9 Tips to Know When You Should be Using Facebook / LinkedIn Direct Ads

After efficiently using Adwords, I just thought how could Facebook and LinkedIn direct ads be different or how could these be more effective. Like Adwords, I did not get any free ad money to experiment my campaigns. I usually get free credit for Adwords but, I have to prepare myself to spend on Facebook and LinkedIn.

1. As matter of fact, Facebook and LinkedIn use almost the same algorithm of relevance and CTR to show the ads. The daily budget mechanism or setting of time to show your ads or the frequency is same. One major advantage of these networking sites is that you can target the exact age group, industry type, job function, title…based on the demographic profile you want to target. Google uses the ‘search’ mechanism while Facebook and LinkedIn use the ‘profile’ of the user to show the ads.
2. Unlike Google or Adwords, Facebook and LinkedIn target the profiles that are on Facebook and LinkedIn respectively. If your target audience are not on Facebook or LinkedIn then it is of no use of using these channels for your campaigns.
3. In Facebook you have to upload only a banner of standard size 110 x 80 pixels. Where as LinkedIn has 50 x 50 pixel image with the title and text. These banner sizes are pretty small and they are pretty strict with the image approval process for the banners. I really do not find major advantage of having such small images associated with the ad as the advertiser can hardly convey anything through these images.
4. Unlike Adwords, here you have an option to pay either as per CPC or CPM. And they really have a reason to have the CPM model as well. These sites are particularly for sharing knowledge or connect with your friends. Hardly, folks come here to see the banners and click them or in search of something as people do in Google. So, to start with you better go with CPC model as you pay only for clicks and do shell out money for unnecessary impressions.
5. If you are really looking at building a brand in particular country or segment or age group then you can do it on Facebook and LinkedIn and use the CPC model as it will really cost you very less. If you are not getting the required impressions then you can switch to CPM. Facebook has crossed Google in terms of traffic and you can really build lot of impressions in a short time.
6. Though Facebook and LinkedIn target as per the profiles, these sites also provide very limited amount of keywords to use to target. In Facebook this is called as tag filtering. But, one cannot estimate the amount of traffic these keywords can generate and the cost it will incur. Adwords clearly provides you with the estimates and it really helps in setting the daily budget. Still you can try using the filtering tags in Facebook for your audience hobbies, interests and tastes.
7. I found out that these sites really give you a poor CTR. Thus, you can use it for directing traffic to your blog or fan page or other social networking account. It is always better to use CPC model as it will not burn your budget unnecessarily. If you ads are not generating the required CTR, then expand the demographic scope slowly and find the optimum level that is really converting for you. Start with very specific target audience and slowly increase the scope depending on the required CTR and conversions.
8. The reporting system of clicks and costs is not as great as Adwords. The direct ads system is still new and in nascent stage and we may see improvements in the reporting and tracking mechanisms.
    
9. We can use content targeting for Adwords where we can show our ads on other sites which are in Google’s content network. While in Facebook and LinkedIn it is limited to the sites.

Bottom-line is there is nothing like Adwords. Facebook and LinkedIn do provide specific audience to your landing page, but it is difficult to get those clicks and to convert them. Unlike Adwords, visitors are looking / searching for the required info and it is easy to convert them. Adwords identifies the users’ instant needs and has the mechanism to show the relevant ads to them.

I would like to suggest that you need to decide where your target audience is and act accordingly. You may have your target audience on Facebook and it may help you in tapping the missing traffic from these channels. For example if you have a dating or matrimonial website, then social networking sites may work well for you as you can target as per the gender, age, marital status and interest. To add more if you have gaming sites similar to Farmville or the Mafia then Facebook can be the better choice as compared to Adwords not only in targeting the right interest group but you may get economical CPC as well.

Do let me know your experiences as well and would like to read your comments.

5 Easy Tips to Improve the CTR for Google Adwords

It really helps a lot in conversions and better ROI if you try to improve the CTR for your ads in Google Adwords. The better the CTR, the better the ad position with the lower CPC, which leads to quality clicks. And finally this leads to better conversions and better ROI.

Here are few easy tips which can help you to increase the CTR. Couple of them are the same old tips, but rest of them are new ones and are working well for my ads. You can test them out and let me know if it worked for you as well.

