Dec 14, 2011
Posted
At Orange Dragonfly Media, we are *finally* getting into the Christmas spirit! The Christmas tree is decked out, music is playing from Pandora, and it is time to have some fun with our clients. Not a client yet? This is the perfect time of year to enjoy some savings and kick off 2012 with a resounding bang.
12 Days of Christmas Specials Start Today!
Check Facebook, Twitter, & our blog to find out the day’s special deal.
Today’s deal is…
Buy 1 Hour of Facebook Consulting, Receive 1 Hour for Free!
Offer good for new and existing clients.
Deal must be purchased by 12/15/11. Expires 12/15/12.
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Sep 22, 2011
Posted
F8 is the annual conference that Facebook hosts each year for its team, entrepreneurs, developers, app creators, and all sort of cool geeks. Needless to say, I wish I was there! Here are some of the newest things that are coming to the Facebook experience including the new Timeline, Ticker, and Gesture buttons.
Facebook Timeline
Facebook users spend an insane amount of time creating content for their profiles. This comes across as making sure the photo you take is perfect as your next Facebook Profile Pic or the Note you share has your innermost Gratitude moments. This new Timeline allows users to express who they truly are and share their lives in any way they want. You spend years curating the stories of your life. Imagine expressing the story of your life and having those key moments highlighted and called out on your profile. The Timeline is the heart of your Facebook experience. This new way of scrapbooking your life happens through adding pictures from when you were born, to your high school graduation, to your wedding day, and the birth of your children or even your children’s children. It will be chronological in the Timeline and allows you to jump to a specific year or even just yesterday. You will be proud to call make your Timeline your home, even your identity. Here is a sample of what this new Timeline looks like: https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
The Cover Photo is a nice big photo that shows a unique moment in your life or an image that completely moves you. You still have your profile pic, but now there will be a huge Cover Photo that you can change with a click of the button that expresses who you are. The Timeline is fully customizable as to what you share, who sees it, and how it is laid out.
There is also a Report feature on the Timeline. Imagine if you are using one of the cooking apps that shows everything you have cooked in the last month. Instead of having to go to each post to remember what you made, you can go to the Report and see all the recipes you’ve tried and rate your favorites. Seeing a summary of everything you have done can be more powerful and express your true authentic self on your timeline. Think about what you want on your Timeline, and build it. It’s really quite easy.
Sign up to be one of the first users to have this new Timeline: http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
This is an awesome video showing the new Timeline!
Gesture Buttons
When Facebook launched the Like button it exploded across the web. In took less than a month for the Like button to appear on over 100,000 websites! One of the reasons Facebook went away with the term Fan on a Fan Page was that younger people didn’t want to say they endorsed a certain product. Well, it seems they feel the same way about the Like button. Personally, I would preferred the term Fan over Like for business pages. Facebook is now rolling out Gesture Buttons that people can click that shows they have “Listened” to a song or “Watched” a video, or “Read” a book, even “Ate” at a specific restaurant rather than simply Liking it.
At Facebook’s #f8 conference, the company has given developers the power to create their own actions too! These Gesture actions are the next step in integrating Facebook with every part of the web. What would you say on a button if you had the opportunity to create one? I might make one that said Smile or Wine Time, but that’s just me!
Ticker Time
A lot of people don’t like the new Ticker on the right hand side of the screen. I’ve had it for a few weeks and have grown to really like it. To me, it is very similar to Twitter and is a very easy concept for me to grasp and love. Now, instead of having my feed filled when someone becomes Friends with someone else or when they Like a page, all of this lightweight stream stuff is moved over to the Ticker. That’s right, you will no longer see this kind of minutia in your News Feed. Only posts, pictures, or links will be shared on the News Feed. Thank goodness!! So all of you you disabled the Ticker Stream yesterday, might want to rethink that, and here is the main reason why.
When listening to music on Spotify it shows up on your Ticker stream. You can hover over it and click it, then you will be streaming and listening to the same music as your friend – even if it’s halfway through the song. Hulu has an app where you can watch the same shows as your friends too. This is some really powerful new applications and makes the Ticker Stream a vital part of your Facebook Experience.
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Apr 14, 2010
Posted
~~This information was provided by APRO. Edited and added to by yours truly. ~~
Personally, I have been asked many times over the last few weeks what is the main difference between Facebook and Google ads. I was very happy to see this article come through my in-box. I added a little to it to help clarify some points. For Orange Dragonfly Editing, I have been very happy with my Facebook ad and the targeted demographic it reaches. I am sold. I did have some success with Google’s ad words, but it’s harder to see and interact with my new clients on that platform.
Many top blogs, continue to focus on the effectiveness of pay-per-click advertising through Google’s ever-popular search and content networks. But new advertising platforms are on the scene ~ such as Facebook’s that offers a more targeted advertising approach. Google is having a difficult time trying to compete.
Social sites offer more concise targeting with keywords and demographic-specific ads. Think about the manner and type of information Facebook gathers. While Google knows you’re in the market for a new home, Facebook knows what causes are important to you, which videos you like to share, and how often you make recommendations to your friends. Social media advertising opportunities are yielding better-qualified, higher-ROI results compared to the Google ad network.
Additionally, Facebook recently announced that Bing is now the default search engine for its more than 400 million users worldwide, which puts the site in a position to enhance its advertising model even more. By offering search on the site, Facebook is now able to gather data that it can leverage immeasurably in the world of advertising: the way people think, what they care about, and how this leads them to buying decisions.
Google’s model is still effective, but this newer platform includes psychographic information ~ attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles (also known as IAO variables). This is putting the pressure on Google to provide a similar service. The bottom line is, if you can display your ads to a more precisely targeted demographic, your click-through ratios will improve.
Regardless of the pay-per-click advertising model you choose, Google or Facebook, there are three things you need to do before you invest:
1. Determine who you are targeting
.
- Facebook: Can get very specific with your keywords and filter by location, interest, age level, and group or cause involvement.
- Google: The ability to present an ad based on what someone is searching for right now, ready to buy.
2. Do a test campaign.
If your budget allows, compare and test both platforms. As little as $1.00 a day an ad placed on either the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Cost-Per-Thousand (CPT) advertising on Facebook and Google is usually enough to reveal the difference in impact between specific and general targeting for your audience.
Determine which PPC model works best for your business
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- CPC: Cost-per-click advertising allows you to pay for each click your ad receives. If you agree to pay $1 for each click, five clicks will cost you $5.
- CPM: Cost-per-thousand advertising allows you to purchase a set amount of impressions. An impression is a single instance of an ad appearing on a web page. If your ad appears twice on one view of the page, that’s two impressions.
Remember that click-throughs aren’t everything. Even an unclicked (but viewed) ad can play an important role in promoting your company by way of exposure. Too many marketers overlook the potential of CPM-based advertising. Keep in mind that targeted advertising greatly increases the overall effectiveness of your ad.
Here’s a quick comparison of the Facebook and Google models to help you determine which is best for your business:
Keyword Targeting
Facebook: Targeting with keywords is optional
Google: Keyword specification is required
Targeting Details
Facebook: Can target by location, keywords, interest, workplace, birth date, education, and age
Google: Can target by location and keywords
Ad Placement
Facebook: Direct to users right on their profile page
Google: Ads are often placed on obscure, undisclosed websites
Market Saturation
Facebook: It’s a newer platform, so fewer advertisers
Google: Crowded, it is still one of the top-producing online advertising networks
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