Re: Does Facebook advertising "work"?
 

Thanks Marshall.

There is an advertising saying that goes something like: Do you want to persuade 100% of the people 10% of the way? Or 10% of the people 100% of the way?

Optimizing your radio ad spend based on the number of people you can reach is just wasting your money. Because you need to reach people multiple times on radio - to have an impact and make them remember your brand when they require your services weeks down the line. You don't want to reach 100% of the people and persuade them just 10% of the way. Per person frequency is more important than population reach with radio advertising.

Anyways... Facebook is like radio advertising because:

i. People who listen to radio don't have that buying intent. They are not actually looking for any solution to a particular problem.

ii. You have to take a long term view with radio. You have to create a strategy based on your "product purchase cycle". Or you will fail.

But saying that - you are correct. Facebook is a new beast. Its similar to radio. But not same as radio.

i. On Facebook - you will have to change your creatives very often. Because stale creatives start receiving lower CTR. And Facebook stops running ads with low CTR. So its not like radio where you can keep on running the same ad and anchor your sales proposition / brand name in peoples minds.

ii. Facebook allows laser focusing. You can narrow down the demographics down to the city, age, marital status. You can focus based on interests. And if they like your competitors. No other ad medium allows such filtering of your audience base.

Everyone who has managed to make money with banner ads before has made money with Facebook ads. Treat facebook as a banner ad platform - with vastly better targeting - and you'll do fine.

Just don't give up on Facebook because GM gave up on it or because its stock price decreased. It can work in getting you some decent traffic often times at a lower cost than Google adwords.

Why Discussion Boards sometimes fail to keep people around...
 

Hello,

I gave a detailed response about real life advertising work
in Southern California. One, if not the biggest market in the world
for radio advertising.

I make a very successful living in California
promoting services to local audiences
using a variety of advertising tools...including
radio.

For over 27 years!

Now, my factual report about the local ad market
has been dismissed almost entirely, because I dared
to propose a different point of view!

Please, let's try to learn from each other instead
of running to defend our opinions.

Best,

Marshall

PS I will not respond to any other unsubstantiated opinion.
Let's bring in facts, evidence, and figures.

Re: Does Facebook advertising "work"?
 

Thanks Marshall for sharing your expertise regarding radio advertising...

There's no doubt that much radio advertising is very effective! I recently read that radio advertising can be very effective in driving people to websites (as well as to physical stores, too, of course)...

One local business I know pretty much ONLY advertises on radio. I'm sure if their local radio ads weren't bringing people in through the door (or to their website, which they also advertise) - they wouldn't keep advertising on radio, year after year after year...

I'm still getting my head around Facebook...

Thanks for your very informative contribution!

Best wishes,

Dien

Last year we used Facebook ads until...
 

we gave up!

$300 a day, for 3 months. We are talking about
$27,000. What was the net return? Close to zero,

As soon as we got enough revenues to cover
the losses, we bailed out.

Granted, I work with some medium size companies,
$1M to $3M a year in revenues, but still
I keep an eye on expenditures,

After all, as a marketing guy, I can't keep pouring
money when we are getting "likes" only...

In my opinion, Facebook is partying away money,
not a proven method of advertising.

I encourage anybody to post a Facebook
successful case study, with facts and figures.

They are hard to find...for a reason.

Thanks a lot,

Marshall

Re: Why Discussion Boards sometimes fail to keep people around...
 

Thanks Marshall.

I apologize if you thought I was dismissive. I was merely trying to convey what I learnt from Roy H. Williams about radio advertising.

http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/page/grossratingpoints

Roy H. Williams writes for Radio Ink and teaches courses on running profitable radio ads.

...

All of the points on Facebook are from my own experience. People over here know that I dabble a lot with online advertising. Its not merely opinion.

Here is how I run Facebook ads. Take what you want from it.

1. Before starting a Facebook ad campaign, do research on Google Ad planner and Google Insights. Get the demographics of your audience.

2. While starting out - Don't go for Like campaigns. Go for External URLs. (There are some situations with which you could go for a Like campaign for your Facebook page. But you need to create a custom tab that makes a direct offer. Something like "Like us and get a discount coupon.")

3. Start a campaign and test it on an audience of 20,000. Focus only on one city or one state. Focus based on Precise Interest. The only time you would want to use Broad Interest is if you want to advertise to people who are just engaged or just married or have just moved. But otherwise, stick to Precise Interest.

Eg: for a campaign on crossfit training, don't run the ad for all of USA. Run it only in Washington and Texas. (Google Insights shows people from those 2 states search the most on crossfit.) Select ages 35-44 (because Google Ad planner shows that thats the audience for crossfit.com.) If your ad works with such narrow filters, you can than expand and create more ads.

Why test with $300 when you can test with $20? Test cheaply.

4. When you start seeing a drop in your CTR - change your creatives.

5. Constantly split test. Your headline. Your creatives. Your targeting.

Re: Does Facebook advertising "work"?
 

I don't know if it works or not, but a man I have a lot of respect for says:


I'm talking about Bob Serling. Obviously he has had some luck with it. So much so... that he is offering a program on it called "The Facebook Alchemy
Certified Consultant Program".

I'm thinking there must be something to it, if it's done the right way.

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

Re: Does Facebook advertising "work"?
 

I don't about becoming a certified consultant as I haven't checked into his program. But, I would bet becoming a CC involves big $$$. On the other hand if one simply reads the post by Ankesh, one could get a good idea of how to go about becoming a non-CC but yet still get pretty good results.

Just a guess but I'd also guess every guru and his brother has a FB certification program for only $$$$$ and your old recappable tires. I base that on being solicited by several of them.

Tom

The Big List : 150 Facebook Pages Campaigns Case Studies | Wise ... Mince Meat?
 

Just wondering a little...

As the Old Saying goes...

Regarding Mince Meat? ... And Chopped Liver...

Then Again, maybe I'm the Only one who Knows of that Saying and meaning(s)... :D

Some here Seem to be Interested in Successful case studies, with Facts and Figures...

But does Anyone... Really?

Actually, Read and Dig into information Provided or perhaps, Quality resources within Google are Not Accepted as A TRUSTED Source these days unless their is a Personal Connection to that Experience overall... :)

Just wondering as per my above post, Quick research regarding misc. Facebook Case Studies etc. etc...

Especially the Link regarding...

The Big List : 150 Facebook Pages Campaigns Case Studies | Wise ...
(link in my above post in case anyone Might be interested)... :rolleyes:

Just Wondering if it's Only personal experience(s) that Make Case Study material Worthwhile here on SowPubs...

No use posting If there's Not Much interest If you Know what I'm saying...

Thanks! ... Appreciate the Feedback as Always...

Good and Bad! ... Always Feel Free To Speak Your Mind...

That way, We all Learn a thing or 2 Along the way!

Life overall, really is An ongoing ''LEARNING EXPERIENCE'' each and every Single day, whether we like it or Not...

Phil

"Likes" from fake accounts - and ads on Facebook...
 

I came across another article...

This article says that one of the problems with advertising on Facebook is all the false accounts. Many of the "likes" to your Facebook page may come from
false (or at least dubious) accounts!

Facebook 'likes' and adverts' value doubted
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18813237

- Dien

Re: Does Facebook advertising "work"?
 

It does work provided that you know How to advertise. First off, you should know who your target market is and should able to learn their terms and tricks. Also there are some coupons available for facebook ads, use them for your advantage and experiments.