Google Adwords Vs. Facebook Ads – Part Five
Part Five: The Exposure Difference
In the last installment of this Google Adwords vs Facebook Ads series we talked about turning a click into a customer. Let’s turn our attention now to some of the fundamentals within each platform. When my ad is running, how many people will see it? How many times will those people see it?
Incredible Exposure
Adwords:
Google Adwords visibility is a combination of factors, but is mostly tied to your budget. The ideal convergence is having a high quality score, that will reduce your bid price, and being willing to pay for placement “above the fold” on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
A. How many people will see my ad? How many times will people see my ad?
Google is very good at showing us how much we are missing out on by not maximizing our budget. Under the Opportunities tab in the Adwords dashboard (see image below) we are able to see how much more traffic we would get (an estimation mind you) if we upped our budget and/or made some keyword changes.
Google Adwords Back-end
Now we can increase exposure by have a quality score (7 or above generally), and paying attention to Click Thru Rates on keywords and ads (often overlooked). However the most potent way to increase exposure remains to be a higher budget.
B. When is my ad running?
The answer is a little nebulous but I’ll give it a shot. The first determinate is, surprise, budget. If you are willing to spend as much as Google estimates you should then you are going to show as much as the algorithm will allow. If you are not in this camp then you’ve probably run into the scenario where you Google your products/services and you can’t find your ad anywhere. If this is you here are few more things to look at before you contact your account manager.
- Check beyond the first page: Sometimes the ad’s get pushed back.
- Refresh your browser page (search again): If you do this you’ll changes in the ad’s that are served. This is what Google refers to as ad rotation and is how they fit in ad’s that don’t have the budget to show all of the time.
Ads can further be restricted, or targeted, your choice of vernacular, by the following:
- Geographically (Geo-targeting)
- Time of Day (Ad Scheduling)
- IP Restriction (IP Address Exclusion)
Finally, there are more methods to target your ad’s but to be honest it’s really very simple. More exposure = more budget.
Facebook Ads:
With Facebook Ads, this question is a relatively simple one. First of all, you have complete control over the targeting aspect of Facebook Ads, covered in this installment of our blog series, so you will be able to clearly see how many Facebook users will directly be targeted. Facebook refers to that number as your “targeted Reach”. When your ad goes live, you’ll see this graphically as the grey circle within the reach graph:
From Facebook Ads Manager
This number is determined by your targeting parameters. The second circle shown above, the green circle, represents the total amount of those users that have seen your ad. This number does not include multiple impressions of the Facebook Ad, this is just individual user exposure to the ad.
The yellow circle represents how your ad is capturing more impressions when using a Sponsored Story or Facebook Page Ad. These impressions occur when someone interacts with those types of ads by creating a broadcast message to their friends. These impressions cannot be estimated since they depend on user interactivity to gain exposure. Also note that these impressions will not count against your spend when utilizing a CPM model for budget.
Now let’s look at how your ad shows, and what that means.
From Facebook Ads Manager
Campaign Reach illustrates how many times your ad has shown (total impressions, including multiple impressions for individual users). Unless you are utilizing the CPM model for your ad budget, this number has little significance to your campaign.
Frequency shows how many times an individual user has seen your ad, on average. In this case, each user exposed to our Facebook Ad has seen the same ad, or variation in the same campaign, about 3 times. This is a very good number, as traditional marketing suggests that a consumer will need 3 different impressions to make a qualified decision. Most Facebook Ad campaigns will average between 3 and 5 impressions per user.
Social Reach illustrates how many additional Facebook users were exposed to the ad content or a broadcast message from their friends who interact with the Facebook Ads. This reach is not available for Ads that do not point to a Facebook Page directly or a sponsored story.
Connections illustrates how many people have “Liked” your Facebook Page as a result of your ad campaign. This metric will not be available to you if your ad does not connect to your Facebook Page directly.
Clicks are exactly what they say: how many users clicked on my ad directly? This is the all-important number when determining how your ad content is performing.
CTR (Click-Through Rate) allows Facebook to determine how valuable your ad and content are. It is the percentage of clicks over total impressions. If your click-through rate is extremely low (0.01% – 0.05%) Facebook will typically remove your ad from its rotation of impressions because Facebook will not be making much money on your campaign.
