If you think that Facebook is just a social network that can help you find your long-lost friends, think again.
Brian Rice, CEO of direct marketing first Red Clay Media, said last week at NCDM that he’s been able to find leads for his clients by advertising on Facebook.
“Social networking on certain levels is sloppy, but Facebook is the cleanest one out there,” Rice said. “As Facebook is growing their ad server, its business intelligence is getting better.”
The process of Facebook advertising is similar to Google’s AdWords, but the ad units stay within the Facebook community. But unlike the Google ad platform, Rice said you get a much better idea who the prospect clicking on your advertisement is.
“We find that if an ad is pushed within a social network, it tends to communicate better,” Rice said. “We know more about the person, and how they are interacting on the Web, and that they’re in one port instead of bouncing around. I know I can to serve them better, and my conversion is higher.”
Now, Rice’s clients are about as niche as they come—they are doctors looking for patients who may want to have cosmetic surgery done. But Rice says he may have not turned to Facebook if it wasn’t for the research one client did when trying to determine its target audience.
The client thought his ideal target for lasik surgery was married men in their 40s who owned homes and had a household income of about $100,000. Instead, they were predominantly female, ages 25-34 who earned $35,000 to $75,000 a year, rent, recently registered for a credit card and visit online dating sites.
“Hitting the social media sites has allowed us to break into some of these targeted groups a lot faster,” Rics said.
Facebook advertising has given Rice his highest conversion levels, and that the cost of acquisition for one of his client was $550 less than it was for all other forms of marketing.