Remember The Call to Action & Importance of Context.

Facebook Ads are becoming more and more Sponsored Stories - effectively friend-endorsed Facebook Pages or Posts. I love the concept (friends vouching for a particular brand, discussions, offer, etc). The ad units are enjoyably familiar (only appear if friends support it) but lack calls to action. Here is a good example - an ad surrounded by people I know and for a page that is relevant to me (golfing):

But what's the call to action? Visiting the page? That is strikingly un-Facebook... in fact, it seems more AdWords-like. Where is the integrated Like and Share buttons? And where is the language to at least give context to Feherty is (other than something my friends like)?

It is a reminder to set context and create actionable units / content. While this specifically applies to ad units, it is a relevant reminder for all product, content, etc.

Amazon Sells Prime Gorgeously

Amazon is the king of simple, effective marketing units. Here are two more that promote Amazon Prime. (Never mind the fact that I already subscribe to Prime and am not sure why I am seeing these promotions...) Amazon gives five value props: 1. FAST Shipping 2. No Minimums 3. Wide Selection 4. Send Anywhere 5. Instant Videos

Here are the two units for shipping and selection. They are brilliant: clever, on brand and compelling:

Google's Effective $75 AdWords Credit Campaign

I spend a lot of time talking about effective advertising and funnel optimization. Obviously, advertising often represents the top of the funnel (user acquisition) for many companies / campaigns. It is always worth watching respected brands' online campaigns because they usually undergo rigorous optimization testing and analytics. That is why I often point to ShoeDazzle, Groupon, LivingSocial, Amazon, etc - excellent, analytical marketers. And here is an example from Google that I think is well done and worth learning from.

The ad unit is simple. Bright color. Clear message. And most importantly, a reward / incentive: $75.00 credit:

Once the creative drives a click, the action is filling out a form (aka driving a lead)... and obviously the page's efficiency (call to action, form completion, lead collection, etc) is critical to making the campaign ROI effective. This what Google does well:

- Super simple, clean landing page

- Key action items and messaging: "Request a free trial" is both the message and the action button

- Only four fields are needed to get moving: name, email, URL and Country

- Two ways to get set up: Request via form or vial phone

- A big reminder of your $75 credit

- And crisp, clean language about why Google advertising works - with a < 2 minute YouTube tutorial

Facebook Deals: An Ad Unit with the Buy Button Integrated.

I am still unsure about Facebook Deals: - just how fully baked the idea / effort is. - how Deals are suggested to me and dispersed throughout the Facebook experience / flow. - what Facebook Deals becomes? Is it an extension of Facebook Places + Pages? Is it effectively a new Facebook Ad Format? (by the way - this is my strong feeling of what it should be) And although many Facebook users share my ambivalence / confusion / lack of passion about the Deals product... it is profoundly important for the reason mentioned above: this is effectively a new ad format and a new way to buy.

Think about it: there are ads are appearing on Facebook where the only action item is to purchase... and that purchases occurs in-line because Facebook can tie your account and Credits together. That is powerful. The fact that it is a "Deal" is really irrelevant - it is an ad with familiar, compelling copy (ie 10% off or Free Shipping).

And for advertisers, it is one more reason why advertising on Facebook is powerful: there are ad units that support traffic, media consumption, fan acquisition, sampling distribution and now purchasing. It now represents the entire funnel: acquisition, conversion and engagement / retention.

ESPN Experiments with Facebook Ads for SportsNation.

Between on-air promotion and daily feed interactions, ESPN is aggressively ramping their Facebook usage (perhaps they are watching the NBA's success?). As an example, hit ESPN2 show SportsNation is quickly approaching 750,000 fans (was 600,000 April 1st). In fact, they are now advertising for the page:

It is unclear how much growth is from the campaign - but it is interesting because the page itself is not directly monetized. Clearly this is an opportunity to ESPN to understand:

- the relationship between on & off-air consumption - the ability to incorporate social activity in live airings - the beginning values of online, off-ESPN.com users

And perhaps it is something bigger: the roll-out of deeper social integrations on ESPN.com.

