Facebook Ads VS Google AdWords

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Remember that scene in 2001 when David is looking out into to space and he says “its beautiful’ as he tries to grasp the mystery and awesomeness of the universe. I had a similar moment as I dived into this weeks content. There is so much to digest and engage with. It’s intimidating and exciting at the same time. I still have a lot to learn.

This week we had to take a closer look at Facebook ads and Google AdWords.

My research started with Facebook Ads.

Facebook ads. Why do they work?

Facebook ads allow you to target individuals or groups by their profiles. Alumni, Star Wars fanatics, and shopper moms can be targeted with impressive precision. Direct and personalized messaging is created to capture the targets attention.

Why Facebook ads are problematic.

1.              Poor metrics and tracking options as compared to the wealth of data provided by Google AdWords.

2.              Facebook requires ads to do well in the first 1000 clicks or the ad will be pulled from circulation.

3.              Research has shown that Facebook ads require a longer period of time to be effective that Google AdWords.

4.              Facebook ads are a push tactic. The product has to be pushed in front of the audience to be noticed. The audience is not necessarily looking to make a purchase. This makes it difficult to establish ROI and if the correct messaging strategy is being used. The following statistics by insideFacebook shows that only 6.2% of Facebook users actively show interest in ads.  53.5% don’t mind the ads. 43% dislike them. The platform is still a new channel and the kinks are being worked out.

Dan Slagen, head of global marketing for HubSpot offers a short list of what an effective Facebook ad should contain to be successful:

1. High Relevance

2. Compelling call to action

3. Value proposition

Using this list I audited a Facebook ad on my own account.

Relevance: Is Target relevant to me? Maybe. Many of my ‘friends’ on Facebook have liked them. My wife shops there. The connection makes sense. Black Friday is right around the corner so the timing of the ad works.

Call to action: The call to action is clear. Target has a deal for me. 

Value Proposition:

Not much on value propositions other than the promise of the deal. Not much more needs to be said but there is nothing all that special or disruptive about this ad.
I am not on Facebook to shop so I did not click on it. It is this ‘push’ process found with Facebook ads that makes them a challenge.

Google AdWords.

Facebook ads requires the brand to push their message in front of the customer, who is on the site to be social, not necessarily to shop. Google AdWords offers a pull process because the user is actively searching for something. This makes Google AdWords a different kind of animal. Creating a campaign with Google AdWords can be tricky. There are a lot of moving parts. According to Google AdWord expert Tom Demers there are five key areas to lock down before the campaign is launched.

1. Understand the economic fundamentals of your campaign
By defining conversion points, the value of a conversion, if the ROI is attractive, and how the conversions will be tracked, the campaign can be managed and measured with more success.

2. Start Small, Iterate, and Expand
Starting small costs less time and money. As success or failure is measured changes to key words and locations can be made.

3. Understand campaign settings – A useful organization tool provided by Google to help track the campaign. Demer’s suggest you get to know these tools well as they make a difference on how a campaign can be tracked.

4. Pay attention to campaign basics. Demer gives us five key areas of focus:

1.              Search Query Mining – Are the ads in the right place

2.              Account Structure – Do you have the right key words and ad groupings

3.              Ad Creative  - Test a variation of copy options

4.              Landing Page Design – Make this look good!

5.              Bid Management – Is the money being spent in the right places?

5. The final tip is to think about how the campaign might grow. By starting off small, being diligent in measurement and adapting to success and failure the campaign will gain momentum and profitability. The temptation to start off big with many moving parts should be avoided.

Technically these the majority of these tips could work for Facebook Ads as well. Their metrics system is similar, although proprietary, which makes things a little more complicated.  AdWords has had more success because of the pull advantage. Customers are looking. As a marketer I need to know the advantages and disadvantages of both. This exercise in research their functionality makes it clear I still have a to learn!

References:

Demers. Tom, (2012, January 30) Google AdWords: 5 things to get right first. Retrieved on November 11^th 2012 from http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/01/30/google-adwords-basics

Geogieva, Magdalena. (2012, January 19) 20 Facebook Ad Metrics Marketers should http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30895/20-Facebook-Ad-Metrics-Marketers-Should-Know.aspx know. Retrieved on November 11^th 2012 from

Narayanasamy. Selena, (2012, Feburary 8^th) Push Me. Pull Me: Push-ull in Social Media. Retrieved on November 11^th 2012 from http://www.blueglass.com/blog/push-me-pull-me-push-pull-in-social-media/

Slagen. Dan, (2012, June 22^nd) 10 Examples of Facebook Ads that actually work and why. Retrieved on November 11^th 2012 from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33319/10-Examples-of-Facebook-Ads-That-Actually-Work-And-Why.aspx