you for the next steps in the recruitment process.

Preparation for completing the assignment: We recommend getting familiar with the fundamentals of Facebook advertising, including trying out Facebook Ads Manager and using Google and Facebook Help Center to learn more in-depth information about the different terms and concepts. In addition, it is highly recommended to read our own blog posts from here. Please note that we operate in a constantly evolving social advertising ecosystem and thus appreciate the most up-to-date knowledge on the answers.

Submission of your assignment: The tasks test your ability to communicate extremely complicated concepts clearly and efficiently. Show us your very best and use an organised structure in your answers, while keeping an optimal level of detail. Answer as if you would be serving our client who is having issues regarding Facebook advertising.

Please submit your answers, question by question, in a one-page PDF to the Smartlie you've received the instructions from.

Optimization Case

Background: Your client is a European e-commerce company, selling mid-priced clothing for women. They are looking for further growth and thus want to scale up their advertising spend, but have not been able to scale while maintaining the targeted cost per action (CPA) goal at the same time. After struggling with this situation for a while, they have now asked you to take a look at their campaigns in Germany. They want you to provide ideas how they could maximize the amount of purchases generated from Facebook ads and remain ROI positive at the same time.

The client’s maximum monthly budget is 1M euros and an average purchase value is 100€. They also have a strict maximum cost per purchase (CPA) goal from the CMO which is 10€.

They have the Facebook pixel implemented on their website and are using the standard pixel events to track visitors on the following pages on their webstore:

• Front page (www.smartlywebstore.com)
• Product page (www.smartlywebstore.com/product-page)
• Shopping cart (www.smartlywebstore.com/shopping-cart/)
• Thank you page after purchasing (www.smartlywebstore.com/thank-you/)

The webpages do not actually exist.

The client would like to know how to scale up and improve the performance of their campaigns. They would like to know your proposed recommendations and solutions to the following questions:

1. Is the current conversion optimized bidding the right bidding method in each ad set? If not, what would you recommend instead and why? What would you suggest as bid level for each ad set and why?
2. How would you improve each of the three targetings used?
3. Would you stop/remove any of the individual ads? Why?
4. We plan to launch a mobile app and promote it on Facebook. What steps would you suggest us to follow?

Click here to download the case material

Pro tip: Bear in mind that understanding Facebook’s tools is not required for handing in the assignment, but it certainly pays off to be familiar with them. This is especially useful when learning about the different concepts and how things work in practice. After providing us with excellent homework, you'll be asked to show in-depth understanding of some Facebook concepts. To guide your learning, understanding at least these themes is helpful for you throughout the recruitment process:

• How does the Facebook auction system work?
• Bidding and budgeting - How do they work? How are they decided?
• What is pacing and how does it work in Facebook?
• Facebook pixel - How does it function and what can you do with it?
• Product feed - How is it installed? What do you need for it? How do Dynamic Ads campaigns work?
• URL tags - How to set up them? How do they work?
• How do mobile app ads work?