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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