So it obviously takes some diligent monitoring in order to adjust and manage your Ad campaign in order to achieve a solid amount of impressions and increase your overall CTR.
The example shown above is from a very successful Facebook Ads campaign with 16 different variations of ad copy, images and destination pages. These variations were created upon daily monitoring and analysis, and were achieved through the tried-and-true method of A/B testing scenarios.
To test A/B CTR without having Facebook interfere with your impression count, turn on CPM (cost per impression) budget ads against each other at a smaller budget to get a good idea about which ads will produce the best CTR over time.
Have you explored all of your options within the Facebook Ads platform? Have you taken full advantage of Google Adwords’ tools to determine your most effective and visible ads? Contact Intrapromote today for more information on fully managed Ad campaigns and how they can dramatically affect your business.
Our next installment is our final installment where we discern the pros and cons of each platform, and give our readers the guidance when they are in a position to choose which platform to utilize for their online advertising dollars. Stay tuned!
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Timeline for Brands Not The Only Big Change for Facebook Marketers
Almost every Facebook user, begrudgingly or with wide-eyed enthusiasm, has now been switched over to Timeline, the latest layout for the social network. Tech blogs and social media insiders know that Timeline for Brands is likely to be announced next week, at the first-ever fMC Facebook Marketers Meeting in New York. With so much of the focus on the Timeline change, a handful of other Facebook tests have been swept under the rug.
One such Facebook change is the elevation of Sponsored Stories. Unlike traditional ads on Facebook, Sponsored Stories behave a bit differently. For example, with Sponsored Stories, the advertiser doesn’t have much control over the creative portion of the ad and the ad cannot be targeted to whomever they choose. Rather, Sponsored Stories work by applying peer pressure and influence to the mix. Because the ads are already content that a user would likely already see in his or her news feed, the ad comes across as low-pressure and friend based, rather than a hard sell for your attention. 
In line with some of the other big rollouts, like Timeline for Brands, Facebook is experimenting more with the Open Graph. One of these experiments is showcasing new types of Sponsored Stories that go far beyond the simple “liking” of a business or brand. In the tests, an advertiser could promote a story about a user “watching” a particular video or “listening” to a particular band, even if the advertiser is not the owner of the app in which the action was taken.
Because Sponsored Stories come from a user’s friends, the leads they generate are far more qualified than trying to nail down a demographic with a typical Facebook ad. Just like ratings and reviews on websites, Sponsored Stories feel credible and authentic to the user, while also bringing a potential authentic fan into the brand’s page. In many cases, a Sponsored Story just reminds the Facebook user that they haven’t liked a brand yet, because they already are a customer who is interested in what the business has to offer.
As part an overall social media strategic plan, understanding the power of the Open Graph early on can be a significant asset to savvy strategists who have already invested in content marketing. Sponsored Stories, as a platform, is likely to be one of the first Facebook advertising platforms to appear in the upcoming mobile interface changes, as well, providing additional reach for advertisers and marketers.
While the Open Graph experiment with Facebook has only begun, there is no doubt that it is part of the company’s long-term revenue strategy. The launch of the Ticker in 2011 pushed businesses out of the first line of sight with fans, forcing marketers to become more creative in their content positioning and move beyond the “like.” For businesses, Sponsored Stories are a way to force themselves back into a user’s news feed without coming across as too aggressive.
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3 Things Your Brand Should Be Doing To Gain Pinterest Followers
Unlike many other social networks, businesses cannot yet advertise to a specific target market on Pinterest. With Pinterest exploding to nearly 11 million unique visits last month, I predict that eventually the site will follow the advertising strategies similar to Facebook and Twitter, but until then what can a business do to increase it’s followers?
When joining Pinterest as an individual, you are given the option to follow all of your current Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Unfortunately, businesses do not have the luxury to follow all of their fans, so it takes some more work to gain a large follower base on Pinterest.
Here are 3 things your brand should be doing right now to gain Pinterest followers:
1. Link to Other Platforms
The easiest way to quickly gain followers is to post links to Pinterest on your website, blog, and Facebook pages. Since Pinterest is still gaining in popularity, adding a Pinterest button will let your readers know that you are an early adopter of the new social media trend. Linking Pinterest to existing networks is a great way to gain followers, but it is important to remember not to flood your followers pages with a million pins.
