Getting the most out of your Facebook advertising can be tricky. Webtrends released a white paper last week, Facebook Advertising Performance, Benchmarks & Insights (pdf) based on the analysis of of 11,529 Facebook ads with some insights that help improve Facebook ad performance. The 11,529 ads served 4.5 billion impressions and collected 2.2 million clicks. Here are some tips based on the analysis:
- Be Interesting or Fun – Brands & Products that are fun to discuss perform better since people are on Facebook primarily for fun and entertainment.
- Friends Gain Attention – Ads are more effectively if they include friends that like the ad. If one of your friends likes an ad, you’re more likely to click on it to see why.
- Keeping Changing Ad Copy – Interest in targeted ads burns out quickly on Facebook (within 3 to 5 days) so it’s important to keep changing the ads to be the most effective.
- Increased Longevity in Fan Targeting – Ads using friend of fan targeting last longer (are effective for longer) than ads without.
- Look at the Right Metrics – Remember to look at metrics directly related to your goal. Facebook ads typically have relatively low CTRs (click through rates), but if you’re trying to generate leads, the number of emails collected or new fans is more important.
- Create Ads that Achieve Your Goals – Structure your ad to help you achieve your goals. Using the example above, for lead generation, direct people to like your page or give you their email address (in exchange for something of value — ebook, newsletter, report, etc).
- Targeting is Cheaper – Targeting your ad will help you be more cost effective. It’s easy to reach everyone on Facebook, but then your CTR will be low and cost per click will be higher. Facebook rewards you with lower prices if your ads are more targeted and effective.
- Advertise Now – Now may be the time to advertise because pricing is going up with the increased demand. Obviously if everyone starts advertising now, the price will go up, but something to keep in mind if you were considering a Facebook campaign.
Those are my tips based on the WebTrends research and my own experience. However, the effectiveness of Facebook ads is always changing due to how people interact with ads on Facebook and how Facebook changes their ad platform.
Any tips for more effective Facebook ads?
(image by lawtonchiles, on Flickr)