GM announced yesterday they have pulled out of Facebook Marketing Ads. You know, those little sidebar ads that seem to know who your are... I guess GM, the world's largest automotive manufacturer found they didn't seem to work.
Big learning - Paying for Word-of-Mouth is super hard.
Word-of-Mouth is supposed to be an authentic part of a conversation that a friend promotes (or I guess denounces) an establishment or product to another friend. This advice normally comes from experience or a story of another friend's experience.
Sometimes it is as simple as a friend saying "I heard of something that could work for you... It's [insert product, establishment, service]." That moment is often because the reference is "top of mind"... something brand advertisers try for with repetitive, interruption whether in print, online or on entertainment media.
Certainly as Henry Blodget notes in his article Like Hell Facebook is Killing Google, Facebook Ads and other "social networking advertising is like hanging signs on the walls of a house during a party and sending sales reps to mingle with the crowd." Social Media marketers are trying to interrupt an engaged reader... Exactly what TV advertisers have been doing for years.
Are they in effective? Not totally.
They are most often way early on the timeline of a purchase cycle.
Google Ads on the other hand "can capture the consumer's attention at the exact moment that the consumer is looking for something to buy." These ads are always going to beat Facebook's on conversion.
What should you do?
1) Put money in Google Ads, to be close to the buying decision.
2) Put a little money in Facebook Ads which can be very targeted to the "Likes" of the viewer (which is their strength).
3) Then... Track success. Refine. Go back to start. Track success. Refine. Go back to start...
Rodney