Right, but how do you make the ads contextual? There's not much to go on as far as page content. Ad content being relative to page content is the biggest draw an ad can have, otherwise it's just shots in the dark.
If facebook applications were forced to register with about 5 - 10 keywords, it would help advertisers a lot since they would have something to go on.
For example, if someone adds a skinnyr app to their page, it just adds a flash graph. Nowhere in there will their profile make the correlation between losing weight, and the applications that user has added to their page. If a keyword system were in place, they would have something behind-the-scenes to go off of. Until then, attending some college, working on your homework, or being employed by IBM doesn't do much good in trying to be contextual with their advertising.
Not to mention, college students are just broke to begin with. ;)
James Thomas
· 2 years ago
You should add some vertical space between paragraphs in your comments, btw. All of the comments show vertical scrollbars as well. :)
Pete
· 2 years ago
Aware. They are still being changed.
CrapCampus
· 2 years ago
Yep...
I've wasted plenty of money trying Facebook flyers. Even with headlines and graphics I was sure would grab attention, CTR was close to 0.
I can only see it working if you need to get an image out (without actually needing the click-thru) and you have LOTS of money to spare.
Rob
· 2 years ago
Why do Facebook CTRs suck? Here's a few ideas:
1. Placement. Because the design cares more about the user than the ads, they put the skinny skyscraper in a position where it can be completely ignored -- all action on Facebook takes place in the box to the right of the ad, which means your eye never needs to move past that section's left margin. If you heatmapped Facebook, the ad would be ice cold.
2. Page views per visitor. I'm not sure what the real number is, but I bet the average Facebook visitor hits 10-30 pages while they're online. It's easy to click through 60 photos in a matter of seconds. So even if people are eventually exiting Facebook to an advertiser's site, the number of page views per human is going to deflate the CTR dramatically, especially to a blog that gets less than 2 PPV.
3. As some of the commenters above have mentioned, it's hard to get a tech-savvy college kid or young adult to click on your ad... even if I need the product, I feel kinda dirty clicking through. That being said, it's still valuable to get your brand name in front of me, and to be associated with one of my most trusted sites.
So the question is, where do you advertise if you want to get a response from the Facebook crowd? The News Feed. It's no doubt a lot more expensive, but if you really want action, get yourself on there with a video or something interactive attached, create a sponsored group, and watch the hits roll in.
GROW
· 2 years ago
Why don't they create a new model of advertising by Sponsored groups within Facebook, or value widgets that are sponsored?
Display advertising is the antithesis of what FB is, everyone needs to wake up to that and rethink monetization in different ways.
I suppose it also counts the ads that get blocked with ad blocking programs/scripts?
KwangErn Liew
· 2 years ago
This is where Matchmine can be a HUGE potential for Facebook. ;)
Scott
· 2 years ago
What other college student sites have you tried?
It's only good to 'fish where the fish are' if the fish are hungry. The fish are distracted and aren't looking to interact with ads in the Facebook pond. Fish where the fish slow down and click on your ad.
All Comments
If facebook applications were forced to register with about 5 - 10 keywords, it would help advertisers a lot since they would have something to go on.
For example, if someone adds a skinnyr app to their page, it just adds a flash graph. Nowhere in there will their profile make the correlation between losing weight, and the applications that user has added to their page. If a keyword system were in place, they would have something behind-the-scenes to go off of. Until then, attending some college, working on your homework, or being employed by IBM doesn't do much good in trying to be contextual with their advertising.
Not to mention, college students are just broke to begin with. ;)
I've wasted plenty of money trying Facebook flyers. Even with headlines and graphics I was sure would grab attention, CTR was close to 0.
I can only see it working if you need to get an image out (without actually needing the click-thru) and you have LOTS of money to spare.
1. Placement. Because the design cares more about the user than the ads, they put the skinny skyscraper in a position where it can be completely ignored -- all action on Facebook takes place in the box to the right of the ad, which means your eye never needs to move past that section's left margin. If you heatmapped Facebook, the ad would be ice cold.
2. Page views per visitor. I'm not sure what the real number is, but I bet the average Facebook visitor hits 10-30 pages while they're online. It's easy to click through 60 photos in a matter of seconds. So even if people are eventually exiting Facebook to an advertiser's site, the number of page views per human is going to deflate the CTR dramatically, especially to a blog that gets less than 2 PPV.
3. As some of the commenters above have mentioned, it's hard to get a tech-savvy college kid or young adult to click on your ad... even if I need the product, I feel kinda dirty clicking through. That being said, it's still valuable to get your brand name in front of me, and to be associated with one of my most trusted sites.
So the question is, where do you advertise if you want to get a response from the Facebook crowd? The News Feed. It's no doubt a lot more expensive, but if you really want action, get yourself on there with a video or something interactive attached, create a sponsored group, and watch the hits roll in.
Display advertising is the antithesis of what FB is, everyone needs to wake up to that and rethink monetization in different ways.
Read Bob Garfield: http://adage.com/abstract.php?article_id=115712
He gets it. It's time we all did.
It's only good to 'fish where the fish are' if the fish are hungry. The fish are distracted and aren't looking to interact with ads in the Facebook pond. Fish where the fish slow down and click on your ad.