Facebook Advertising Is Overhyped
That’s right, I think Facebook advertising is overhyped and it’s just a phase that people seem to be going through promoting facebook products because it’s ‘hot’. I’m not denying people have made plenty of money from Facebook advertising, but over the past couple weeks, my results are pretty conclusive about the effectiveness of Facebook PPC.
Google Adwords still reigns supreme when it comes to traffic and target precision. You bid on keywords while people are actively looking for information related to those keywords. They’re in the mood and position to take information as they’re seeking information.
Last time I logged into Facebook, it wasn’t to seek out information, it was to socialize. I myself pay not attention to any of the ads, and I imagine a huge portion of Facebook users do the same thing.
Facebook’s Terrible CTR
Doing some searching online will show you the results people get and the click through rates for Facebook ads are terrible compared to Google. People discussing how they get close to 1% and they’re excited about it. My best so far has been 0.120% mean while for the same campaign in Adwords I have a CTR of 13.05% People don’t want to be bothered by ads while socializing. I don’t like it when people come and ask me to buy flowers or donate money while I sit and eat at a restaurant. It’s the same idea, I’m not out shopping for those things, I’m not going to be very interested.
Google Adwords
When you put your ad in front of a user on Google who is actively seeking information because they want it, or need it, that is a good time to be advertising. They’re far more receptive to your ads because they’re not being interrupted, they’re looking for something and you’re helping them find answers. The ads that are popping up are relevant to what their problem is. When I check out my friends pictures on Facebook and I see nothing but “SEO Link Building” ads on the right. I pay no attention to them, nor click on them. I’m not interested in that right now, I’m busy!
Summary
This is just a quick post, I wanted to get that out there, after testing 15 different ads and variations of copy, images, and demographics, getting a click through rate of 1% is a dream few will ever achieve. I’ve had far better click through rates and conversions from my Adwords traffic for the same campaign. Why? Because these people were open to it.
To be fair, I guess it’s still traffic, so don’t ignore it. But these products coming out saying that Facebook is taking over Google are outrageous. Just because it has more traffic or will have more traffic, doesn’t mean it’s quality traffic to market to. It’s an audience of almost 500 million people that aren’t looking for your services or help at that moment.
It can be useful for some quick tests because at the moment you can get cheap traffic. But you cannot set it and forget it. The CTR of FB ads drops quickly as people become numb to the images. Most ads will not survive a week or so.
Google is a market of 14 billion searches per month that ARE actively seeking something, maybe it’s a service you offer. I’ll place my bets on Adwords over Facebook advertising anyday. Don’t get caught up in the FB hype, yes it’s traffic, but it’s not the magic traffic source people are making it out to be.
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Filed Under: PPC
Well, of course your CTR is going to be higher with Adwords… it’s highly targeted people looking for your solutions that are seeing your link.
Facebook knows who you are and what your interests are.
Whereas, Google knows what you’re looking for at that particular moment.
Facebook ads need to be seen in a different context. If I were a plumber, for example, I wouldn’t be advertising my services on Facebook Ads. No one puts “plumbing” as their interests.
However, If I were, say, a wedding planner, I would be targeting females who who’ve set their statuses to engaged on Facebook.
The beauty is, Facebook has this info. Facebook knows if you’re engaged, or like comic books, or if you’re 16.
Therefore, smart marketers will utilize these statistics to their benefit.
Google only wishes they had this sort of information. That’s why Google constantly says that Facebook has the opportunity to become the better advertising platform.
It’s really about how good your copywriting skills are, and your eye for attention-grabbing artwork, and what you’re offering.
So, yeah dude, I agree, FB ads are overhyped… by the gurus that are selling Facebook info products!
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Hi Kevin
An interesting take on facebook. Just wondered about your search foigure on Google. The last data I saw was that in Dec Comscor recorded 90 billion searches on Google that month. I know it is Christmas though even now I think you might find it much higher than 14 million.
Cheers
Denise
PS Nice Site!
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Kevin Reply:
September 28th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Hi Denise,
Thanks for stopping by.
I think you mis-read the the million, it says 14 billion.
I recent report from ComScore for July 2010 is 10.3 on Google sites. http://dmlnk.co/bBmEw6
I just read another post on socialmediatoday talking about how Twitter followers are worth more than facebook fans. Again goes back to the purpose and reason why people are even on Facebook to begin with and why I don’t think it’s this magic bullet advertising platform that people make it out to be. Check it out here http://dmlnk.co/aOqv41
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Mmmm… VERY interesting. I’m new to Facebook and was thinking about advertising my AdWords Campaign Manager software there. Now I’m not so sure. I’m not good at that side of business. Do you think that my software would attract anyone there?
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Kevin Reply:
December 17th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Absolutely, things have changed I think since I last wrote that, I’ve also changed my opinion slightly. I still think adwords contextual ads for the most part perform better, but you can’t ignore the traffic and cheap costs of buying traffic from facebook. My current campaign on facebook costs me $0.18/click. It’s not a huge target list (the more you target the higher you’ll pay, but you can see estimates before even starting). You’ll have to find a way to target people who would be interested in your software based on things they have posted in their profile.
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Thanks for the email this morning. Truly wasn’t expecting it since it’s Sunday morning and all! You truly are the most helpful blogger/marketer I “know”.
So I’m thinking that I can be confident in asking your recommendation for a program/resource that teaches PPC. I know that I plaster you with questions, but I haven’t found any luck anywhere else.
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James Reply:
January 30th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Oh, and what’s your impression on Mobile PPC (i.e. admob)? There’s a lot of hype about it, but I have the same impression about it that you have about Facebook.
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Kevin Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:36 pm
I haven’t really touched the mobile PPC. From my only exposure (which would be my iPhone) I rarely see the ads (you need to use the apps that display adds) and two, I don’t click on them.
Could be good, but I don’t really know enough to comment beyond my own experience on the receiving end of the ads (which is a failure from my experience).
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Kevin Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I haven’t done much with PPC to be honest. I know one big name in PPC is Perry Marshall. He writes a very popular and detailed guide “Definitive Guide to Adwords”. You’ll definitely learn A LOT from that guide. You’ll find it on his blog I believe http://www.perrymarshall.com.
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