What is a Facebook ad you rhetorically ask? Simply put they are the little image ads with Like buttons next to your Wall.
However, did you know these are targeted right at you and differ depending on who you are? For example, Bumble undoubtedly see’s different ads than Sean Hannity or Sarah Palin. If you look left you will see the highly targeted Facebook ads currently appearing just for Bumble (or any other lonely, megalomaniacal, probably Muslim person).
As funny as this ad grouping is, it is based on Bumble’s actual Facebook profile. Bumble is listed as single, and his likes include Infidel Nation, and FarmVille.
No, those “likes” do not get Bumble on a watch list. They do mean that Bumble sees ads about Ramadan, building his own army, and ways to stop being single! Too funny, but also pretty specifically aimed at Bumble.
Since Bumble also has his own Facebook page for friends to follow Infidel Nation, he frequently sees an ad about making ads too. Ads about ads? Surely the universe will collapse on itself!
Bumble prides himself on pushing the envelope, universe be damned! So this past weekend, Bumble decided to create his first Facebook ad!
Look out Ariana Huffington! As with any advertising, one must have a clear goal when starting out or one can expect to lose his shirt. One clear metric is to estimate your expected ROAS. For those non-marketers out there, ROAS stands for Return on ad Spend. Marketers love acronyms, Bumble’s always said that. ROAS simply means did the ad generate more than it cost? As you can see proper marketing takes much thought, planning, and gratuitous use of confusing acronyms. The Sultan of Social media is no exception, so Bumble did his planning too. Bumble’s marketing plan was quite simple though and is outlined below.
Bumble’s Facebook Ad Marketing Plan
- Bumble wonders what this button on his Facebook Page does.
- Oh, it is to make an ad on Facebook!
- Bumble wonders what that would cost.
- Oh! Bumble can start out cheap!
After the rigorous planning you see above Bumble created his first Facebook ad for Infidel Nation! Bumble could have opted to have the ad direct people to his Facebook page, but this ad simply directs browsers right to his Google Adsense laden home page.
Is it easy to start? Yes, very! Bumble has to hand it to Facebook for making this incredibly easy. Of course, that is really in the best interest of Facebook isn’t it? The ad program is also highly customizable and can be tailored to fit any budget.
Not on Bumble's Budget!
When creating an ad, the advertiser can target down to a group of potential viewers using location, age and gender demographics, Facebook connections (i.e. members of groups), Relationship status, Education and Work etc. As you tweak your criteria, Facebook updates the Estimated Reach so that you can target a manageable amount of exposure for your site.
Bumble’s first ad was targeted to a modest “Estimated Reach” of 10,000 people. The estimated cost per click was $0.81, but Bumble set a max of $2.00 ad spend per day. That means Facebook will show the ad to the targeted viewers until Bumble has exceeded his $2.00 budget for the day (or two people click it).
You may be asking yourself, just what criteria did Bumble use to whittle down 120 million people to roughly 10,000? Here’s the criteria, and as you can see Bumble was extremely specific.
Targeting:
- who live in the United States
- age 18 and older
- who like Chris Jericho
- who are not already connected to infidelnation.com
Here is what those select individuals will see on Facebook…
Click here it doesn't cost Bumble a penny, it just enlarges. :p
So the question now becomes, was it worth it? Again, let’s reiterate that any marketing is about estimating your return on ad spend and proper planning. You saw Bumble’s plan, and his goal was accomplished simply by finding out what the Create an Ad link meant on Facebook.
Nevertheless, it did seem worth it! In it’s first day of run the ad was shown to over 11,000 people and has brought two new people to your favorite site!
Ad Spend: $1.63
Revenue from Google Adsense: $.01
ROAS: -$1.62
Saying Bumble has an ad on Facebook: Priceless
Bumble would definitely recommend trying a Facebook ad for just about anyone with a blog or online store. The campaign can be paused at any time, you can set a daily maximum spend, and if you drill down far enough into a targeted audience it can be very cost effective.
