Facebook Ads vs Facebook Groups

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By: Matt Clark

So Facebook is apparently raking in $90 million with their new advertising platform launched just under a year ago. Homepage sponsored stories (aka - ads on your Facebook news feed) cost a minimum of $50,000 with an average CPM of $10 with an up-sell cost if you want targeted demographics. This got me thinking. What’s more successful, these ads like the Coors one below, or my friends going groups and sending gifts?

Personally, I am more influenced by my brother joining a Bart Simpson fan club or my friend Ben receiving a movie gift over a direct ad. It adds third party creditability from a trusted source. So why are companies paying so much for ads on Facebook when they can just create groups and let current users send their brand virally to their friends? I’ve heard that it can cost $150,000 for a sponsored page. Brands don’t need to, however, spend that type of money for a fully branded page. The Bart Simpson page doesn’t look anything like like a professional page, and still gets the job done.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to drop a lot of money on social media to be successful, you just have to find a way to engage users so they do the work for you. Creating groups and fan pages gives brands a direct link into the Facebook community as participants, not outside advertisers. That’s what consumers want, to participate with and experience a brand, not be sold on it or talked to by it.

BTW - As I was writing this post my Facebook page reloaded and is now set up as the “new” Facebook layout. Can’t say I’m a fan right now. But I am also used to the older set up. Let’s see how this goes over….