Facebook just passed the 500 million mark, of course this does not take into account all the users that may have multiple accounts. Still it is the largest social network and most heavily visited website. Although Facebook is not a search engine like Google, I believe Google has a real problem from competition it is going to face from Facebook in it’s pay per click model. Here is why I believe people are going to eventually put most of their advertising budgets towards Facebook’s pay per click.
The personal factor With Facebook you can really target a specific audience and narrow down who see’s your ads. With the advent of the like button you can get to know who your client’s are, what their likes are, who they are friends with, where they live. You have so much information at your fingertips to help access who your audience is and the ability to track and analyze what is working and what is not working.
Sharing Sure with Google you can target and narrow down your audience and it is very targeted marketing but Google lacks the social aspect that Facebook provides. People tend to trust people they know and like so if they see a friend that recommends (likes) a certain fan page; what better ringing endorsement is that? When someone lands on your Facebook landing page and clicks that like button it doesn’t end with that user, everyone of their friends now can see that you liked your fan page, providing you with more potential traffic.
Communication As I mention with Facebook you can really get to know who you audience is, you can instantly communicate, send new information, run contests, interact, and so much more.
Average time on site The biggest factor I believe where Facebook has an advantage over Google is the amount of time people spend on Facebook. Someone who may visit Facebook a hundred times and never click an ad will eventually click on ads that catch their eye. With 500 million users and still growing I think businesses will eventually figure out Facebook may be a better alternative to Google’s pay per click.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think Facebook is the way to go or do you prefer Google’s Adwords when it comes to pay per click advertising?