targeting

Facebook vs. Google. Direct Internet Marketing (Advertising)

Which is better for Advertising?  Facebook or Google?  Hell if I know!  What is better anyways?  Different… would be a better way to explain Facebook vs. Google, so here goes how I see them as different from a Direct Internet Marketing perspective.

Here is the main difference: The Targeting is Different.

  • Facebook lets you target Age/Gender/Location/Likes, and more,  because it knows “who it’s users are”.
  • Google lets you target Location and “Search Term Keywords” only.
From a direct marketer’s perspective Facebook might seem better. Marketers usually think of segmentation in terms of “demographics” and “psycho-graphics’, and with Facebook’s tools, you can really target a “market segment”.
The problem with Facebook Targeting is that you have no idea of “buying intent”.  You don’t know if they are interested or care about your offer.
For Google, you target the key words that a person is searching for AT THAT MOMENT.  There is some kind of intent implied in the act of searching.  While this doesn’t jive with Marketers view of segmentation, it certainly does have an impact on relevance to the user.
The difference in the CTR and CVR between the two platforms shows what I mean.
  • “Averages” from some of my own Facebook campaigns:   CTR: 0.025%   CVR: 0.012%  (yes a tenth of a percent)
  • “Averages” from some of my own Google Adwords campaigns:   CTR: 0.6%  CVR: 0.06%  (yes 6 tenths of a percent).
Meaning Google is between 20x better at click-through-rate, and at least 6x better at CVR.
Another big difference is the “Ad Frequency” settings of the two tools.
  • On Facebook, the ads are shown in smallish quantities until one of the ads in an ad group takes off… then the others get virtually no traffic.
  • On Google, you can SET the system to show ads evenly (when you are A/B testing, this is really really important).
So doing A/B testing on Facebook is almost impossible… (I havn’t figured out a way to do it in a statistically meaningful way).
Instead, on Facebook, I do “Survival Testing”… ads that Survive (get impressions and seem to keep working at a decent rate) go into my “good group”  and ads that do not get enough testing, stay in the testing group until I have enough data to “kill them”.   It’s a very slow and tedious process.
I’m sure there is more differences as well… what differences do you think are key?

All of Marketing by way of “Target” and “Position”

All of marketing may be explained by clearly defining and using two words: Target and Position.  Learn to use these two words correctly, and your business will prosper.  Fail in either or both, lose focus in either, and your business will die.

Target: The single very narrow, focused customer type you really, really want to love your product/service.
TO BE CLEAR: I mean +/- 5 years of age, a clear gender, and ideally also some “qualifying” attribute. (example: M/25-35/Hardcore Gamers.)

Position: The unique place in the mind of your target you want your product/service to occupy.
TO BE CLEAR: I mean a clear position that you can own in the mind: “The Best”, “The Fastest”, “The Cheapest”, “The Healthiest”, “The Most X”, etc.  (example: “The Most Hardcore Social Game Ever”)

So, how is this “all of marketing”?
Some example questions that come up in running a business should suffice to explain:

Question 1: Where should you sell your product?
Answer 1: Wherever the Target shops.

Question 2: What kind of copy should you write?
Answer 2: Whatever would please the Target while helping your product occupy a Position in their mind.

Question 3: How should you advertise?
Answer 3: Advertise wherever the Target is likely to see it; and ideally to solidify the Position in their mind, and eventually to drive buying behavior.

Question 4: Should I have a website?
Answer 4: If your Target uses the web… usually yes.

Question 5: What features should I have in my product?
Answer 5: Those features that help you occupy the Position in the mind of your Target.

Question 6: Should I partner with company X?
Answer 6: Only if company X is appealing to the Target, and can help you solidify your Position.

Question 7: What price should I charge?
Answer 7: A price that the Target is willing and able to pay, given your unique Position.

Question 8: Should I use Social Networks?
Answer 8: If your target uses Social Networks… usually yes.

Question 9: What if I have a new product?
Answer 9: Define it’s Target and Position… and STICK WITH IT.

Question 10: What if my product isn’t doing well?
Answer 10: Perhaps you need to improve the product for a better Position, or adjust the price to match your “actual” Position in the Target’s mind.

Question 11: Should I add feature X?
Answer 11: If the Target wants it.

I could go on and on… and you may say:

With such a narrow target, aren’t you losing out on sales?
Answer: NO!

You will get sales outside your narrow target, precisely BECAUSE you appeal so strongly to your target.  (e.g. imagine all the people who “aspire” to be in your target.. or who themselves uniquely identify with your message/target).  You don’t turn these sales away, nor do you let it change your focus… it is your appeal to your TARGET that lets you win other customers outside the target.

I hope this makes sense and helps!  I am a bit passionate about this.  Email me or comment with questions/feedback/ideas.  I’m always open!

Positioning your Company or Product in the Minds of the World.

What is Positioning?  The outstanding book by Al Ries and Jack Trout should be your FIRST stop on the topic.  Those excellent narrators bring to life a concept that can seem boring; but is truly vital to the success of a product.  If you do not have a “Position” for your product… you are almost certainly doomed to fail.
Consider, when you go shopping, say for a new car, how do you choose what to buy?  If you are interested quality? Toyota.  Great Driving? BMW. Amazing Safety?  Volvo.  
In order to properly market your product, you must find a position for your brand… this means finding a place “in the mind of your target customers” for your product to live.  Imagine your target customer has a limited capacity for remembering things (certainly true)..and you get 1 shot to ‘place your product in the filing cabinet of your prospects mind’… what do you want them to remember?  The idea of positioning is that IF you can get it into their mind WITH a position; it will be easier to file away.  (rather than into the ‘misc’ category, your prospects file it in the “Safest” category or the “Best Value/Cheap” category or the “Highest Quality/Expensive” category or the “Funnest” category or whatever.
With my good friend Barry Raskin, I have adopted a formal sentence structure that helps guide the development of a “positioning statement”… can you fill out this sentence?  Can everyone on the product team?
” _(  YOUR
COMPANY/PRODUCT/BRAND  )_  is a _______  that does ____________ for
________.

UNLIKE OTHER _____________ we do _________________________.”

Having trouble?  You are not alone.  About 90% of the start-ups I encounter have never thought of their products in this simple and critical way.
This will FORCE you to put a position on your product.  This sentence is not something you share with the world (necessarily).  It is an internal guide to keep marketing focused and what you want to ‘imprint’ on people who encounter your product/brand.
There is a whole bunch more psychology and tips that the book (below) goes into.  I’ll leave you with 1 final tip from my own experience.  When you sit down and do this exercise, you’ll realize quickly that the “for ____” is a vital part.  If you are not TARGETING a well define market… your POSITIONING will fail.  Start with the target market first… then find a position in their minds you can occupy.
It is even better when you can occupy a position that nobody else has claimed yet.  The “Most, Best, Fastest” or similar terms are what you are shooting for!
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