I started running some tests today on Facebook’s new-ish Facebook Flyers Pro program. It’s fairly new but significantly different from the normal Facebook Flyers ad system.
Facebook Flyers is similar to CPM – you pay $10 per 5000 “impressions”. Facebook Flyers Pro is cost per click, which is more like Google Adwords, where you pay for clicks as opposed to just impressions (which you can burn through at a ridiculous rate). The CPM system doesn’t do much for you unless you’re a big brand advertiser – and even then it’s questionable.
Facebook Flyers Pro (or should I say Facebook CPC) is really meant for smaller type ads – there’s a daily spending cap of $50. The advantage of the system is that it allows you to target very specific demographics. It’s even better than MSN’s demographic targeting – and probably a lot more accurate. You can choose:
- country and/or city (good for international ads)
- sex
- age
- political view
- relationship status
- education status (with the ability to drill down further)
- workplace
- keywords
This is awesome targeting. Here’s an example: “You are targeting about 8,200 liberal men between 18 and 24 years old who are single in the United States who are sophomores in college and like Red Hot Chili Peppers.” It’s a marketer’s dream, assuming you have something good to market. And yes, that’s the actual number of people who fit that precise demographic. Notice that it gives you the precise number of people you’re targeting.
The type of stuff you can advertise is limited. Here are some things you’re not allowed to advertise:
- ATF (alcohol, tobacco, firearms)
- Gambling
- Ringtones
- Software downloads – freeware, or shareware
- Pharmaceuticals
- Adult friend finders or dating sites with a sexual emphasis
- Web cams or surveillance equipment (No X10)
- Web-based non-accredited colleges that offer degrees (No Devry)
- Politically religious agendas or hate stuff, or inflammatory religious content
- Political content that exploits political agendas or uses “hot button” political issues (so no FOX News?)
One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of Facebook users are there for social reasons (and are probably not in the buying mindset). So if you have something really targeted that’s not too commercial, it’s probably a good advertising channel. The jury is still out on whether it’s good for targeted affiliate marketing.
I setup a few flyers in the system and have learned a few things along the way. I already had a dating ad shut down (even though it did not have a “sexual emphasis”) so I’m assuming all dating ads are disallowed. Here was the message I got after a few minutes:
An This ad has been disabled and should not be run again on the site under any circumstance. Generally we disable an ad if it violates our Terms of Service of Advertising Guidelines. Unfortunately we cannot provide you with the specific violations that have been deemed abusive. Please review our Terms and Guidelines if you have further questions.
Anyone else have any experience with Facebook ads?
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No clients of mine have wanted to make the foray into Facebook yet, but how have your results been so far? On another blog you posted a comment that the volume and CTR were dismal; I think I would expect the volume issue, but the lack of a higher CTR is interesting. Do you think it’s due to the lack of a dynamic ad (I think it’s more, for lack of a better term, underwhelming than Google text ads)? Is it because people who use Facebook are there solely for communicating (rather than browsing) and therefore don’t want to be interrupted? You would think such targeted placement would help CTR… curious…
I think it’s a combination of poor ad placement (bottom left and out of the way) and the fact that Facebook users have no buying intent. They’re on Facebook for purely social reasons. It’s a bit surprising that it’s so abysmal.
What implications does this have in the broader context then? I found a recent post about an embarrassing MySpace CTR; do you think this means that supporting social networking sites through advertising may not be as feasible as we had hoped, or, conversely, do we simply need to come up with new means of advertising on these sites? I was called a “naysayer” by another blogger because I think it’s extremely difficult to monetize Web 2.0; is this evidence more anecdotal or does it point to an actual trend?
I think you have a good point Adrian – monetizing web 2.0 can be tricky – I don’t think anyone has the answer yet.
we’ve just started advertising using facebook to promote our free content only. Since we’re paying per click, we’re getting tons of free impressions, a very low CTR and even lower conversion – even for free content