Posting a pin to Facebook and Twitter once or twice a day (at most) is a great way to let them know you are on Pinterest. However, if your Facebook page and Twitter profile begins to look like an extension of your Pinterest page, it might be time to step away from Pinterest. When pinning an image to Pinterest, you are given an option to post on Facebook and Twitter, only choose this option for those amazing pins that everyone needs to see. Like these!
2. Utilize Searchable Captions
A great way to increase the strength of a pin is to add a searchable caption when re-pinning. This becomes a missed opportunity when an account does not change the caption to reflect their company’s relevant keywords to make it searchable to their target market. By using keywords often used by your target market, it is more likely that your Facebook fans and Twitter followers will come across your pins using the internal search feature. Not only can you add searchable keywords into captions on Pinterest, but you can also utilize the hashtag function in the same way that it is used on Twitter. Including hashtags into captions make your pins searchable for a wider audience, who may be unfamiliar with your brand.
3. Link to the Correct Page
One of the most frustrating things that I’ve encountered on Pinterest is when links do not follow back to the original source. There is absolutely nothing worse than looking for a recipe and not being able to find it because of a poorly placed pin or an inactive link. When pinning content (especially if it is from your own website) make sure that the pin links back to the page where someone can get more information. By pinning from your website, you are hoping to drive traffic to that specific page. Making sure that the pins go back to the correct page on your website will make it easier when others re-pin your content as well.
Looking for Pinterest tips? See my prior blog: How To Create A Unique Brand Image on Pinterest
Happy pinning!
Is your brand missing opportunities to capture followers on #pinterest? ow.ly/9c4qc#socialmedia
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 21, 2012
So They Like You on Facebook; Now What?
There was something very comfortable about writing a note to a girl in elementary asking if they liked me, and receiving the response in a similarly non-intimate fashion. In fact, the anxiety that I felt in the fledgling stages of a relationship was typically when I was forced to communicate with that individual in a meaningful manner.
Much to my dismay, receiving the initial confirmation that, “Yes!” they did indeed like me, was the easy part. What followed the confirmation was terrifying for the 10 year old me; I actually had to ask them questions, get to know them, listen intently, understand their wants and needs, all the while giving them my undivided attention.
GASP! Even the hazy memory that I just pulled up from that period of my life is giving me the chills.
The Elementary School Approach to Social Media
Apparently this is a common plague within our society, so it’s no surprise that some of us may become used to the distanced “please confirm that I’m good” tactic and apply it to their marketing dollars. I get the opportunity to be exposed to many companies’ interactions and activity on Facebook, and a common thread is what I will now deem The Elementary School Approach.
The Elementary School Approach revolves around assuming that “Likes” on Facebook mean that your customer base is growing and converting without any meaningful engagement or relationship building. As we discussed earlier in the week on the Intrapromote blog Facebook Ads Vs. Google Adwords – Part Four, the trick is not getting them in the door, the trick lies in what takes place afterwards.
“Likes” Aren’t Customers…Yet
Allow me to draw out the metaphor: Just because I got an enthusiastic “Yes!” back from my elementary school pursuit did not mean that we had a meaningful relationship to build upon. To that end: a “Like” from someone just getting acquainted with your brand doesn’t always equal a happy, paying customer. New customer relationships start with a “Like” and take time (and work) to mature and flourish.
So how do we take that initial attraction to your brand (the “Like”) and turn it into a relationship? Well—let’s refer back to the aforementioned list in this blog post:
“…I actually had to ask them questions, get to know them, listen intently, understand their wants and needs, all the while giving them my undivided attention…”
Ask questions! Get to know and understand your fans! Pay close attention to their responses and other interactions! This is what makes social media marketing tick, the meat and potatoes. For the first time in history you are able to glean all the necessary information from your constituents anytime you want, and deliver exactly what they need directly to their “doorstep”.
Treat your new fans like you would a first date—make them comfortable, ask them about themselves, and at least *act* like you’re giving them your undivided attention. These small steps will go far in the long run to create customers out of fans, and ultimately real brand advocates out of customers.
All things considered, Return On Investment (ROI) implies that you’ve made an investment.
We’d love to talk with you about how we help companies nurture budding relationships and grow them into happy customer families over social networks.
