Facebook Ad Disaster
You may have been given quite a few Facebook Ad tips by well-meaning friends or forum members. I just read one tip you should definitely avoid – and that’s creating a new Facebook account under a pen name for your business.
Let’s take the case of Walter (not his real name, of course.) Walter wanted to market and create a Facebook ad for a small game he had developed, since he knew that Facebook was an especially fertile ground for ads involving fun and entertainment. However, he found out that all Facebook ads are linked to personal profiles. His main Facebook profile presented him in a light that he felt would not sit well with his potential customer base, so he created another profile under the pen name he used for his blog (one he actually had registered at his bank so cheques could be made out to the pen name and cashed). In other words, it was perfectly legal with his bank to do business under that name.
Walter had taken great pains on that particular blog, without telling any outright lies, to allow readers to think of him as much younger than he was. He used a younger “tone”, and learned the right idioms to help him fit in with his niche’s 17-21-year-old age group. So to fit in with the blog, he gave his Facebook alter-ego a much more recent birthdate, and randomly typed in the name of a college he’d never attended.
9 months later, his game was just beginning to enjoy success. He had added some apps, created a Facebook group and had about 23,000 subscribers. The ad had been a definite success.
Then – disaster! Facebook somehow found out his profile was “fake”. It was promptly pulled.
So was his ad.
His 23,000 subscribers – and all his apps and data – disappeared… into thin air.
There was nothing Walter could do about it… except start all over from scratch.
Note that Walter had no intention of being dishonest – merely clever (and perhaps a little playful). “Fraud” never entered his head; and he had indeed checked to make sure that he was allowed to have more than one profile on Facebook. But what he didn’t was thoroughly read Facebook’s terms, in which Section 4, “Registration and Account Security” states up front that you have to provide your real name and information.
The very first point in the list states:
“1. You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.”
Not only was Walter’s pen name “false”, in Facebook’s eyes, but also his birthdate and college.
Now, whether you think that Walter was being fraudulent or whether you understand his intentions and agree with his viewpoint that it was “marketing”, it doesn’t matter. The point is, Walter lost months of hard work, 23,000 and a lot of money.
The fine print can be maddening – especially on Facebook, where sections seem to contradict each other, and definitive answers are often only found after accessing many pages (not all of them easily found).
But if you are going to invest that much time and money into a marketing and advertising campaign, it pays not to ignore that fine print.
The price – as Walter will ruefully tell you – is far too high.
Branding and Facebook Ad Success
You may have been given quite a few Facebook Ad tips by well-meaning friends or forum members. I just read one tip you should definitely avoid – and that’s creating a new Facebook account under a pen name for your business.
Let’s take the case of Walter (not his real name, of course.) Walter wanted to market and create a Facebook ad for a small game he had developed, since he knew that Facebook was an especially fertile ground for ads involving fun and entertainment. However, he found out that all Facebook ads are linked to personal profiles. His main Facebook profile presented him in a light that he felt would not sit well with his potential customer base, so he created another profile under the pen name he used for his blog (one he actually had registered at his bank so cheques could be made out to the pen name and cashed). In other words, it was perfectly legal with his bank to do business under that name.
Walter had taken great pains on that particular blog, without telling any outright lies, to allow readers to think of him as much younger than he was. He used a younger “tone”, and learned the right idioms to help him fit in with his niche’s 17-21-year-old age group. So to fit in with the blog, he gave his Facebook alter-ego a much more recent birthdate, and randomly typed in the name of a college he’d never attended.
9 months later, his game was just beginning to enjoy success. He had added some apps, created a Facebook group and had about 23,000 subscribers. The ad had been a definite success.
Then – disaster! Facebook somehow found out his profile was “fake”. It was promptly pulled.
So was his ad.
His 23,000 subscribers – and all his apps and data – disappeared… into thin air.
There was nothing Walter could do about it… except start all over from scratch.
