Facebook Ads: Do they even work?
A recent infographic from WordStream asks the not so age old question: Facebook vs. Google, which is more valuable? The findings of this infographic include:
- Facebook: 51% reach of all Internet users
- Google: 90% reach of all Internet users
- Facebook Q1 2012 Revenues: $1.06 Billion
- Google Display network Q1 2012 Revenues: $2.9 Billion
Featured Team Story
Jolina Pettice – 5 Conversion Marketing Tips – As Easy as Candy from a Baby?
I know from experience, wielding candy away from a baby (or in my case a toddler) isn’t actually that easy. It takes purpose, planning and creativity. Easy or Not, here are 5 must-read tips for conversion marketing to make sure you outpace your competition and reap the sweet rewards. Via Search Engine Land.
This Week In Online Marketing News
Facebook Goes Down For Over An Hour
According to Zuckerburg, Facebook never crashes. Well, apparently that is no longer true. For over an hour on Thursday evening Facebook went dark. Users have taken this opportunity to poke jabs at Facebook making statements such as “Facebook is down…just like its stock price.” Via TechCrunch.
3 Ways to Keep Customers From Straying
According to this article there are three basic ways to turn your customers, into customers for life. These techniques aim to demonstrate your ongoing appreciation and commitment to these customers that in turn makes them loyal to your company and generates long-term sales. Via Inc.
Facebook Adds Scheduling Functionality
Facebook has finally added a scheduling feature for posts which was previously only available from 3rd party applications like Buffer and Hootsuite. According to this update messages can now be scheduled up to 6 months in advance in 15 minute intervalls. Via AllFacebook.
It’s Time for IT to Take A Social Stand
Organizations have historically relied on their IT or technology officers to offer guidance and education on the newest technology trends. However, the quickly evolving social media trends have been led with few exceptions by the Marketing team. This article provides some great insight into shifting roles within organizations, as well as the overlap of IT and Marketing. Via InformationWeek.
Salesforce Opens Their Pockets For A Buddy
According to recent reports Salesforce.com is working on a deal to acquire Buddy Media, a five-year-old organization that helps brands manage their Facebook presence. According to sources Buddy is valued at more than $800 million, but they are unaware of what the actual purchase amount will be. Via AllThings.
Mobile Payments to Surpass $171.5 Billion This Year
Does this headline have you seriously considering amping up your mobile optimization budget? Maybe it should! According to Gartner’s Forcast on mobile payment the average annual growth is expected to be an average of a 42% increase through the year 2016. Via BtoB.
News From the Top(Rank) Team
Brian Larson – Recovery on the Horizon From Some That Were Punished By Penguin
On May 25th Matt Cutts of Google announced that Penguin 1.1 had officially been released. According to Cutts this new release should impact less than 0.1% of English searches. As this release was merely a refresh and not an actual change to Google’s algorithm not everyone will be fortunate enough to recover quickly. Via Search Engine Watch.
Sara Duane-Gladden – Facebook Ads: In GM’s Case, Brand Expectations Were Overzealous As an update to the featured news from last week, “Is Facebook Advertising the Problem? Or Are Brands Expectations the Culprit?”, it has become clear that GM’s expectations were at issue. GM wasn’t happy with featured stories or sidebar ads, it wanted to take over your Facebook page. And thankfully, this time Facebook wasn’t selling: It understands its platform and user-base, even if certain overindulged marketing departments (used to getting their way) do not. Via Adage.
Kodi Osmond – Will Google+ Local Encourage Users?
Earlier this week we posted a news item on the release of Google+ Local. As of Wednesday the service went live. Do you think this integration will help drive more usage of Google+? Read on to find out more. Via AdWeek.
Shawna Kenyon – Eyes on Pinterest: How People Look at Your Boards A study conducted by EyeTrackShop used the webcams of 600 participants to track their eye movement as it related to Pinterest and the other popular social sites. What they discovered was that users on Pinterest had a tendency to look from top to bottom and focus less on user/profile info as where eye movement on a site like Facebook was tracked moving from left to right and then down. Via Mashable.
Time to Weigh In: When it comes to the battle of social ads vs. Google ads which is your preference? Are they stand alone or should they be used simultaneously? Converting customers can be difficult, what have you found works for your organization? Are you still reeling from the Google Penguin release, or have you been virtually unaffected?