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Google Adwords Vs. Facebook Ads – Part Four
Part Four: What a Click Means for Your Brand
The last installment of this Google Adwords vs Facebook Ads series covered the eloquent moment when your user clicks through on your ad; or how to turn views into conversions on both platforms. This article aims to define what those clicks actually mean in both Google Adwords and Facebook Ads. Is one type of click more valuable than the other?
"I just can't look through another binder of numbers-- show me some Facebook Ads!"
Adwords:
With Adwords the goal is simple, getting the search to perform the desired action: usually either a sign up or a purchase. The main way to differentiate one click from another is by what Adgroup the clicks flows through. In theory at least each Adgroup is setup to attract a specific target. The problem quickly narrows down to trying to define which keywords and ads provide the lowest bounce rate, or the lowest rate at which people leave your site after clicking on your ad.
The key to this is analytics. It is the most accurate, fast, and reliable way to track your progress and make assessments. Google Analytics has some wonderful free tools for this and should be used if you do not have an analytics provider. Without analytics trying to determine success based on Cost Per Click or Click Through Rate alone will not give you your best chance at success.
Facebook Ads:
There are so many ways to interpret clicks within Facebook Advertising scenarios, mostly because the ad’s intention is dynamic enough to be able to be used for any goals that you have laid down for them. The following scenarios represent a good cross-section of how brands typically utilize Facebook Ads:
The Website Conversion
This is the simplest interpretation of a Facebook Ads click, and easily measureable. This particular campaign focuses solely on getting your targeted audience to click through to your website and purchase your product and services.
Although simple, this form of Facebook Advertising is one of the more volatile methods and can create a large budget covering many clicks-to-bounces. Check the bounce rate in Google Analytics for your landing page from this ad on an extremely frequent schedule to stay ahead of the budget for these campaigns.
Speaking of landing pages, just like with Google Adwords, this will be the most efficient way to segment your site traffic and delineate traffic from your ad campaign. URL trackers are well and good, but you want to ensure your users are seeing the exact content that you are advertising to manage the bounce rate.
When determining the overall value of these click-throughs, you have to take the bounce rate into consideration. If your bounce rate is above 25% of all traffic, you’re throwing your money away for a Facebook click.
The Facebook Page “Like”
This form of Facebook Advertising, when you are simply asking users to “Like” your Facebook Page, is complicated when evaluating each click’s worth. Obviously your brand is one that has resonated with the clicking user, but does the relationship end there? Does your Page’s updates stand dormant as an ignored entity within that user’s Facebook stream?
Or does that Fan go on to become not only a purchaser of your product and service, but also advocates for your brand on every negative Facebook Wall Post and conversation? Does that fan encourage their Facebook friends to “Like” your page and buy your product? Do they end up Retweeting your brand on Twitter to 15,000 followers of their own?
These are the inherent truths when attempting to valuate a “Like” on a Facebook Page, and we here at Intrapromote would argue that the responsibility lies within the brand’s activity, atmosphere, and engagement on the Page to take that initial “Like” to a conversion.
The good news is the results are self-evident within Facebook, and everything is tracked from start to finish. Without the extra step for the user (the “Like” is applied automatically without the user ever leaving the page they’re on) the CTR is remarkably higher for these campaigns over other campaigns.
So when we attempt to discern the value of these “Likes” via Facebook Ads, we must take into account our current level of engagement on Facebook. Do a good number of fans regularly contribute to the Facebook page? Does your brand regularly contribute to the Facebook Page? If you engagement percentage remains above 15%, then these Ads will go very far for the price.
The Facebook Promotion
So you’re giving away your gizmo to one lucky Facebook fan, but you want to leverage the giveaway to create more Facebook fans in the meanwhile? Well, Facebook Ads is the best solution for these goals. In this, your clicks can be valuated dollar-to-dollar (metaphorically speaking).
Your goals are concise, and the platform is concise. “Enter to win a foosball table by being the 100,000th “Like” on our Facebook Page!” will garner those clicks and those conversions.
The wrench in the gears here is the follow-up. Many brands will take a look at the data that they collect during a promotion like that and say, “My oh my, look how many folks “Like” us! Good job, marketing team!”. Where the real work should only just be beginning. This is social media marketing 101: what do you do once they’re in the door?
