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Facebook Ads don't suck

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Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#3

Post by jscheel »

Normally you would expect marketers to know that when you are dealing with a low amount of traffic (probably from a low spend), one or two errant clicks or a bot can totally throw off your numbers. This article does a great job of showing proving that you need larger datasets to get a better understanding of what's going on. It does a great job of showing the discrepancy in numbers from tracking platforms, but that's probably just because I'm sensitive to that right now, since I've been dealing with it myself fora while.

Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#6

Post by DivByZero »

jscheel wrote: post #3

Normally you would expect marketers to know that when you are dealing with a low amount of traffic (probably from a low spend), one or two errant clicks or a bot can totally throw off your numbers. This article does a great job of showing proving that you need larger datasets to get a better understanding of what's going on. It does a great job of showing the discrepancy in numbers from tracking platforms, but that's…

Thanks :) Yep ... I wrote it exactly out of frustration for reading post after post here on HN bashing Fb Ads because of Fake clicks ... people should stop caring about clicks and focus on real metrics. Then a platform may not be a good fit for you, but still you cannot know if you test with a $50 budget

Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#7

Post by jmathai »

I don't think it's about Facebook Ads sucking or not sucking. That's the narrative but the underlying issue is people feel that Facebook Ads are a rip off.

I wonder how much of Facebook's ad revenue (and Google's for that Matter) consists of less savvy marketing efforts that don't understand or even care about the metrics which matter. The long tail?

I don't believe the argument in favor of Facebook Ads can be that you need to understand marketing better or differently.

The majority, I presume, of people using these platforms have little to mediocre experience. The disappointment in Facebook Ads comes from this large group.

I've talked to plenty of people and no one has been happy with Facebook Ads. The details of why don't necessarily matter - they've taken their $ elsewhere. Winning them back will be tough.

Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#8

Post by DivByZero »

amaks wrote: post #5

Ads may be not suck, but fake clicks and overcharging for them seems like a common theme lately.

That's true but actually Facebook now try to charge for CPM not clicks so that soften the problem, and still, you should check your CPA ... if that makes sense some fake clicks are acceptable.

Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#9

Post by cloudwizard »

If you are advertising FB ad services, your conversion would obviously be higher in FB. The fact that it is only 63% better that Google Ads seems poor.

My experience with FB is that the conversion rate is essentially zero and limited by your ability to donate to FB.

Re: Facebook Ads don't suck

#10

Post by ambiate »

DivByZero wrote: post #2

I'd love to hear what the HN crowd think about my comments on FB Ads after so many stories trending bashing Fb Ads :)

"Facebook Ads Are OK, but supporting them on HN is great!" You have just followed suit and created backlinks, conversions, ad views, etc. Don't worry, we all do it! It's the cycle of internet flow these days.

I'm with you. There are far too many variables ranging from audience, timing, ad setup, money, etc to even begin measuring in any scenario. The million dollar per month investment may see a better conversion rate than the ten million dollar per month investment. There are just far too many variables at play.

While American Idol was becoming a thing, I acquired #1 ad placement on the keyword 'dance' for 2 cents per click through Adwords. I was getting 100,000 impressions an hour. For me, Adwords was the greatest thing known to humans. Then, I attacked more keywords for other sites. Horrid conversion/CTR. Just different sides of the spectrum. You win some, you lose some.

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