Bud Light Cleverly Runs Promotion on Facebook Page.

Brands have used all sorts of mechanisms and promotions to drive social activity (see Redbox example)... and Facebook's new page layout has complicated that. Here is Bud Light's approach: 1. Drive Like's

Bud Light is running a $10,000,000 promotion... and the only way to access and enter the page is to Like the Facebook page. Once you like the page, the promotion is no longer grayed out and it is accessible. Of course, to get access - you need to become a fan.

2. Improve Page Navigation / Findability

One of the complications for brands on Facebook is that users generally do not move across the page's various 'tabs' (formerlly were laid out more prominently across the top - now they are buried horizontally beneath the page logo). Bud Light defaults to landing visitors on the wall (my strong recommendation!) and, to drive awareness of their promotion has done something interesting: promote the "Best Round Ever" tab with prominent arrows in the logo.

#1 is probably more effective... but #2 is a clever, free way to drive awareness. Ultimately, the most effective action is to cleverly promote via the newsfeed (great, engaging content).

Twitter Promoted Tweets & Effective Real-Time, Event-Based Advertising

For much of today, my blog was unaccessible because Media Temple had a far-reaching outage.

After unsuccessfully trying to reach my site, I was made aware of this through Twitter (why no email correspondence?)... with a simple search of "Media Temple", there were endless tweets referencing the outage. This of course speaks to the power of Twitter's instantaneous news stream; but surprisingly, it also spoke to the potential power of Twitter's Promoted Tweets ad system. Media Temple competitor Storm On Demand saw this is a immediate opportunity to reach targeted searchers and acquire new users with a specialized coupon. Smart. And Twitter is the perfect system for this short-lived, real-time marketing opportunity.

Facebook is terrific for reaching hyper-targeted users (demographic, location, taste / preference, etc). And this is an example of Twitter's effectiveness around real-time, event-based advertising.

For Social Ads, Voice and Relevance are more Important than Just Reach.

This Twitter post / ad from Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets is a reminder that ads need to be relevant. And relevancy is a function of voice AND message. This is precisely why I am bullish on Facebook Ads and Google +1. Darrelle Revis is a star and he's got a strong twitter following (160,000). But neither of those qualify him to be a Motorola Xoom spokesman who raves about the 10.1" HD widescreen. Traditional commercials might allow for more creativity - but when Revis touts the Xoom in text, it is neither authentic nor convincing. I would much rather hear a techy voice and/or friend praise the Xoom (much more compelling) or here Revis talk about products / brands more relevant to him.

... and this has nothing to do with the fact I dislike the Jets =)

Nike Golf's Facebook Contest Promotes the Masters & their new 20XI Golf Balls

In time for the PGA Masters, Nike ran a daily Facebook promotion for their 20XI golf balls. Nike Golf's 450,000 Facebook fans could win one of 25 sleeves of their exclusive Masters edition 20XI golf balls. The first 25 fans to click through Nike's newsfeed post won. I am not writing this to gloat of my winnings (though I am excited), but rather because the contest was done quite well for a few reasons:

1. Nike has run several Facebook promotions aimed at driving immediate engagement around surprise newsfeed activity. Nike Basketball has a promotion around Kobe Bryant where exclusive content is uploaded at 'random' times to Facebook ("the Black Mamba can strike at any time")

2. Not only is the promotion time sensitive, it is timely: doing this around the Masters is relevant, fun and impactful (as it's the most watched golfing event each year).

3. It is actually viral. See the step-by-step example below.

So here's how it worked:

Nike posts to their newsfeed. Time is of the essence: within five minutes, ~50 people have liked the post... but only 25 sleeves of balls are being given away:

I somehow got there fast enough to win the sleeve:

And the 'transaction' occurs entirely on the Facebook fan page. So I've never left Nike Golf:

Once you complete the 'order', you are prompted to share on Facebook:

The feed post describes the balls rather than the promotion (I would probably have changed that to encourage discussion / awareness among friends):

And within seconds of my feed post - 42 seconds to be exact - friends noticed and liked Nike Golf.

Low cost, easy and fun way for Nike to engage fans and drive greater awareness.