Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
 I don’t know about you, but when I’m searching for quality information, my first thought is that I always want the absolutely most recent thing. Especially if it comes from a source that isn’t well edited, most likely unverified, and has massive potentials for misuse or gross inaccuracy.
And because Wikipedia simply isn’t fast enough to do all that in realtime for me, I’m so amazingly glad that Google has decided to basically get live, streaming feed direct from Twitter.
Sarcasm aside, this has actually let a few glaringly obvious holes (at least temporarily) that can be exploited in Google’s insistence that newer = better, particularly if you combine it with their new “hey, we already know what everyone wants” attitude. And these glarignly obvious holes can be exploited to your benefit quite nicely for promoting your Affiliation Cash programs.
 So let’s say you’re running aff links to one of our offerings that has a search parameter that you can embed into your affiliate link*. This little loophole is great because you can now tweet / status update that you’ve just watched / listened to a great movie / album that you got for free from this awesome website. You then insert the link with the correct address, and Bit.Ly hides your affiliate link nicely (even more so because most people don’t have the Bit.Ly extension for FireFox that allows them to see where the links go).
Ok, so you’ve done this once, and if you’re being fairly current, you might get 5-15 clicks out of Google before it drops out. Possibly more, possibly less, if the term is really popular. Certainly not enough to get a conversion every time… Sounds kinda like wasted effort, actually.
And if it does, then you’ve learnt absolutely nothing from me over the past year where I keep talking about things you nee to look into for yourself, like automation!
 There are heaps of automation tools out there for Twitter and Facebook alike. Look around for some, and make sure that they have the ability to spin content. This is insanely important, because it will save you ludicrous amounts of time. You simply setup a line that’s readily spinnable to make it seem like you just listen to music or watch movies and TV shows non-stop, with enough current artists or movies, and let it go about once an hour on autopost, where it can spin the new content for you each time. Then, if the software supports conditions, attach the name to the correct search query on the site… Or don’t. Let the lazy slobs on Google search for that stuff once they get to the site in question.
Keep it going over a few different accounts, and the number of followers is entirely irrelevant, because you’re getting traffic from Google, not Twitter. Any followers gullible enough to fall for your army of automated, spinning bots.
Anyway, I’m sure Google’s bound to pick up on this soon. They’re not idiots over there, so you better take advantage of this one while you can.
Happy Hunting - Harvey
*If you have NFI what I’m talking about there, you’re welcome to email or MSN me, and I’ll explain in greater detail.
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Performics recently released yet another study revealing what we already know: People will take their friends words for the quality of a service.
This works particularly well on Facebook. This is also something we’ve already mentioned, and you probably already know. So why bother bringing it up in relation to affiliate marketing, and specifically for Affiliation Cash programs?
Because you can get people to Facebook share your pages!
Whilst you can’t directly advertise on Facebook as they have a policy against download based services, and you probably can’t stick up a fan page either for the same reason (although I’d be interested to see the results if anyone tried), these are not nearly as effective as merely getting people to share about the URL of your site, particularly if you have a logo that still manages to look attractive in that tiny little Facebook box.
If you’re already using something like Facebook’s own sharing widget or an Add This button on your page, that’s great… But you can always go a step further if you’re a little inventive.
Remember, most regular users of Facebook will basically stay logged in on another window or tab all day long. Some clever and amazingly unethical use of Javascript could see each and every one of those people clicking your FB Share button.
Think about it.
Happy Hunting - Harvey
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Some of you out there may be wandering at precisely why I’m covering what seems to be old ground and getting into demographics again, especially in regards to MySpace and Facebook.
 Facebook face meets MySpace face. Both decide to Twitter about it. For starters, there is no such thing as old ground when it comes to marketing to demographic groups on social networks. It’s something that’s constantly evolving, and these evolutions need to be taken into account when making advertising campaigns. Not only are the rules of the actual PPC advertising changing on a regular basis, but so are the demographics. There are some demographics on these sites that simply do not change, however, and today we’re going to have a brief over view as to what it means for you and your marketing campaigns.
It should be noted that these demographics are based on Nielson Claritas studies of North American users & statistics, and are most likely not indicative of other English speaking markets, such as the UK, Canada or Australia.
