Adwords vs. Facebook ads: Which, in your experience, has had better results?

[Biggie]

But google owns the web. They can filter you out.

google only owns, what it can control

and they do not control the internet...so they do not own the web.

google can only block what you see or censor what they serve, if you use them to retrieve a webpage.

as long as the "address bar" is used to locate webpages, via domainnames, then type-in traffic domain names will retain and increase in value.

google can choose to not deliver specific names from a search query, but that has negative consequences.

because who will be doing the choosing, based on what criteria and how will users push back against "limited choices"?

reductions, limits, censorships and other obstacles created by one search engine... creates opportunies for others.


so don't believe the hype!

 

[Gerry]

The item mentioned about GM, there are a few facts that need to be stated.

First, was it a smart decision? Apparently not.

The person who made that decision was essentially fired, although the reports will say he resigned.

General Motors' global chief marketing officer, Joel Ewanick, has elected to resign effective immediately, the automaker said today.

"I can tell you that he failed to meet the expectations the company has for its employees," said GM spokesman Greg Martin. He would not be more specific

This person not only made the decision to pull out of Facebook, he also made the decision the GM would NOT advertise during the NFL Super Bowl and then turned around an threw tens of millions into sponsoring Manchester United and Liverpool in the English football (soccer) league, without seeking proper authority from his bosses.

General Motors Co. (GM) Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson’s conflicts with maverick marketer Joel Ewanick started weeks before he was ousted for not properly disclosing as much as a third of the cost of a $559 million soccer deal, people familiar with the situation said.


The point of GM pulling out of advertising on FB needs to be taken into its entire context. It is important to know when comparing Adwords and FB, GM is not a good example to use because it was not a popular decision in the GM hierarchy nor does it seem to have gotten much support.

 

[vinsdomains.com]

Regarding the original post, for my side photography business described below, FOAMPIX, it is a flash site, so SEO is pretty much out the window. I've experimented with both Google Adwords and Facebook Ads, with ads for two months, one at a time, low $xxx campaigns. For me, while Google drove me the traffic it promised and that I paid for, conversions really went to Facebook, where my target audience was really honed-in on my local market, which not only gave me some exposure and got my name out locally, but got me several actual direct sales and a resulting referral for another sale. Also got a lot of likes on the FOAMPIX Facebook Page, which I wish were sales! With summer here and the time right, I've devoted my advertising funds to some local art festivals and "yart sales", which obviously have been more successful, but I digress. Facebook wins for this local photography business and even though it was not quite break-even on what I spent for the advertising, I'll do it again come Holiday time and publish some coupons, despite the already awesome prices.

 

[Gerry]

For me, while Google drove me the traffic it promised and that I paid for, conversions really went to Facebook, where my target audience was really honed-in on my local market, which not only gave me some exposure and got my name out locally, but got me several actual direct sales and a resulting referral for another sale.

Great information. Also, nice photo site.

 

[wordplay]

vinsdomains, thank you for your relevant reply. So the bottom line is, Facebook worked out better than Adwords,
but you still did not quite break-even?

Of course, another variable not yet mentioned in this thread is: Google Adwords can be tricky to set-up correctly (so you get the most ROI).
So that needs to be figured in the mix in this discussion. There can't have an accurate comparison done between Adwords and Facebook, unless Adwords is optimized correctly.

 

[Raider]

Yep, blame the person who re-signed from GM and ignore the FACT that GM's Facebook ads were INEFFECTIVE.


GM Scraps Facebook Ads Stating Ineffective Returns
Author: Adi Gaskell
Published: May 16, 2012 at 5:59 am


The hype surrounding Facebook's IPO shows little sign of slowing up, with it still heavily oversubscribed, yet doubts remain over the long-term viability of their commercial model.

Recently it emerged that more Americans access the site via their mobile phones than via their computer, with the mobile version of the site much less commercial than the full version.

A hammer blow was struck for the Facebook advertising model today as car giant General Motors (GM) declared that they were scrapping their Facebook ads because they were not delivering results.

The decision by GM puts the spotlight on the effectiveness of advertising on Facebook. A study by TNS last year found that over 60% of Facebook users didn't want to be bothered by adverts, whilst the click through rate on Facebook adverts is notoriously low, often hitting just 0.05%.

On Friday, Facebook is expected to sell shares in an initial public offering that could put a market value on the company of as much as $104 billion, with executives spending much of the past fortnight convincing investors that it's worth this sky high valuation.

GM has taken the decision that it is better served by utilising its (free) Facebook Page rather than continuing with advertising on the site.

GM's decision raises questions about the ability of Facebook to sustain the 88% revenue growth achieved in 2011. Facebook said last month its first-quarter ad revenue was down 7.5% from the previous three months. Facebook blamed "seasonal trends" for the decline, as well as a greater number of users from outside the U.S., where ad rates are lower.

Such claims are not new however. Earlier this month the US division of Kia Motors questioned how valuable their Facebook ads were, although the company will still increase its spending on Facebook this year.



"Recently it emerged that more Americans access the site via their mobile phones than via their computer, with the mobile version of the site much less commercial than the full version."

Reminds me of the same articles the Mobi crowd used when they were hyping Mobi.

 

[Gerry]

The person that made the decision to pull ads off of facebook and the person who made the decision not to advertise on the Superbowl and the person who made the decision to put more than $550 million into sponsoring United Manchester and Liverpool are all one in the same person who was forced out of his position.

And now you site a third party study (and put it in big red letters) that facebook users do not like ads.

The dude was a loose cannon who made abrupt and unpopular decisions on his own without proper authorization.

Who knows the real reason this guy pulled out of FB. Who knows the real reason why he decided not to advertise on this year's Superbowl. Who knows the real reason why he pumped $550+million into GB soccer teams. Obviously, each decision on its own and all three together were not popular decisions and obviously not supported by GM. And it appears the last straw was this same individual misstating by 2/3rd's the amount he spent on sponsoring the soccer leagues.

Yup, he might have been the same dude who said the facebook ads were not effective. Gee, I wonder why he said GM would not place ads on the Superbowl.



For those of us that do follow sports, a Superbowl without "The Heartbeat of America" commercials seems quite implausible. And with all of GM's brands, I have absolutely no doubt that you will see a reversal of Ewanick's decision and you WILL SEE GM advertising on the Superbowl. Go ahead and frame this in a quote for prosperity.

 

[Raider]

If you want to put forward a study that indicates any different I'd like to see it.... As for the Superbowl, this is an entirely different advertising outlet and audience, I'd drop $10M in a one Superbowl Sunday before I dropped $10M on Facebook for an entire year.

I cant count the number of posts I stumbled upon from Facebook users expressing how much they dislike advertising, and even disliked GM ads.. The low click rate from TNS sounds right to me and I have no reason to doubt it.