Goodtree & Company :: Blog » online advertising

Advertising on Facebook

Hal — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:23:20 +0000

Our roads and bridges may be crumbling in America, but our information infrastructure is growing like kudzu. One of the most interesting new developments is the expansion of advertising opportunities on Facebook.

THE FIRST STEP

The first thing to do if you want to advertise on Facebook is get yourself a profile. It’s free. Ads are used to promote Facebook Pages. Pages are associated with your profile.

You can build an unlimited number of pages on Facebook. But you can only have ONE profile. The rules and regs are very specific. You cannot create a second identity for your business.

MAKING AN AD

Once you have a profile and have created a page for your business, you’re ready to advertise. Select Ads & Pages from the menu of the right side of your Home.

On the top right, select Create an Ad.

The process involves four simple steps (and is a wonder of user-friendly design):

Select a target (where do you want the ad to link)
Create the ad (text and picture)
Choose a target demographic
Set a budget (how much per day, how much per click)

STEP 1 - TARGET

When viewers click on your ad, they are taken somewhere on the web. In step one, you selected where you want to send your traffic.

You can send your audience to an external web page, a Facebook Page (as we’ve selected) or you can copy an existing ad.

STEP 2 - CREATE AN AD

Creating an ad is as easy as writing a headline and a little body copy, then uploading a picture.

Help is always available on the right side of the page.

STEP 3 - DEMOGRAPHIC

Here’s where it gets interesting. Choose the region or city you want to reach. Add keywords that target your audience. Watch the audience size change as you alter the variables.

STEP 4 - BUDGET

Advertising is a relatively new thing on Facebook. Rates are pretty cheap and the site is not yet over-run with competing promotional messages. $25 gets you started.

Once you create a campaign, you can edit the budget and schedule. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but works ok in practice.

REVIEW YOUR CAMPAIGN

You get one last chance to review the campaign.

Change the ad or place the order.

WHY FACEBOOK IS A GOOD PLACE TO ADVERTISE

Lots of people want you to advertise with them online. What’s different about Facebook is that it’s like being invited to advertise in someone’s home.

The process is easy. The rates are cheap. The channel is relatively uncluttered. Why not give it a try?

Advertising on MySpace

Hal — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:30:48 +0000

Both MySpace and Facebook have beefed up their offerings for advertisers. Today, we’ll talk a little about M/S because it has the more robust interface.

First of all, you don’t need a myspace account or a myspace profile to advertise. Even if you have a profile, you need to create a separate account for advertising.

Ads can be targeted by geography, gender, age and interest.

As well, MySpace ads offer interesting stats, just what you’d expect from a Google company. But maybe the best feature is Build an Ad:

Build an Ad has an easy-to-use interface that offers a lot of creative options. You can build a box ad or a banner. Use a pre-made template or upload a picture. Size, scale and color your fonts. Experienced designers and novices will like this feature.

AUDIENCE

Finally, a word about the audience. Every social portal has it’s own vibe and character. Here’s what we think:

MySpace is like a bar
Facebook is like the YMCA

If your product or service targets the party crowd - 21 to 30, not married - then MySpace has a powerful new way for you to reach your elusive audience. It’s not just for brewers of beer - MySpace is a great channel for reaching young adults interested in fitness, fashion, health, culture and more.

If your audience is adults 30 and up, tune in again for our upcoming post on Facebook advertising.

How Big is Online Advertising?

Hal — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:58:38 +0000

The Wall Street Journal quoted research firm eMarketer today about the size of the online ad economy. The results are eye-popping.

EMarketer has forecast that U.S. advertisers will spend $25.8 billion on web ads in 2008. Search advertising accounts for 40% of the total. That’s a 23% increase over 2007 when online ad spending was $21.1 billion.

Might want to hold on to that Google stock for a while.