Jan 272015
 
facebook

Basically, before an ad campaign launches, advertisers can create two test groups: a control group of Facebook users who won’t see the ads, and a second group of users who will. Then, after the campaign runs, advertisers can compare the behavior of the two groups.

The new service move is just one way that the giants of the net—and a wide range of other companies—are working to show that modern technology can not only deliver ads in more pointed ways, but actually prove that people are responding to ads. Google, Twitter, and Adobe are the other big names here. But for Forrester analyst Richard Joyce, who closely follows the online advertising market, Facebook is uniquely positioned to track the success of ads, because it collects so much personal data about its users.

“This can be very powerful,” Joyce says. “It’s hard to create this kind of 360-degree view of the user without the kind of data that Facebook has.”

via Facebook Rolls Out a Tool for Testing Ads With Control Groups | WIRED.

 

 


 

May 282013
 

 facebook

Marketers at Vistaprint, Dove and Nissan will have been very busy recently. All three have fallen victim to advertising appearing next to compromising content on Facebook. The companies found their collateral next to materials supporting and making light of domestic abuse which has led to a customer backlash and severe criticism in the media.

Both companies were quick to respond to the issue, with Vistaprint posting an explanation on their Facebook page, and Nissan on their Twitter feed. While Dove hasn’t replied on either platform, it’s written to campaigners to apologise. However, the fundamental problem with the Facebook platform is that it targets individuals and not the content of each of the pages where the adverts land. Because of what might be totally innocent searches of Facebook or page ‘Likes’, adverts can then appear on pages which have the worst kind of content on them. And according to Facebook’s own rules, it’s up to users to self-regulate the site. There are no protective measures in place for brands.

All of this comes at a time when the pressure group the Everyday Sexism Project has been challenging brands to better manage where their advertising appears. The group wants companies to introduce stricter practices to help prevent against them appearing to support such material.

MORE:   Vistaprint’s Facebook fail just the tip of the iceberg « iMediaConnection Blog.

 

 


 

May 212013
 

 facebook

Since the beginning of last year, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of ad placements and supported platforms available to advertisers on Facebook. Now, knowing what options you have at your disposal is more important than ever!

Facebook took improvements in ad space pretty seriously and implementing these changes proved to be a successful – Facebook’s mobile efforts, in particular, are starting to achieve impressive results.

During the first quarter of 2013, 30% of Facebook’s ad revenue came from mobile devices, rising from 23% during the previous quarter and 14% the quarter before that. In the first quarter of 2012, Facebook mobile constituted 0% of its total revenue. The company has also begun focusing more on ads in the News Feed, opening up a lot of opportunities for advertisers.

Ad Placement Options

Currently, there are six different ad placements available to advertisers:

Homepage

All Facebook

News Feed (desktop, mobile)

Typeahead

Logout Page (available only through Facebook IO)

MORE:   Know Your Place! Where to Put Ads on Facebook | Social Media Statistics & Metrics | Socialbakers.

 

 


 

May 212013
 

Facebook is maturing as an ad platform, but are brands really seeing ROI? Here’s a case study that examines the true potential of this social network.

When Southeast Toyota Distributors decided to focus ad spend on Facebook, it didnt guarantee dealerships that sales would rise. However, after launching several local Facebook campaigns, revenue with a Facebook footprint started to pour in.

 

MORE:  Do Facebook ads work? – iMediaConnection.com.

 

 


 

Mar 052013
 

facebook

Facebook today confirmed dwindling engagement with public posts to subscribers cited by The New York Times’ Nick Bilton, other journalists, and I, but calls us isolated cases, noting public figures with more than 10,000 fans are now getting 34 percent more Likes and comments than a year ago. While Facebook often changes the news feed to improve the user experience, the inconsistency is irksome.

So here’s the story. Yesterday, Nick Bilton of the New York Times wrote that when using Facebook’s Twitter-esque Subscribe feature to post public updates to his subscribers, he’s getting a lot fewer Likes and comments than a year ago. He suggested this is because Facebook is showing more ads instead.

Other journalists including me cited similar experiences, where our Facebook follower counts had grown significantly, but we were getting equal or less engagement now than in the months after Subscribe launched. I suggested that along with the presence of ads, people sharing more posts that compete for news feed space and Facebook’s tendency to give more feed presence to new products may have been responsible for the drought.

In a bit of damage control, Facebook sent out the following statement, hoping to frame these cases as flukes. Here’s the full-text, with my comments in brackets.

