Google or Facebook: What is more effective advertising?
Between Google and Facebook, a tough fight unfolded in the contextual advertising market. So far, Google feels confident, but Facebook is a threat for several reasons .
First, for Google it is very important that the web remains highly fragmented, and search on the Internet is a popular service. At the same time, Facebook concentrates more and more content that is inaccessible to search engines, and users spend more and more time there.
Secondly, Facebook can pose a threat in other areas, for example, in the market of payment systems or in the mobile market. These are the hidden threats that Google must consider.
But the most important thing is that Facebook occupies a growing share in the advertising market ($ 1.86 billion in 2010, $ 4 billion is planned for this), and may soon expand the advertising network beyond its site. Losses in the advertising market undermine the foundations of Google’s business, and here the company must concentrate its main efforts.
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In this context, we’ll try to determine how effective advertising in social networks is and how popular Facebook is with Google’s main category of advertisers, that is, with small businesses. There are several studies in this area.
For example, a recent survey of small business representatives, compiled as part of the MerchantCircle Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) . Here are some key numbers.
Tab. 1. Do you promote your business through the following sites / services? (% of respondents)
As you can see, here Facebook is in no way inferior to Google. The social network is already familiar to advertisers. Promotion on the social network is used even more often than search marketing. How effective?
Tab. 2. What are the three most effective marketing or advertising methods that your business uses now or used before?
Here, Facebook already loses Google in terms of efficiency, but overtakes all other advertising methods, including mailing lists, print media and radio.
It would seem that all the above figures speak in favor of Facebook. As if the social network can compete on equal terms with Google. But one detail needs to be taken into account: in these polls, the effectiveness of contextual advertising, the very instrument with which Google earns 99% of its profits, was not investigated. How effective is this ad for Facebook, that is, does it make a profit?
A study was also conducted in this area ( Forrester , table ), and the results can be called simply disastrous for Facebook. Representatives of online stores called social networks the least effective of the ten methods of attracting customers. In fact, only 7% of respondents consider it effective. As they say, there is no place worse.
True, this study was conducted according to the results of 2009 (published in April 2011) and the sample of respondents is very small: only 102 online stores. However, this is still a serious study and these figures can be trusted. Among the main reasons for the low effectiveness of advertising on Facebook, advertisers refer to a CTR of around 1%. For comparison, on average, CTR is 11% on mailings.
That is what happens? Apparently, most representatives of small businesses consider advertising on social networks effective, but the fact is that online stores cannot generate sales through Facebook. E-commerce remains with Google without questions, but other small businesses, including offline advertisers, may well look in the direction of Facebook. Perhaps Google and Facebook can divide advertisers: some types of business are better promoted through search, and others through social networks.
First, for Google it is very important that the web remains highly fragmented, and search on the Internet is a popular service. At the same time, Facebook concentrates more and more content that is inaccessible to search engines, and users spend more and more time there.
Secondly, Facebook can pose a threat in other areas, for example, in the market of payment systems or in the mobile market. These are the hidden threats that Google must consider.
But the most important thing is that Facebook occupies a growing share in the advertising market ($ 1.86 billion in 2010, $ 4 billion is planned for this), and may soon expand the advertising network beyond its site. Losses in the advertising market undermine the foundations of Google’s business, and here the company must concentrate its main efforts.
')
In this context, we’ll try to determine how effective advertising in social networks is and how popular Facebook is with Google’s main category of advertisers, that is, with small businesses. There are several studies in this area.
For example, a recent survey of small business representatives, compiled as part of the MerchantCircle Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) . Here are some key numbers.
Tab. 1. Do you promote your business through the following sites / services? (% of respondents)
| Site / service | Promote | I do not promote | Not yet, but planning | Do not know |
| 70.3% | 20.1% | 8.9% | 0.7% | |
| 66.2% | 25.8% | 7.0% | 0.9% | |
| 58.2% | 29.2% | 7.0% | 5.7% | |
| Yahoo! | 49.2% | 41.7% | 7.8% | 1.3% |
| Yahoo! Local | 45.0% | 41.3% | 8.5% | 5.2% |
| 39.8% | 48.8% | 9.5% | 2.0% |
Tab. 2. What are the three most effective marketing or advertising methods that your business uses now or used before?
| The most effective method | % of respondents |
| Search Engine Marketing | 40.2% |
| Social network profile | 36.7% |
| Mailing Lists | 35.8% |
| Other online methods | 34.4% |
| Coupons or direct letters by paper mail | 23.9% |
| Printed newspapers | 19.7% |
| Online Yellow Pages | 17.6% |
| Blog | 17.0% |
| Banners, graphic advertising | 9.7% |
| Local radio | 7.6% |
It would seem that all the above figures speak in favor of Facebook. As if the social network can compete on equal terms with Google. But one detail needs to be taken into account: in these polls, the effectiveness of contextual advertising, the very instrument with which Google earns 99% of its profits, was not investigated. How effective is this ad for Facebook, that is, does it make a profit?
A study was also conducted in this area ( Forrester , table ), and the results can be called simply disastrous for Facebook. Representatives of online stores called social networks the least effective of the ten methods of attracting customers. In fact, only 7% of respondents consider it effective. As they say, there is no place worse.
True, this study was conducted according to the results of 2009 (published in April 2011) and the sample of respondents is very small: only 102 online stores. However, this is still a serious study and these figures can be trusted. Among the main reasons for the low effectiveness of advertising on Facebook, advertisers refer to a CTR of around 1%. For comparison, on average, CTR is 11% on mailings.
That is what happens? Apparently, most representatives of small businesses consider advertising on social networks effective, but the fact is that online stores cannot generate sales through Facebook. E-commerce remains with Google without questions, but other small businesses, including offline advertisers, may well look in the direction of Facebook. Perhaps Google and Facebook can divide advertisers: some types of business are better promoted through search, and others through social networks.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/117600/
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