As a customer of Facebook's Cost Per Impression media (ads paid for when they are seen), we've inquired about using their Cost Per Click programs (ads only paid for when they are clicked, merely being seen is free). Check out the CPC program here:
The response is that scale allowed is extremely limited. They say I could only buy about $15k worth of media in month. With the scale my advertisers are trying to reach its logistically inefficient to invest the time to go in the CPC system.
What is $15k of media or 15,000 clicks going to do for advertisers trying to effect the behavior of couple hundred million people? Yes, they might seed a viral explosion, but 1,000,000 people can seed a viral explosion a lot better.
I think this is another example of Facebook being inconsistent. Beacon was literally going to change advertising as we know it and then completely backed away from. Rules constantly change for application developers and they don't know which end is up. Advertisers get pissed because Facebook will posture that CPC is a great product unless you have real money to spend.
All this makes it difficult for their larger marketers to determine how Facebook fits in the very BIG picture of their marketing. Until that happens there are not going to be any HUGE ("sure I'll cut my TV budget type") bets. Want proof? Click here.
Facebook needs to get past the point of throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks if it wants to swim in the deep end. Until we know where you stand and confidence that what you say to today will be true tomorrow, and true for everybody (especially your largest customers) advertisers might dip their toe in the water but we won't throw down.
I hope the new COO gets this together.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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2 comments:
OK - So 15,000 paid clicks is bad. Assuming targeting is legit - we will predict a .03% click-thru rate - in which 5MM impressions would need to be served.
Are you saying that you'd rather Facebook charge a $10 CPM so you can spend your clients money easier?
I don't think that the internet medium competes with TV by arbitrarily raising it's rates or fees - nor is it going to win with consumers if it whores them out like Beacon...Niche marketing at scale is what the internet should and can provide.
MARKETERS over-time will spend the biggest chunks of money on the ad messages that have the greatest accountable impact.
It just may take some time for the legacy trends to wear down...Patience young grass-hoper.
Nothing wrong with CPC deals but limiting spending to $10k per month on a site that reaches 30MM people is not worth the time it takes to execute when your goals are much larger and not making a dent in the audience
FB is effectively excluding the largest advertisers from the CPC program so we'll pay CPM's and that sucks.
But the main point is the general inconsistency what they put in the marketplace that's painful.
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