Thursday, February 25, 2010
Mobile Internet Advertising
One of the latest trends in internet marketing is moving away from Google adword advertising towards Facebook ads. Can you think of reasons why? Also, if you were to spend marketing dollars through the mobile web, would you prefer to spend through Google Adwords or Facebook?
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From what I've read, I think whether you choose Facebook or AdWords depends on the kind of product you are selling and the goals you hope to achieve.
I think Facebook advertising would be a good option for more trendy, up-to-the-minute products. Most people go to Facebook to get updates on their friends and family, and to stay in touch with each other. The interface moves quickly and is built around real-time updates, so advertisements should mirror those practices and focus on very current, relevant products and services.
Companies are starting to have fan pages, which allows people to affiliate themselves with companies they feel help define who they are as people. Advertisements should mirror that style and provide customers with the chance to interact with their ads, not just view them. For example, an ad on my Facebook page right now is presented as a survey about the new movie, Alice in Wonderland. I can see that over half a million people have participated in the survey and I can join them by clicking on my favorite character. When I do so, I see the responses and then I might be curious enough to click on the link in the ad, which takes me to a fan page for the movie.
Because of the level of interactivity, cultural relevance and connection to a fan page, the Alice in Wonderland ad represents the type of ad that is likely successful on Facebook. It's not trying to sell anything (because we don't go to Facebook to buy; we go to update, affiliate, and define ourselves in the public eye). It's just trying to raise awareness through viral marketing: if I click on the ad and become a fan of the movie, that action will show up on my profile and my friends' news feeds. They'll see I'm a fan, possibly check it out themselves and become fans, and so on. Then, we we get together to go to the movies, what are we likely to suggest to each other?
This type of ad would probably not be as successful on Google because, when I search for "Alice and Wonderland movie," I probably want tickets, theater listings or information about the movie itself. I'm not trying to affiliate myself with the movie and my response to the ad will not create viral marketing, like it would on Facebook.
Here's an example of an ad that's currently on Facebook that would be better suited for Google. University of Texas Arlington has an ad that is trying to get people to enroll in an M.Ed program. When I click on the link, it takes me away from Facebook and out to the school's Web site. The problem is, people don't use Facebook to find things to purchase, be they an online degree or birth control pills (another ad I saw, presumably targeted at me because I'm female and married). This type of ad would have been better placed on Google, where I would be looking for information on a program with the intent to enroll in one.
Here's my point: people use Google and Facebook for very different purposes, and advertisers should consider those when they decide whether to place ads through Facebook or AdWords. If I could only spend money on one through the mobile Web, though, I would probably choose AdWords. If a customer is in the airport and browsing Facebook on his phone, he's not looking to buy or even do some viral marketing for your company: he's trying to pass the time by checking in on his friends and family, looking at their photos and saying hello. If he's searching for something on Google, though, he's looking for immediate action: a restaurant for dinner, a movie for entertainment, a coffee shop. He is much more likely to respond to well-place ads on Google on his phone than he is to participate in fun surveys and join fan pages on Facebook.
It's hard to determine reasoning for some of the shift because I don't know much about the Facebook ad campaign management. I don't know how the ads that show up on facebook are paid for, if they are CPC or impression based, if they are specific to me based on things in my profile, etc. Laurie mentioned getting ads for birth control. I have never received an ad for birth control, but it seems that every ad generated for me is for muscle building products. It's obvious that these are segregated by gender, but that can easily be surmised from my facebook page. If this is the only constraint, it seems that Facebook is in its infancy in what it is capable of. Google ads generate impressions based on web browsing history, regularly viewed pages, location, etc, and I don't think Facebook is that in depth yet.
I think Laurie hit it on the head when she mentioned that companies are moving to Facebook more for brand awareness or market research than generating sales. The use of fan pages that send out highlights like twitter provide access to specific target markets. "Anonymous" comments from people on Facebook can be incredibly accurate and blunt feedback from a target market. Laurie used the movie fan page as an example. Companies can generate interest in pages and generate feedback in early stages of development from a very specific target audience that can be used in further developing a product.
I think one of the major motivators to move to Facebook over Google is that fan pages are FREE. Where else can a company get direct access to a very specific target market, get feedback in early stages of development, read pros and cons of products or ads, and get rated on adjustments they make absolutely free? There is an incredible amount of information that people will share on Facebook that companies have had to pay for in the past, and the free information they can gather now is more reliable than blind surveys and focus groups.
The company I work for is a community credit union, and the main thing we are known for is our community involvement. We just got information that a survey was conducted in southeast Michigan and our brand is more recognizable than major banks like 5/3, Nat city, and others, and we believe it's because we are so involved in our community. We have a Facebook page that has thousands of fans, and the main purpose of the page is to update what community events we are sponsering or will be involved with in the near future, and encourage people to come join in. We have received TONS of comments from people that said "I had no idea that event was going on but when I heard you were going I decided to attend". I think that is the true power of Facebook advertising. Companies can set up fan pages to build loyalty with consumers, and when an announcement is made the market that cares is informed immediately and encouraged to take action.
Looking at things from the mobile side, I have a blackberry smart phone, and there is no paid advertising that shows up in my facebook app. All the side advertisements that are apparent on the main FB site are nonexistant on the mobile version of FB. Because of this, it's important for companies and marketers to increase traffic to fan pages so announcements and headlines will show up in mobile versions of Facebook, and will allow them to continue to spread the word about the latest and greatest regarding their products.
A reason why internet marketing is moving away from Google adword advertising towards Facebooks ads could be that Facebook users tend to log onto Facebook on a daily basis to see what their friends are doing. Uses of Google may not log on to Google as often but only when they are searching for information. This will create more opportunities for ads to be viewed.
If I was spending marketing dollars through the mobile web, the choice of using Google or Facebook would depend on my target market. Facebook is generally used by younger generaions so using this for advertising would tend to omit some of the older generations. Using Goolge would capture more generations but may be limited in sheer numbers.
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