1. Spend money on keywords that work: Use exact match or phrase match for the keywords (use of square brackets or quotes like [keywords] or “keywords”). This helps in avoiding unwanted clicks. You will get the clicks which your ad is supposed to be clicked for. This way you get only potential customers to click the ad. Even the use of negative keywords will filter the unwanted clicks. Check for more details on Google Adwords.
2. Double Advantage: Have variable title for the ads like – {Keyword: Default Title} where you need to replace the default title with suitable text. Visitors tend to click if they find the keyword they are searching for in the ad. In addition to that, Google bolds the keyword which is being searched. So, you will have a double advantage to use the keywords in the title.
3. Create Urgency: Try to use good call-to-action lines in the ad copy. Let it create the sense of urgency to make the visitor click. Keep in mind that your ad is being shown among your competitors and you need to attract that click. Try testing these which suits the ad – Click now, Get it now, Download free trial, Try our trial today, Special Offer, only for today…
4. Specific Action: Direct the visitor in the ad the action he/she has to make after clicking. This will help them to make a quick decision to click or not. For example: Register now, Buy at a discount, Download the white paper, Read brochure…
5. Numberings: Numbers really help in attracting quality clicks. Try putting the prices in the copy. The visitor will decide prior to clicking the ad if he/she finds the price attractive. You can also put toll free numbers in the ad as it will avoid that click and the visitor will directly call you and will not click. Just give a unique phone number so that you can track the calls and calculate the conversions and ROI.

I would like to hear your experiences too in this regard.

Related posts:

13 Easy Tips to Make Landing Pages More Effective
6 Basic Tips for a Perfect PPC Campaign

Grow Your Business with Google AdWords: 7 Quick and Easy Secrets for Reaching More Customers with the World's #1 Search Engine

ZooZoo: The New Special Brand Character for Vodafone

This series of ads from Vodafone are awesome. Not only me, I guess many of the viewers; do not change the channel when they see this ad. Vodafone has come up with this special campaign for TV ads during the IPL matches. Even in IPL 2008, Vodafone used the ‘Happy To Help’ campaign, and now in 2009, it has come up with these special characters called ZooZoo. These ads particularly convey the value added services provided by Vodafone. The complete series of these ads have been created by O&M.

Now, the question is – Is it animated? Even, I thought the same and was admiring the way they animated the series. But, this is not at all animated. They have used slim woman and girls from the Mumbai theaters, stuffed with cushion to get the alien or egghead like shapes. Really, a marvelous piece of commercial and I like it for the following reasons –

1. They used simple design for the character – eggheads, white color body, black for eyes and lips – using emoticons shapes to show the feelings. They kept all this very simple.
2. No language for communication only sounds which communicate what they want to convey.
3. They used different ads and story to convey each value added service. Thus, not making the viewer bore to see the same ad every time.

You will also be surprised to know that these ads have become very popular and are most watched on YouTube and there are about 50,000 fans on Facebook. They also have a special microsite for IPL and they have used these ZooZoos there too and you can download the ZooZoos wallpapers, screensavers and more.So, this Vodafone campaign is not only popular during the IPL ad-breaks, but it is also picking up popularity in the online community.

Zo, what do zoo think?

Will the ZooZoos become bigger than the brand or the message?

Should ZooZoos be used beyond the VAS too?

Did O&M try to give much hype using the media to make this concept popular?

Will this campaign increase the sales of VAS for Vodafone?

Only time can answer all these questions. But, the bottom line is Vodafone is now clearly jumped out of the ‘Pug’ campaign.

Source: Afaqs

Couples Tie The Wedding Knot On The Web

According to the news article in The Asian Age, one of the Reliance World store was used for formalizing a Nikaah (wedding) through video conferencing. The bride and the groom where in two different geographies – Canada and India and the rituals were carried over through the video conference.

Modern digital technology has come as rescue for not only corporate companies who are using it to cut costs and save time, but to common consumers as well. They are using it to communicate with their family members and relatives rather than spending time and money on travelling.

Reliance has 12% growth in video conferencing in FY 08-09 and expects much more this fiscal year. Cisco reports 31% increase in usage of web collaborative solutions, especially video conferencing in March 2009 compared to March 2008.

While the market for video conferencing is still small in India with manufacturers generating product and services sales of around $35 million in 2008, industry players agree that the demand for such solutions in the future can only go one way — upwards.

So, can we expect virtual honeymoons now?

Will US Local Ad Market Shrink?

Will the local online takeover traditional local marketing in US? Just have a look at what Kelsey Group and BIA Advisory Services say in their research report.

There is a bad news and the good news about the local advertising.

First with the bad news - The local traditional advertising will be much less in 2013 as compared to 2008. Both the firms predict a compound annual -1.4% overall growth rate, with the largest drop-off in local ad spending occurring in 2009.

The traditional media spend in 2008 is $141 billion and is forecasted to fall to $112 billion in 2013.

Now the good news - The local online ad market is growing, will continue to grow and make up a larger percentage of the local traditional media sector. This year about 11.5% of ad spending for local will be online that means to say yellow pages, emailing, SEM etc. And this will increase to 22% in 2013.

“The share shift we expect (traditional vs digital) could actually be more pronounced if the major traditional media are not able to integrate new interactive products into their bundle,” said Neal Polachek of Kelsey.

(Source: eMarketer.com)