READ MORE:  Facebook Admits Likes Are Down For Some Celebrities’ Posts, But Claims Up 34% For Most | TechCrunch.

 

 


 

Feb 112013
 

old-tv

Many complained that this years Super Bowl commercials were lackluster, didnt push the edge enough, werent entertaining, etc. Theres a reason for that. Companies that choose to advertise for the Super Bowl face a huge risk. Not only is there the average $4 million investment this year for a 30 second spot, but then there is the criticism from critics, the media, special interest groups. Heaven forbid that one of them is upset by something in the commercial.

One of the most controversial ads this year was GoDaddys ad with a super model making out with a computer nerd.

MORE:  South Florida Interactive Marketing Association Blog: Super Bowl Ads – The Criticism Hurts.

 

 


 

Jan 092013
 

facebook

Some Hollywood executives are questioning the value of Facebook ads and fan pages, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The report says film execs “confide privately they are considering cutting their spending on Facebook ads,” though everyone on the record said the social network was still one of a number of important channels to drive awareness about upcoming films. The article suggests that studios, like companies in other industries, are skeptical of the returns on paying for Likes, especially as News Feed changes limit the organic reach of page posts.

But with the way most studios approach Facebook ads, it’s no wonder why they would think the cost is too high and the results aren’t there. That doesn’t mean Facebook is an ineffective channel; it means Hollywood isn’t using it in the best way for its business. Movie marketers are emphasizing Likes at the wrong point in the funnel, and they’re not using the right ad formats for their goals.

Facebook’s head of entertainment measurement Fred Leach told the LA Times that 99 percent of all films released in the past year advertised on the social network. Yet, when was the last time you saw a sponsored movie trailer in your desktop or mobile News Feed? Most people would say “never” because studios typically run ads in the Facebook sidebar — the unit with the lowest clickthrough rates and highest costs per click. Few studios, if any, are taking advantage of the more prominent placement directly in the feed. Not only are users more likely to click and engage with these ads, the branding is more significant even at an impression level. For Hollywood, which likes to wrap buses and buildings with promotional material and take over web homepages, it’s a surprise the News Feed isn’t regularly swamped with movie marketing.

Instead, studios often run marketplace ads with a small image, body copy and a Like button. First of all, it’s odd to ask users to Like a movie before they’ve seen it. Similar to many advertisers in other industries, studios are leading with Like campaigns when awareness and content marketing make more sense. For studios’ other online advertising, trailer views are typically the most important KPI, but often on Facebook they inexplicably run Like ads rather than video ads.

MORE:  What Hollywood gets wrong about Facebook marketing.

 

 


 

Jan 032013
 

facebook

After eight years focused on user growth and building the foundations of its platform — News Feed, location and Open Graph, among others — Facebook went into 2012 prepared to go public and become more serious about monetization.

The social network launched several new ad types and began a number of other potential money-making ventures. Here’s a look at Facebook’s monetization efforts last year and how they might evolve in 2013.

News Feed/Mobile Ads

News Feed ads, starting with Sponsored Stories, launched in January. These same ad types came to the mobile feed in March, and over time, the social network began allowing page post units and other non-social ads. Mobile app installs came to the feed in August. Facebook previously allowed feed-based ads in 2007 but it had never shown ads on mobile devices until this year. Now, the social network is earning $4 million a day from News Feed ads, with three-fourths of that from the mobile feed.

MORE:  How Facebook’s latest monetization efforts may take shape in 2013.

 

 


 

Oct 032012
 

Clicks aren’t the right metric for brand advertisers, Facebook Head of Measurement and Insights Brad Smallwood told the audience at the IAB MIXX Conference in New York today.

Smallwood shared results from recent campaign studies that indicated impressions, reach and frequency were more valuable than clicks. Specifically, 99 percent of sales came from users who saw an ad but did not interact with it. Campaigns that optimized for reach were 70 percent more effective at driving ROI, and campaigns that optimized for frequency had a 40 percent increase in ROI.

MOREFacebook says impressions, reach and frequency matter more than clicks.

 

Aug 152012
 

When it comes to exercising the advertising muscle of political campaigns, candidates have a new set of tactics at their disposal. This political season, campaigns are expected to spend a whopping $9.8 billion in political advertising. Beyond the increased campaign budgets, the advertising technologies fueling the campaigns have also evolved in the last four years for both TV and online advertising. Heres how:

MORE:  7 political ad tactics every marketer should know