The thing about facebook advertising is, like Buliwyf says, that people are on facebook to meet friends, look at pictures and update the world on what they're doing.
They're there to get attention and affirmation from their group of friends / social circle, and to meet other people that think and feel the same way as they do. People want to connect. Everyone's looking for more friends, more people, the next big party, the funniest picture from the last party. They want to create a funny "status" their friends can comment on.
And, believe it or not: People go online, to facebook, because they're really bored!
Think about it... and I know i'm just like that aswell.. when I have nothing else to do; I check out a few blogs I like, go to some forums, and login to facebook to see if anything's going on or if someone's writing me.
So, the thing with the ads is to match these "premises" and wises I have when I come online. Here's a few hints on how to do it:
1. Be entertaining.
2. Be funny.
3. Don't give away "information".! People are not looking for it. It's not Google!
4. Here's an idea: Record your sales message on a slideshow and put it on youtube. Guaranteed better response then a 25 page long sales page (unless it's entertaining!!!)
5. People are not on facebook to BUY things. Don't sell!
6. Don't redirect people to a 25 page long clickbank sales copy. And I really mean it: C'mon... you're competing with funny pictures of my friends, and messages from my girlfriend(s): So what makes you believe it'd prefer to read 25 pages of hard selling copy on how to make money online? If I wanted to make money online i'd be making money online: I'm at facebook to have fun, and if you can offer me to have fun that's at least a good start.
Here's two examples. One good, and one bad:
Top 3 Credit Cards
Compare the top 3 credit cards and find out which one is best for you. Apply online.
Quench your thirst
Play Bloodlines, the newest vampire game, and hunt unwitting victims with your friends!
So, which one do you think I'm more likely to click on? Which one would get your attention.
Let's face(wow what a wordplay!) it:
People ARE on facebook to play vampire games with their friends: NOT compare credit cards.
And another thing:
Do you guys track the bounce rate? The time spent on your landing page? I don't have any proof to back this up, but I don't believe people browsing facebook feels like leaving facebook (if you know what I mean.)...
It's okay when you're at GOOGLE, because GOOGLE is not a "real" website, it's a index linking to other sites online: And when you click a link (sponsored or not.) you expect to end up somewhere else: Somewhere different from Google's layout:
But with facebook it's different (or is it? I don't have any proof...!) - Bare with me:
If you click on a application on facebook you're still on facebook.com : And when you browse your friends pictures you're still there. The same menu and layout is in on the sides, so the visitor/browser still feel confident in browsing and clicking around (and reading, looking at videos, pictures, etc.)
And, as far as i'm concerned, I do believe that people expect to stay on facebook.com wherever they click. You know what I mean? People don't feel like leaving the very website they're visiting (they might be chatting with someone, etc.)
... So, my theory is that people believe they get TRICKED into visiting another website, and therefor hit the back button right away in most cases.
So, the solution to this could probably be creating a facebook GROUP related to your marketing / offer, and then follow up by emailing / messaging all the members of the group. This way you really gain the confidence of the audience.
Okay, that's it for now. Please let me know what you think about these ideas as i'm not really a expert in the field either!