Much like the previously mentioned Facebook Page “Like” campaign, the burden of conversion then falls directly onto the shoulders of the brand. Facebook has filled your coffers with potential consumers, and now you must put them to work engaging and falling in love with your product or service.
The metric to pay attention to here, again, is your engagement percentage. Keep it above 15%, and you will continue to grow your social media channels for conversion.
The Product Release
This is my favorite ad campaign to produce and manage. The amount of marketing data alone that comes from product release ads is astounding. The entire gamut of Facebook Advertising options are open to you for this one, videos, questions, images, “Likes”, giveaways…everything!
If implemented appropriately, this campaign will blow the socks off of any other marketing initiative that is currently being approved by your Senior VP of Marketing. Without gaining the market input from your ads, you are still left with the most valuable metric you possibly can receive for a product launch from Facebook Advertising: impressions.
Every dollar spent within this campaign will be well worth it since you will be enabled to show your product to exactly who needs to see your product, exactly when they need to see it. Absolutely employ the impressions-based pricing model for advertising this one, as that is your ultimate goal, is it not? You will receive more impressions for less money spent when bidding low on impressions, and Facebook won’t decide to turn you off for low click-throughs because they aren’t losing any money there either!
The only caveat I would submit for this is when you are tying in a giveaway promotion or attempting to draw attention to a best-selling product via your new product (bait and switch tactics). You will want to follow the previous suggestions for campaigns in these scenarios to valuate your clicks.
Have you quantified your clicks from Facebook Ads lately? How about your conversions from Google Adwords? Post your findings in the comments below! Our next installment will dig into the logistics of the two platforms when it comes to actual exposure. Stay tuned!
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The Business of Social Media: Three Ways to Rethink Your Social Performance
Any business can throw up a Facebook page or create a Twitter handle and have a presence in the social media space, but the organizations that truly succeed are the ones that are actually present in the social media space. Being present means managing the community on a day-to-day basis and approaching the community with the understanding that their needs come first.
It used to be that businesses were asking, “What is a community manager and how do I find one?” Now, however, the question is more along the lines of, “What can make our good community great?” Here are three ways you can instantly elevate your social media presence:
1. Lose the 24/7 Marketing Messages
One of the easiest ways to turn-off community members is to abuse the marketing messages. We’ve all seen them – the brands that market more than they converse – and we’ve all chosen to hide them from our news feed or unfollow them. Remember that when you’re playing in the social media space, you are there by invitation only. This isn’t television, where a rabid fan of a show will sit through commercials to pass the time. This time around, companies are invited into personal space and it is important to be respectful of that, or they risk being shut out with a simple click of the mouse.
2. Take the Heat or Get Out of the Kitchen
I once worked for a large corporation that only allowed their community managers to respond to direct questions. Saying “thanks,” or even, “I am not sure, but I’ll get back to you,” was a no-no in their eyes. Fortunately for me, I had a boss who understood that this was the exact opposite of a best practice, and he let me use my best judgment. When I started responding within minutes of a post, or even just thanking a fan for a compliment, the engagement rates for that company shot up by double digits.
This same rule applies to negative comments. 95% of the time, a Negative Nancy just wants to be heard. Simply letting them know their feedback is valuable (and it is!), and was heard by a real person will stop the complaint from escalating, and in many cases can turn a potentially negative brand experience into a positive one. Ignoring negative feedback? That’s SO 2010. If you’re going to play in the social media sandbox, then you better be ready to interact, respond, listen, and learn. Social media is a space where you have to commit. You can’t just show up some of the time and expect results.
3. Be Fearless
If you think about all of the brands that make the news in social, you’ll soon realize that the one major thing they have in common is that they’re fearless. My favorite example is Domino’s Pizza. They’ve used social media to entirely reinvent themselves over the course of the last 18 months. Not many companies are willing to put their CEO in front of consumers to communicate a brand message. Domino’s did and it paid off both financially and from the perspective of credibility. They created an experience for their consumers that allowed for a two-way conversation, not just a one-way marketing push. By stepping outside the comfort zone of traditional media, businesses can make big things happen for them in social media.
The Business of Social Media: Three Ways to Rethink Your Social Performance by @annabelleblue bit.ly/IPSM3 #engage #social
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 2, 2012
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