Note that Walter had no intention of being dishonest – merely clever (and perhaps a little playful). “Fraud” never entered his head; and he had indeed checked to make sure that he was allowed to have more than one profile on Facebook. But what he didn’t was thoroughly read Facebook’s terms, in which Section 4, “Registration and Account Security” states up front that you have to provide your real name and information.
The very first point in the list states:
“1. You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.”
Not only was Walter’s pen name “false”, in Facebook’s eyes, but also his birthdate and college.
Now, whether you think that Walter was being fraudulent or whether you understand his intentions and agree with his viewpoint that it was “marketing”, it doesn’t matter. The point is, Walter lost months of hard work, 23,000 and a lot of money.
The fine print can be maddening – especially on Facebook, where sections seem to contradict each other, and definitive answers are often only found after accessing many pages (not all of them easily found).
But if you are going to invest that much time and money into a marketing and advertising campaign, it pays not to ignore that fine print.
The price – as Walter will ruefully tell you – is far too high.
Are you one of those entrepreneurs who is focusing on branding their business or company? If your answer is “yes”, you may want to link your Facebook ad to your Facebook page.
What’s that? Don’t have one? Well. Let’s have a look at Facebook pages… and then you can tell me why not. Okay?
A Facebook page provides “a customizable presence for an organization, product, or public personality to join the conversation with Facebook users”, according to Facebook. Its main focus is the “stream of content” provided by page administrators.
In other words, create a page for your company or yourself, providing real-time feedback, updates, screen shots and photos. Then give it a strong voice (yours), endowing the page with a definite, deliberate personality – one which you want aligned to your company mission and values. Chances are you will find you’ve created a powerful connection with your visitors. The content on your page and the feedback from real readers may help convince them to then click on your sales page link or the link to your main site, once your ad appears and people see that yours is a lively, positive page.
Another thing a page can do is charm potential customers into regular visits – particularly if they know you are going to:
– Provide them with an “insider” peek into your company’s heart
– Give them inside information
– Provide them with the latest news about your product or company
– Give them a “reward”; perhaps a special discount link, a game against other fans, or the chance to enter a contest or draw (run the latter two events by Facebook first!)
Regular users are your biggest asset – and a sure sign that you’re doing things right.
Beware of “Selling”
One thing that is key to creating a successful, strong Facebook Page: Be honest and up-front with your readers. Avoid anything that even faintly resembles hype or a sales pitch.
This should be the place they go that makes them feel as if you’ve let them slip into your private lunchroom, chatting with them like a friend and sharing things you wouldn’t share with outsiders. (Your posts will also appear in their News Feed, adding to the feeling of immediacy).
On top of this, Facebook has provided some great features to enhance your readers’ experience on your page: Options such as…
– Multi-media functional Wall (you can control what content you allow your fans to post)
– The ability to publish or not publish your posts to your fans’ News Feed
– Easy-to-navigate topside horizontal tabs containing Facebook “core” tabs such as Events and Discussion (Which you can enable… or not)
– Status update option
Check Your Stats
But perhaps its most exciting option is allowing you the ability to check your stats on viewer engagement. You’ll be able to see stats on comments and news feed use. (This is provided through their Facebook Insights platform.)
The only real drawback? Once you’ve created your page name, it can’t be changed or edited. (Everything else on the page can be adjusted). So make sure you take your time, picking exactly the right name, and putting it in the best category for your ad campaign. (The category also is permanent.)
Go visit your competitors’ Facebook pages (and especially the professionally-produced pages of Big Guns like Nike and Coca-Cola) and see what features and elements you like… and what you don’t like.
Facebook pages allow you a flexible range of applications you can choose to add… or not. These include:
– Videos
– Photos
– Events
– Reviews
And if these don’t meet your needs, check out the Facebook Applications Directory to uncover further apps that can help enhance your new Facebook page.
Question by Chelsea: what are these ads on my facebook profile?
on my profile on facebook i have these ads like from best buy and stuff! its not like on the side of my profile its literally where all my updates are, like above my status. i’m afraid this could be a hacker! what can i do to get rid of these weird ads???
Best answer:
Answer by Gnostictray
reboot browser and if not computer..
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
