The Global Rail

By Dave Holloman

May 2, 2010

One of the benefits gained from writing a blog is the real-time education available about social media, web 2.0 technology, and web-based marketing.  I have found the best way to learn about this ever-changing world is by participating in it and experimenting through trial and error.

A few weeks ago, I used Facebook Ads to design and run an advertisement for the blog you are now reading, The Global Rail.  This post is a summary of the lessons learned in the short ad campaign that ran for 2 days.

Its Fast. From design to conception, my Facebook Ad for The Global Rail was up and running in about 10 minutes.  Using existing graphics and text, the process to execute the ad campaign was quite easy.

Its Cheap. In terms of absolute cost, the advertisement campaign was economical.  A minimal budget of $10 a day was selected, using a charge model of paying by the number of click throughs from the ad to The Global Rail.  Paying by the number of clicks is the model recommended.  The other option is to pay by impression, meaning the number of times the ad is shown to a Facebook user.  I liked the option of paying by clicks because an ad campaign will likely receive more impressions paying through clicks.

Facebook Ads Cast a Wide Net. Once the ad is designed and ready to go, the Facebook machine takes over.  Some basic targeting can be designed into the ad, such as age, location, and group affiliations.  Based upon the parameters selected, Facebook generated over 60,000 impressions in less than 8 hours.   In the 2 days the ad ran, it had over 130,000 impressions.  One of the primary lessons from the campaign was the relative low cost required to tap into Facebook as a vehicle to reach a large set of potential customers (or readers, in the case of The Global Rail).

The click through rate for the ad was .03%.  Not exactly best in class for online marketing.  Perhaps some narrowing of the target parameters will help raise the click through rate on future campaigns.  Since the ad had a fixed budget of $10 per day, I viewed the click through rate as somewhat immaterial, as it’s clear the Facebook ad application is designed to maximize impressions and reach the allotted budget as quickly as possible.  Once the campaign ended, traffic continued to increase, so there was an incremental, derivative, demand that emerged in the campaign.  The campaign had a tail.

One word of caution.  Facebook does not disclose how many impressions for the ad were unique.

Its Variable. Facebook ads is a faucet that can be turned on and off as frequently as the user desires.  I found this to be a nice feature.

The first Facebook Ad campaign for The Global Rail was a success.  For less than $20, the blog gained broad exposure.   There are a few things I will do differently in future campaigns.  The charge rate Facebook proposes will be challenged.  In the application, the ad designer can propose a charge for each click.  I did not do this for the ad campaign and likely paid a much higher cost per click since I quickly accepted their first offer.  Second, the target parameters for ad distribution will be tighter.  Tighter parameters will likely increase click through rates and, more importantly, raise the quality of each conversion.  Increasing conversion quality means each person who clicks through the ad is more likely to have a higher interest in what is being offered.  In the case of The Global Rail, this means they will likely stay, read more posts, and come back as active readers.  Last, the content of the actual ad will be designed around more specific content, such as individual blog posts.  The reason for this improvement is to raise the quality of the click through conversion.

All in all, I found Facebook Ads to be a low-cost, quick way to raise awareness about your product or service with thousands of people.  Those interested in finding out more can click to the Facebook Ad site here.