Facebook Strikes Again With New CPC Flyer Ads

Good for Facebook. Good for advertisers. Same for members.

You can never please them all but Facebook is at least getting on target with their advertisers. Their flyer advertising just got a nice boost in the form of “Flyers Pro.” They will continue to host the “Flyer Basic” in the traditional manner.

Flyers Pro will offer advertisers the opportunity to have auction-based, cost-per-click ads within the flyers. Whereas Flyers Basic targeting capabilities include gender, age and specific college and regional networks, Flyers Pro options promise all of the above plus a range of keyword data included in user profiles. For instance, marketers can deliver messages based on a person's political affiliation, relationship status, or personal affinities such as favorite music, books or movies.

"We added the CPC pricing option to give more flexibility to advertisers and to better serve those running Flyers in order to get users to take an action, like visiting a Facebook event page or another Web site," the spokesperson told ClickZ.

Reports the ClickZ article: “Since their debut in March 2006, Facebook's homegrown Flyer ads have offered the easiest way for marketers to reach users of the hyped social network. The site has thousands of Flyers live on any given day, according to a spokesperson, yet the self-service ads have often performed poorly on traditional digital advertising metrics, according to anecdotal reports shared with ClickZ and others posted on the Web.”

Facebook says Flyer ads have historically found favor with small businesses and individuals placing user-to-user ads to promote groups or events. While the company said its new features were created with similar goals in mind, the quick feedback mechanism provided by its CPC system may help drive experimentation and broaden the advertiser base somewhat. If that happens, budgets and average CPC rates should rise.
Gotta say that they might be on to something. Facebook is staying in the headlines and everything seems to be positive. This will initially get advertisers motivated and interested in the new methods. We’ll have to wait and see how the numbers work out in the next few weeks.

Facebook is killing em out there, Myspace needs first aid. (Play off Jay-Z, but it’s sooo sad and true, Rupert, step-up and act fast!)

-G-Ro