Ok before we start, this post isn't going to reel off a load of stats etc comparing spend against ad delivery against click thru rate but I have to say after a few weeks of testing Facebook Ads v Google AdWords, Google Adwords wins, and it wins absolutely!!!
Why?
With Google AdWords I may only get sixty or seventy delivered ads and a lower CTR (Click Through Rate) than Facebook but virtually every click converts to a goal/sale/adSense click.
With Facebook I get tens of thousands of delivered ads (supposedly targetted but I'm still not that sure they are too accurate to the target demographic...)and a pretty high CTR (which costs me cash but shows some people do see the ads)but and this is the big butt(sic) in this post, next to no conversions!
Ok ad for ad Facebook is a little cheaper per click but they are delivering a vast amount of ads and getting me a lot of clicks that simply don't convert!
Why?
Google is a platform where people go to find something they want, they're on the look for a specific thing while they're using Google. If that thing is a place to advertise French property for rent then they'll click my ads for listing property and I get a buck or two!
Also if they're on the lookout for a place to rent in France they'll click my ads (I must stop at this moment and point out that my organic ranking is now such that I don't need to use ppc adverts for holiday makers/rental property seekers) and either find a place they want to rent, and make contact with the owner, or they'll click one of my adSense ads and depart.
Either way it's income - from the adSense click or from booking to stay with one of my clients who is so delighted to be renting their property they happily pay to advertise the following year.... Again, I make a buck or two or at least cover my costs and I'm happy!
Facebook is a social network, people are going there to send a message to a friend or check out their friends photos and maybe throw a sheep at one or two other friends in the process. They are simply not there to search for products or even take a lot of notice of the advertising bunged over at the right hand side and out of the general flow of the page areas people are looking at.
So, there are clicks but, from the conversion rate, I think they're either accidental clicks or the 'clicker' thinks that Long Term Lets In France is a cool, new application.....
I use Facebook a lot and I mean a lot, it's a great way of keeping in touch with friends both current and, at one time, long lost... but that's all.
In my opinion Google has nothing to fear from Facebook and maybe Mr Zuckerberg and the Facebook empire should concentrate on what it's all about really:
- contact
- networking
- photo sharing
- friendships
- throwing sheep
- mob wars - awesome app!!!
- other friend/contact related stuff
Perhaps along the way they'll start to bin some of the terrible, spammy applications that are prevalent before they go the way of MySpace and turn into a junky, spam infested mess of a phishers paradise.
For me Google
AdWords delivers ads exactly to the target person you're aiming to reach out to and for now, Facebook doesn't.
Just my two penneth but I'll be sticking to Google AdWords for my PPC advertising.
Oh, and if you're a regular visitor to this blog, to the main site or you have a property listed please feel free to add me to your Facebook buddies here's my link:
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Holiday gites in France.
