High quality traffic matters more than just “any” traffic. (I’ll share some results from a recent inexpensive social traffic campaign I ran – in another, future post).
Facebook is the most targeted traffic you can get on the web today.
I can drill down into their demographics and topic selections and show you an ad at the place you work, if I wanted to! (scary)
If you’re new to online marketing, you may not understand the value of garnering high quality traffic or even what it means. In the advertising world – offline as well as online – quality traffic is everything.
Let’s say you’re the owner of a brick-and-mortar store that sells kitchen items. What kind of shoppers would you want to come through your door?
Chances are you’d be interested in pulling consumers who are setting up households, looking to buy gifts or even those who are seeking out hard-to-find specialty items. You’d want your advertising to make it very clear who you are and what you do. You’d also want it to get into the hands of people who fit your ideal customer profile.
Brick and mortar
For brick and mortar stores, this type of targeting can be difficult at best. In the online world, it becomes a little easier. Google uses keywords to target people who may have an interest in a particular type of product or service. Facebook actually bores down into is user databases to find its members who have a stated interest in what an advertiser happens to be offering. It can, as we’ve discussed, also target specific demographics, geographical regions and more.
Online business
In the online business world, incoming traffic (or website visitors) is the lifeblood of operations. Businesses need lots of traffic so they can gain sales (or conversions). The key to keeping a website hopping with traffic is advertising. The real magic, however, comes in when incoming traffic happens to be qualified and predisposed to purchasing the products in question. This is where Facebook really shines.
The level of targeting that Facebook can provide results in high quality traffic seeing an advertisement. While this, of course, hinges on the advertiser’s ability to set the right targeting practices, the benefits can be amazing.
If traffic is qualified, advertisers are much more likely to:
Have their ads get noticed
Even if viewers don’t click through on an ad on Facebook, they’re more likely to read and pay attention to those that fit their specific interests. A fan of a particular television show, for example, is not as likely to gloss over an ad for memorabilia related to a favorite character as a person who has no interest in the show might be.
Gain clicks
The ultimate goal of any online advertising campaign is to bring traffic into a website or landing page. This is achieved when a viewer sees an ad and clicks on it. Thanks to the targeting Facebook offers, it is much more likely that viewers will click through to see what an advertiser has to offer. This can lead to the next, and the most important benefit.
Gain a return on investment
Since the users who view ads on Facebook are predisposed to the products or services offered; we’ve already established they’re more likely to look. They are also more likely to click through. Once they arrive on your outside landing pages (inside pages more highly recommended!), they are also more likely to buy whatever it is you are selling. This provides you with a return on investment and helps bring qualified traffic to your door, so to say.
High quality traffic is the lifeblood of any business.
What Facebook is able to do is help advertisers ensure that the traffic they receive has a higher percentage chance of converting into actual sales. This makes the investment sounder and produces results from advertising dollars.
Now that you know how the Facebook advertising program works and why it is so successful, you need to know how to tailor it to your business. There are a variety of things you need to consider to be able to gain the results you’re after using this platform.
Do it right and your traffic numbers can grow incredibly fast through straight advertising and the offshoot benefits that Facebook is able to provide its advertisers.
In recent polls, the majority of internet marketers are not leveraging Facebook yet.
Try it – and ask questions if you get stuck.
Related articles
- The Balance of Power is Shifting from Google to Facebook (GOOG) (businessinsider.com)
- 10 things you need to know about Facebook (weblogs.hitwise.com)
- Now Available: The Facebook Marketing Bible October 2010 Edition (insidefacebook.com)