Interesting results from Nielsen
 Notice how the MySpace user actually knows how to aim a firearm? The top third of the socio-economic ladder, that uses social networks, is 25% more likely to be on Facebook than those on the lowest third. Conversely, those on the lowest third are 37% more likely to be users of MySpace. Users of Facebook are nearly twice as likely to also be registered on LinkedIn than those that use MySpace.
Already, we are seeing a distinct socioeconomic differences. Facebook users are more likely to be from affluent families, have gone to a tertiary educational institution (hence the reason for it to be named “facebook” in the first place) and be employed professionally, whilst looking to network with other professionals.
The study also notes that people that use blogs, or Twitter, are far more likely to be based around urban centers, specifically of larger cities.
So let’s take all this into account, and consider what it potentially means for the purposes of marketing Affiliation Cash programs.
MySpace Users
Generally speaking are less educated and less affluent. This means they are likely to live in lower social status areas, and be more exposed to clannish behaviour. Peer pressure is paramount amongst these, and they are therefore more likely to respond to a call to action that urges them to do what their peers are doing so that they can conform to the rest of the clan. In real terms, it means that they want to fit in with those around them so that they don’t get their arses kicked for being different.
Advertise to them in a way that appeals to their need for conformity, and target the advertising so that you accurately get cultural expectations in with the ads (i.e. don’t advertise rap & hip-hop to people over the age of 40)
Facebook Users
Due to a larger range of users, both in terms of sheer numbers and in terms of diversity, Facebook theoretically provides more potential. With that said, due to the diversity inherent in the system, you are actually going to have to try much harder to find your advertising succeeding. This is also before you take into account that Facebook users are more educated and affluent than their MySpace counterparts, and are less likely to be duped into a purchase by a marketing message.
The irony is that within the confines of their social spaces, these people are also seeking acceptance and to be like the rest of the crowd… Just in “more unique” ways. If you can figure out a way of getting them to a click an advert that goes through to a blog that appeals to their interests, you’ll probably be making a conversion more easily than the MySpace crowd who are often concerned about funds.
Now go forth and pillage the social networks!
Happy Hunting - Harvey
 This does not represent the views of the Management
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
So a few days ago I gave you the horrible horrible news. Everyone’s favourite PPC provider was basically intending to make things a hell of a lot harder. Well, there’s some light at the end of this tunnel it seems.
Whilst you may be competing a hell of a lot more with 3rd party media buyers who can afford massive chunks out of the impression pie, said pie is getting larger all the time anyway.
According to comScore, search traffic has grown by 41% in the last 12 months. See the table below, and note that these are millions of searches per month:
| Worldwide Search Market Overview
July 2009 vs. July 2008
Total Worldwide – Age 15+, Home/Work Locations
Source: comScore qSearch |
|
Searches (MM) |
| July 2008 |
July 2009 |
Percent Change |
| Total Internet |
80,554 |
113,685 |
41% |
| Google Sites |
48,666 |
76,684 |
58% |
| Yahoo! Sites |
8,689 |
8,898 |
2% |
| Baidu.com Inc. |
7,413 |
7,976 |
8% |
| Microsoft Sites |
2,349 |
3,317 |
41% |
| eBay |
1,223 |
1,723 |
41% |
| NHN Corporation |
1,243 |
1,526 |
23% |
| Ask Network |
929 |
1,291 |
39% |
| Yandex |
663 |
1,290 |
94% |
| AOL LLC |
1,148 |
1,023 |
-11% |
| Facebook.com |
743 |
879 |
18% |
Stop and look at some of the sites in there. Doubtless you recognise old favourites such as Yahho and Google. But who are these Baidu and Yandex guys? What’s Facebook doing in there?!
 I'm old and even I don't remember half of these Baidu is China’s largest search engine, Yandex, Russia’s.
China’s growth isn’t exactly good looking, especially considering how many people in China are logging on. There’s a good chance those people are going to GoogleCN straight up. Laughable, considering Baidu’s back engine is run by Google nowadays anyway. That being said, if you’re at all interested in the Chinese market (which you won’t be for Affiliation Cash programs because we really don’t support Chinese languages, but hey, you might have something else on the boil), then advertising on it is definitely a good idea.
