Facebook Sponsored Stories How are they doing?

Back in the depths of winter Facebook announced that it was going to launch Facebook Sponsored Stories.  This sparked a lot of noise around intrusion of privacy, turning users/friends in to spammers and a number of other hysterical responses.  After the dust settled, the marketeers took to the web and initial views were quite positive, with many saying it was the natural evolution of Facebook Ads.  A recent review by industry mag NMA claim that Sponsored Stries are 46% more effctive than standard Facebook ads

Just in case you aren’t sure quite what Facebook Sponsored Stories are then here is my brief summary.  Sponsored stories are linked to friends timelines and they show a brand when that brand is mentioned by your friend on your news feed.  For example, if Starbucks were utilising sponsored stories and your friend mentioned Starbucks in their activity the ad (sponsored story) would appear.  The rule states that brands cannot control the story they can only associate with actions.  Here is an example unashamedly stolen from Mashable.  This news feed example is just that, advertisers can choose what actiosn they want to associate, e.g. specific actions in an app

How a story would look, followed by an example of a sponsored story

As this demonstrates the sponsor (in this case) Starbucks doesn’t really interfere with the original message, which has meant user feedback to Facebook hasn’t been as negative as first feared.  The other positive behind Facebook Stories compared to Twitter‘s sponsored Tweets is that Stories is user-generated providing a lower feeling of intrusion, whereas Twitter’s version is Advertiser generated and in theory could and often has no relevance to the user.

The key point behind sponsored stories if you are considering them for your brand or clients is that they cannot link out of Facebook.  Consequently this isn’t a direct traffic driver to a latest offer you may have on your site.  However it can increase fans and engagement with your brand on Facebook.

The other benefit to page owners, is that not all your fans have the same privacy settings.  Just because somebody ‘Likes’ your page it doesn’t mean they will see all of your content.  Using the Starbucks example above if the user had put on their settings they didn’t want to see your photos, sponsored stories can associate those photos with that user, which means they will see them.

Perhaps the biggest issue users may have as more advertisers jump on Sponsored Stories is the fact that they can’t opt out and prevent their image being used.   The ony option is to click the X button and remvoe the story.

To clarify there are seven types of sponsored stories, we have detailed the type of Sponsored story – Story Content – Who sees the story:

1. Page Like – Somebody Likes Your Page – Friends of Your Fans

2. Page Post – Published a post from your page to your fans – Your Fans

3.  Page Post Like – One of your fans liked your post in last 7 days – Friends of the Fan who liked your post

4. App Used and Game Played – Somebody used your app or played your game twice in last month – User friends

5. App Shared – Somebody shared a story from your app in last 7 days – The sharers friends

6. Check-in – Somebody checked in and claimed a deal in last 7 days in your Facebook Places – The claimers friends

7. Domain – Somebody liked, shared or pasted a link to content on your site in past 7 days – The sharer’s friends

Based on the current reaction and the reported increase in effectiveness I would definitely consider using this as a tool.  Potentially at present to increase the Facebook following of a brand, however I’m sure as thigns evolve more options will present themselves.  This is obviously a personal view but it seems to be one that supports Facebook’s desire of not wanting to be seen purely as a DR advertising platform.  Their goal is to get their hands on some of that lucrative brand marketing cash that is still pretty much firmly locked in to established agencies and TV advertising.  Who knows this may help to break some of that stranglehold.

Recession Resistant?

Can online marketing escape the recession?

With any economic downturn/credit crunch/recession comes the usual questions at the board rooms of most organisations. 

How effective is our marketing? 

Could we do without our advertising?

Is our strategy a luxury?

It had been thought that in this current recession, online would escape the questions or criticisms.  However as a lot of organisations are facing tougher times, including several high profile victims, online is being asked to be even more accountable than ever.  Is that such a bad thing?

Well that depends.  If you have all the data to hand and have tried every potential opportunity for your brand, then it can only be a good thing.  You should be able to pin-point the exact levers to pull in order to produce the desired results.  Unfortunately, very few organisations have or are in that situation. 

So what is next? 

Well it makes sense if your organisation is able to invest in acquisitional activities it should do so.  And if possible increase that investment.  Channels that offer high levels of transparency, low costs or better still low risk (CPA or Hybrid deals).  Even with these options you still need to understand the customer journey and have an effective method of de-duping (I am amazed at how many organisations still don’t have that cracked).  Are these methods recession proof? I’m not entirely convinced.  Marketeers experienced in working with Google will have noticed bids and ROI change over the past 9-12 months.  Also, Google are experimenting with a number of tools or models to help maintain their revenue.  Including dropping their previous stance of no Gambling advertising.  It all depends on your sector, Finance in the main is seeing a dramatic fall-off – largely driven by sub-prime advertisers pulling back on their investment.  One thing is for sure, Google will probably be making more sales visits than they have in recent years.

What about display?

Display obviously pays a role in most campaign mixes or strategies.  However the traditional CPM model is a risky one, unless your brand can afford the luxury of brand advertising or if you aren’t responsible for a transactional website.  One point that is neglected or overlooked is the multiplier effect.  Most advertisers still look at last click wins.  This is why in a number of sectors display loses out.  Recent investigations by ComScore in the US indicates a genuine effect on search from display.  However is that enough?  The main benefit of display in my opinion is that it can not only drive awareness, it can also put more people in your sales funnel.  This is something search isn’t particularly good at.  Most people in search mode already have an intent, whether latent or active.  Would I start to invest millions of my budget in traditional display advertising?  In short – No.  However, with the market in its current state, new technologies are constantly evolving.  With the growing maturity of behavioural and re-targetting technology, an increasing number of media owners are willing to undertake activity on a CPA activity. 

 

Remember, although CPA presents far fewer risks, it sometimes can be more expensive than CPM or CPC and volumes are likely to be lower.