Search Marketing Sage

Within the past year, so much has changed with Facebook ads, from custom audiences to action (conversion) tracking to new partner categories (I’ll discuss these in a moment!). Many have doubted that Facebook Advertising is the right channel for B2B (I’d argue there is typically not just ONE right channel); however, a wise man once told me “a true professional is never off-duty”. This means that when advertising to the B2B market, you are still advertising to people, and lo and behold – people are on Facebook! In fact, 665 million people are active on Facebook, so with the advanced targeting features, you can certainly find the right people for your market.

If you’re like many marketers, you may have wondered about the value of social media advertising on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, and even viewed it with a bit of skepticism. You may be asking questions like, Do people actually click on them?, and the all important, $64,000 question, Will I actually see ROI from social media advertising? These are not uncommon questions, but the fact is there’s actually a growing trend towards paid social media advertising. In fact, a recent Nielsen report showed that 75% of advertisers are using paid social media advertising, and 64% are increasing their budgets in 2013. And here at Search Mojo, we have actually seen where social media ads have delivered not only clicks, but conversions.

I’m in Vegas! So far I haven’t had any Hangover, the movie experiences, but there is still time…. Just kidding! I’m attending Search Marketing Expo: Social Media Marketing. I just checked in, got some coffee, and now am ready to get started.

This session is called “Decoding Facebook Ads: Strategies & Tactics for the New Ad Environment” and I thought this was a perfect follow up to Michelle’s Facebook advertising blog post from last week. Greg Finn is moderating this session with 5 (!!) speakers. I have a feeling each presentation is going to be jam packed with information because they have less time to speak. The speakers are Addie Conner - SocialCode, Zvika Goldstein - Kenshoo, Nate Luman – Zappos, Merry Morud – aimClear, and Christina Park – TriggIt.

Search Mojo is hosting a free webinar, The Secrets to Getting Positive ROI from Facebook, next Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.

Janet Driscoll Miller, CEO and President, of the Facebook advertising management and search engine marketing firm Search Mojo and Maya Grinberg, Social Media Manager of Wildfire Interactive, will headline a free webinar reviewing why you should advertise on Facebook and how to see positive ROI from these efforts.  The Secrets to Getting Positive ROI from Facebook webinar will be held on Thursday, February 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. ET.  Register here.

Last week, I listened to a webinar by Addie Conner, VP of Advertising at SocialCode, Inc. as she discussed the differences between Facebook advertising and PPC search advertising, tips for Facebook ad testing and optimization, and how to avoid Facebook ad fatigue.

Facebook is a powerful research engine. What users say can inform pages, ads, apps, and surveys. With this research and development, there is increased ability to build targeted fan bases, engage fans, and even monetize fans. To truly monetize your brand you have to engage users in reciprocal interactions and figure out how to extract value from the Facebook community.