I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting an increasing number of spam emails and other notifications pushing Facebook ads, or Facebook pay-per-click regardless of the reported facebook ad problems. I’ve even gotten a few with the intro, “Did you know you can reach more people on facebook than google”? Total BS in my opinion! I recently attended a seminar at a conference that was headlined, “Advanced Social Media”…as opposed to “Beginner Social Media”, I suppose. As it turns out it was just another agency pushing Facebook ads.
Facebook ad programs might work, to a degree, but we (ZDM) stand by the recommendation to spend most of your time creating good content on your website. You’ll get much better long-term results than anything you can do on facebook. One huge issue Facebook is “facing” is “like fraud”. There are countless click farms collecting money to “like” millions of posts and pages. Facebook is aware of the problem and say they are working diligently to rid the network of the scourge. We believe they are, but the fact is, facebook may be hugely benefiting (for now) by the fraud. In their (facebook) effort to isolate the fraudulent activity, they have created an even worse problem. To disguise their fraudulent act of liking for pay, the illegal clickers are “liking” millions of pages, comments, and even (facebook) ads for which they have not been paid. So, the money you pay facebook for ads, could result in a portion of the clicks being eaten up by fraudulent clickers. Who benefits from that? Please don’t be mistaken, we’re not saying facebook is behind the fraudulent activity, we’re just pointing out that they’re making more money as the result of the activity they are claiming to curb.
Much of the hype surrounding facebook ads relates to the lower cost of clicks compared to similar terms on google as well as the ability to better “zero” in on the target. The ad system does allow one to get down to some serious target specifics and is very easy to use. Just beware, the fraud (that still exists) is devaluing the ads purchased and your pages activity.
We’re not completely “anti-facebook” here, though I admit it is not my personal favorite passtime. I have lessened my efforts for business purposes and use it more to keep up with friends and family. We have some clients who claim success from their business efforts on facebook. But, much of the success they claim relates more to increasing page and comment likes rather than conversions to website traffic or better yet, sales.
There are plenty of problems resulting from fraudulent activity affecting many other aspects of internet marketing, just like the posible facebook ad problems. It is certainly possible to be victimized by abuse of ad platforms. We’re advising our clients to be very careful where they spend the hard-earned dollars, and just as important, their precious time. We urge all our clients to spend more time creating and optimizing good content for their websites to get the best long-term results. For short-term solutions, ad programs have their place, and Google is still at the top of our recommendations.