Banner advertising sucks! That’s been my view ever since I got into the online marketing world. Indeed, I frequently tease anyone who works with banners on just how ineffective their weapon of choice is. And I’m rarely proven wrong. As a web strategist, I advise clients on how to leverage each web channel (search, email, social etc). And my recommendations are typically very similar. Search and email are consistently towards the top of the priority list. Social media usually sits somewhere in the middle (despite the fact that I write about it frequently). And almost without fail, banner advertising comes in dead last. User discretion advised…! Yet last week I was given a stark reminder that under the right circumstances, banner advertising can in fact kick ass! Indeed, last week I executed a banner campaign that was so successful, it wiped the floor with search. Yes… and a pig almost flew as well…!
Facebook marketing for the WIN!
If the thought of a banner campaign outperforming search is enough to shock a seasoned online marketer, the fact it was a Facebook campaign would truly knock their socks off.
If you were to do any sort of independent research on Facebook advertising, it’s unlikely to make for pretty reading. Tales of abominable click through and conversion rates are the norm. And I must admit that I’ve always been a skeptic. After all, social networks aren’t search engines. People aren’t in research mode. They’re there to socialise. So why would they click on an ad…?
Despite this, my research led me to the conclusion that Facebook was a fertile ground for the client. Their customers were there. We knew that. Competitors had already established successful fan pages. And there were tens of thousands of people with brand related keywords in their profiles to target. It wasn’t rocket science! There was a real opportunity there.
So we took the plunge…
And boy did it pay off!
The campaign results
Within hours of implementing the campaign we knew we had a winner. The community was growing considerably by the hour. Within a week we had connected with over a thousand new “fans” via Facebook at a cost of around $0.30 per person. Furthermore, the new fans weren’t simply joining the page, never to return. They were contributing wall posts, uploading photos and commenting on each other’s photos. Within a week, the community had generated over 100 photo uploads and almost 200 comments on those photos. The audience was engaged. The campaign was a runaway success.
People often question the true business value of a Facebook “fan”. The truth is that those people don’t understand the potential of Facebook as a communications platform. To me, acquiring a Facebook fan is much like acquiring a customer email address (few marketers will question the value of email acquisition). In both cases, customers are opting-in to receive communications from the brand.
While being careful not to abuse that privilege, the organisation can now communicate freely with that audience. Obtaining a Facebook “fan” shouldn’t be viewed as a goal itself. Rather, it is simply the start of a relationship. It is what is achieved via the ongoing communications that drives the real business value. Web traffic, new product awareness, customer advocacy/retention and real-time customer feedback are just some of the marketing goals that can be achieved via those communications.
In our case, even after just a week of establishing the page, we are beginning to see tangible business benefits being derived via Facebook communications.
Proof that banner advertising doesn’t suck?
Well… no. Not quite. In this specific campaign we were the beneficiaries of operating in an extremely high involvement industry (definitely within the top 3-5 purchases a consumer makes in their life). Customers have a true passion for the product and many are active advocates. This was a huge factor in the success of the campaign. The fruit was ripe for the picking.
In another low involvement industry the campaign could easily have tanked. So the point of the article isn’t to pump up Facebook or banner advertising. Instead, the key message is to understand your audience first before determining which marketing channels to employ. Don’t rule out a particular technique based upon previous experiences in another industry…
Rather, determine who your audience is, what they want, where they hang out & how they behave. Once you understand this, you’ll have a far better idea of how and where to hit them with a message that will resonate.
Who knows… it might even be a banner…
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi James,
I think the key to the whole discussion lies in this sentence:
“Instead, the key message is to understand your audience first before determining which marketing channels to employ.”
The problem with having a fragmented agency landscape is that social media agencies want to push for social media channels, email marketing specialists want to push that, SEO firms push search, etc etc. As the saying goes, ‘When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.’
My forecast? Clients will get sick of dealing with a hundred different parties each pushing their own agenda, so we’ll soon see a return to holistic agencies that focus on the entire communications spectrum, not marketing or PR, offline or digital, etc.
As we spoke about on Twitter Andrew, I agree with you in theory. I see it every day working with our larger clients who maintain multiple agencies. Each agency has their own agenda. And they’re more intent on getting their share of the pie than getting a good result for the client.
I’d love to see a return to the one-stop marketing/comms shop. But the fact is that no-one has mastered the model. Traditional agencies suck at digital. Digital agencies don’t even attempt offline. And that’s ignoring PR and social completely. Who’s gonna lead the charge…?
Digital and offline require specialist skill sets, hence the fragmentation. even with digital, there are specialists as you rightly put it – search, eDM, promotions, social, etc…
However, the communication channels will become more integrated. Offline is merging with online. I’m not sure if you have the one stop shop (e.g. through the line agencies), just that the parties need to understand how to integrate the channels more tightly and leverage each other. For example offline advertising can drive social media activity. I could go on, but I think this is a post for another time (hint hint James!).
Since people had the brand in their profile, it looks like this project was for a well-known consumer brand, right?
Have you seen Facebook ads work this well for lesser known brands or B-to-B companies?
I think everything is worth a try. Without trying it yourself to get a first hand impression you are left reading blogs like this one to determine strategy. Nothing wrong with this blog but every situation is different and so is every company and every product.
This case study is a good example of why you shouldn’t just rely on one or 2 blogs, most of which would be saying facebook is waste of time.
If you use banners correctly they can really be a valuable thing.
We have paid for banner ads periodically and they have preformed very well for us.
Regards, David Pagotto