What’s Your Experience with Facebook Advertising?

Some social media and internet marketing topics on the web get a ton of buzz, Facebook advertising isn’t one of them.

I did a search on the topic, and I think I can still hear the echoes on my computer from the search engines.

In reviewing the Facebook stats page, there are over 350 million users, and 50% of active users log on in any given day. Fan pages alone have created over 5 billion fans.

Recommended: Are Facebook Ads Better than Google Adwords? This guy thinks so. If a Facebook Marketing Strategy is what you need, then listen to this. (Caution: somewhat strong language…and opinions)

What’s Your Experience with Facebook Advertising?

With these huge numbers, why is little spoken of this traffic source? One thought is, either nobody is using it, or it is the best kept secret for pay-per-click advertising on the web. Since Facebook became cashflow neutral several months ago, the revenue must be coming from somewhere, right?

What is your experience with Facebook Ads as a promotion tool for your business? Have you ignored it? Tried it? Big believer? Chime in below.

WP Greet Box icon

Hello there! If you are new here, you might like to subscribe to the RSS feed.

Facebook Marketing Strategy, social pay per click, traffic generation

About Travis Campbell

Husband. Dad. Marketing automator. Author. Educating and coaching others in their online business endeavors. Here's his Google profile.

View all posts by Travis Campbell →

Stay in the Loop

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.

← 3 Ways I Use Mindmapping for Marketing Online

How to Advertise on Facebook in 10 Minutes or Less →

Mike

Not been a big fan of Facebook Ads. I tried it shortly after it was released, and the results weren't worth it at the time.
alex rogers

I only read reviews that it wasn't getting results for marketers, so I discarded it. Perhaps worth a revisit.
Debbie

I recently started testing it, too early to share anything meaningful, but will check back.
http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

Interesting feedback. Thanks for chiming in all.

Others?
http://socialblazeapp.com/ Cassie Rice

Like the others, I've heard about very low click thru rates, so I haven't tried it. What works best for Facebook, at least for me, is engaging with the customers by asking questions, providing useful content and creating promotions. The ads really aren't necessary – rather spend the money on something else.

http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

Great advise Cassie. There has to be a way to leverage paid social traffic, especially considering how targeted you can get (today's post “How to Advertise on Facebook in 10 Minutes or Less”), wouldn't you agree? -Travis

http://socialblazeapp.com/ Cassie Rice

I agree there has to be a way to leverage paid social traffic. I think the best way to do that is by having some type of viral contest or offering something for free so that way you will really get your money's worth.

http://www.richlandcollege.edu/ Whitney Rosenbalm

We decided against it on the non-research based (but certainty) that none of us ever clicked on FB ads. I agree, the interaction is extremely meaningful. I only wish there weren't limitations with Fan Pages, like not being able to share them — it could spread the message so much more quickly that way. A lot of ads on other sites, I've noticed, are advertising “Become A Fan” buttons on the ad. Great way to build followers, but I wonder about driving traffic AWAY from the site (and decreasing our hits).

http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

Whitney-

Thanks for chiming in here. I'm not sure what you mean when you reference limitations of not sharing a FB fan page. You can certainly promote a fan page within the Facebook Ad framework. If you have a plan for people to get more from you after they become a fan, meaning going to your main internet property, it can be a really effective strategy. You can find out more about that in the post entitled Why Email Marketing Should Be the Hub of Your Social Marketing Efforts .

http://twitter.com/johnbuffey John Buffey

Whilst working as Head of Digital Media in a UK advertising agency that specialised in the recruitment and education market, we used Facebook Ads across a broad cross-section of clients – both large and small. With the degree of targeting available we were able to run highly focussed campaigns to niche target audiences (e.g. Social Workers) for minimal costs. The ROI on this was excellent compared to other forms of digital channels (display, search, job boards). We found most success with graduate campaigns and with companies that had a well known brand.

I'd thoroughly recommend it as a tool, just take the time to get the targetting criteria right.

http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

John- Excellent insight, thanks for sharing, it looks like it will only get better. If you haven't started with FB advertising, or had a bad experience. Now is a great time to try again.

http://twitter.com/johnbuffey John Buffey

Whilst working as Head of Digital Media in a UK advertising agency that specialised in the recruitment and education market, we used Facebook Ads across a broad cross-section of clients – both large and small. With the degree of targeting available we were able to run highly focussed campaigns to niche target audiences (e.g. Social Workers) for minimal costs. The ROI on this was excellent compared to other forms of digital channels (display, search, job boards). We found most success with graduate campaigns and with companies that had a well known brand.

I'd thoroughly recommend it as a tool, just take the time to get the targetting criteria right.
http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

John- Excellent insight, thanks for sharing, it looks like it will only get better. If you haven't started with FB advertising, or had a bad experience. Now is a great time to try again.
http://www.html5champion.com/ Html5 Conversion

Great case study, FB is so much fun. Not easy all the time when it
comes to driving a large profit, but especially helpful for branding
and driving likes to one’s fan page.

Join Now for Instant Access to the Top 10 Marketers FAQ Special Reports