Interesting is Yandex, however. It shows that a growing portion of Europeans online are using Russia’s search gateway. A growing number of Europeans are also familiar with English (although we do offer support in German, French & Spanish too), which is absolutely peachy, because this is a highly untapped market for P2P processors like ourselves.
Last thing to notice here: Facebook. According to the Alexa ranking, Facebook is the 2nd most used site in the world. It also allows for targeting in a way that no other PPC provider does. There is the issue that you can’t advertise direct download programs on it, but some creativity will see you getting around that… like advertising a landing page that sports “reviews” of services.
Happy Hunting - Harvey
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Some of you may recall a post a little while back about how the FCC is basically cracking down on the blogs of anyone in the North American region for making false claims if they promote stuff, etc etc etc.
 Nothing much to do with the article, other than the name of the piece. It's actually a poster from a Threadless tshirt artist, but doesn't it look cool? Well, to ensure it doesn’t end up under undue scrunity, it looks like Facebook are following suite before it actually does become a legal issue. Their new terms and conditions now state:
You will not send or otherwise post unauthorized commercial communications to users (such as spam).
Considering that marketing online has basically become synonymous with spam, regardless of the fact that they clearly delineated by one being wanted, even actively sought out, and the other not, it’s a frustratingly murky area.
However, if you are one of those people that has a Facebook account, and you use it for personal activities as well as spam marketing products and services to people, you may want to reconsider using your status, notes, etc., to promote anything that is likely to make you money.
I get the feeling they’re basically going to be looking for URLs with tracking IDs.
So just use bit.ly, like everyone else does over on Twitter.
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
If you8′re already advertising on Facebook regularly, this is old news for you by now.
If you’re not already, or got all pissy with its problems and left before, then here’s some news that may bring you back to using the service.
There are three new options for targetting (although only two of them are really useful for Affiliation Cash programs)
-
 Now with extra precision Target by Connections
- Multiple Country Targeting
- Birthday
Yeah, guess one isn’t so useful.
Target By Connections basically allows you to target people if they’re connected to a certain other Facebook user, group, fan page, or application… or if they’re not connected to that thing. This has a couple of uses. Say there’s an app, and you reckon it gets used predominantly by people that you reckon would buy in, you can target them instead of trying to figure out their demography and interest base. Way easier. You could also use it to target everyone you know that knows a certain person and promote something about that person, like the Ancient Order of the No Homers Club.
Multiple Country Targeting is pretty obvious what it’s good for. There are plenty of countries that speak the same language. Like Canada and France. Or Canada and England. Or Canada and New Caldeonia. Or Canada and Canadia. This means you no longer need to create multiple versions of the exact same ad just to target people that are actually speaking the same language. It’s not a useful feature so much as a massive time and frustration saver. Time because you only need to submit one, and frustration because it’s amazing how you can submit an ad for the US and UK, and it’s exactly the same, but one of them gets rejected while the other sails through. Seriously, what the hell’s up with that?!
Birthday targetting means… People will see your ad on their birthdays. Yeah, I’ve got no idea what you can do with that. Maybe there’s some kind of birthday zip submit offer out there. I dunno.
Happy Hunting - Harvey
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
If you’ve been using the amazingly popular social network Facebook to promote your Affiliation Cash programs, a rethink of strategy may be in order, particularly if you’re targetting those over the age of 50.
 Click for full size Whilst we’re all aware that Facebook’s booming growth rate simply canont be sustainable (even the internet is a limited market, albeit an incomprehensibly large one), there’s a slowdown, and then there’s a complete about face. That’s where things are currently standing with the Baby Boomer generation.
Whilst this demographic is an underwhelmingly small number of Facebook users, they are also the most susceptible to advertising online, with some tests showing they’re nearly three times as likely to follow through with a purchase online, without bothering to do further research.
If you’ve been mining this particular rich silver seam, it may be time to look elsewhere. Hopefully what you learnt in Facebook’s ad platform will help you with your targetting in a search engine’s.
Personally, I recommend Yahoo. Anyone that still thinks they have the best search results is bound to be the sort of person that doesn’t bother looking for alternatives 
Happy Hunting - Harvey
|
|
