We have worked on some split testing with Google Adwords vs. Facebook on the PPC side. Everybody knows about Adwords right? OK, well, facebook advertising has been around for a while now too. There were some privacy factors with beacon that slowed it down for a bit but we consider it a valid platform for SOME campaigns. As usual it depends on the messge and the level at which the conversion happens. We do not consider facebook advertising “clickers” to be immediate converters. As usual, the bounce rate tells us much of what we need to know. In and Out. That being said, many times we have run ads that are not brand specific but are idea specific. This can have an impact on bounce rate if they click and are discouraged by the brand they receive on the landing page.
EXAMPLE: “Click Here For A Delicious Pizza” | RESULT PAGE “Papa John’s” | USER SAYS TO SELF “Damn, I hate Papa John’s” – USER EXIT.
(We actually like Papa John’s Pizza…Pizza with a cup of butter to go with it…now, that’s a great idea!)
So, running the Facebook ads functions like standard PPC practice excepts we are not building the ad around a phrase. We truly construct the ad around the demographics. When you signup for Facebook you fill in all of these cool profile items “bday” “age” “location” “relationship status” etc.
When we go to buy ads, it asks us WHO we want to target with our ads. Depending on what we wish to accomplish, we can target all of the “18-25 Female In-Relationship Status in Atlanta with the word “dog” in their profile.” Facebook says, hey, there are X-number of people with those matches. If we are running ads for a wedding planner in Atlanta, OK, you get the idea.
These campaigns have to be so specifc, which is a good thing. There is no blanket tactic of PPC that seems to be working on this. Very discreet, very selective, very targeted. That is a good thing though. Our CPC is down about 70% beause Facebook does not seem to use a quality score method for pricing. They do have an approval process, but we have not had the need to investigate much. We run valid ads with valid landing pages, typically not an issue for us.
If you wish to read more on this subject, we recommend “The 10 Laws Of Facebook Advertising No Marketer Can Afford To Ignore”
