It’s been said that Facebook is not a good model for pay per click advertising. I don’t think we should rush to judgment. Perhaps no one has really created a PPC camapign that has risen to the same level of success as that of Google. But I think it’s possible.

First, I would not start my social media campaign with paid advertising. The first step must be to build a solid base of friends and fans with your Facebook profile. Then you’ll want to build Facebook pages for each of the products and brands that you want to promote. After that, you’ll want to join a few groups that are related to your niche and start one of your own. Make sure that your group is different than any of the others. You don’t want any cross-pollenization of similar groups. Fill your own niche. Where is the market short?

After you’ve taken the first necessary socials steps on Facebook and have a solid base of fans, then you should start a test pay per click advertising campaign. You’ll want to drive traffic to your Facebook landing pages. It is less threatening than your website or blog. You’re only paying 5 cents per click on Facebook so don’t fret. You can still set a $5 daily limit. But one other thing you’ll want to do is establish your targeted demographic. You don’t want to pay for untargeted clicks. Therefore, make sure you are targeting the right market and driving them to the right landing page.

Facebook has added the Live Search feature to its website now, allowing Facebook users to search the Web from within the social network. Does this mean you have more opportunities to reach more people?

Put aside the fact that Facebook advertising has not really paid off for most people who have tried it, Live Search is another matter. With users having the ability to search the Web from within Facebook, that means those searchers will see search ads within the Live Search SERPs. Given that 20% of searchers click on the ads, that may mean more opportunities for advertisers.

I don’t see this move significantly impacting Live Search’s market share, but it could give a sharp rise to the number of Live Search searches that take place in a period of time. If that’s the case then advertisers will have more opportunities to reach the loyal Live Search market. We’ll see what happens.

Facebook has been offering pay per click advertising for some time now. But is it worth it? According to The Challenge Dividend, it’s an utter failure. Well, I’m not going to say it is or isn’t. Instead, I’m going to offer an idea what pay per click advertising should do to succeed. If Facebook isn’t doing that for you then maybe it is a failure:

1. It should deliver targeted traffic to your website
2. It should deliver targeted traffic at a price that you can afford
3. It should return your investment and then some
4. You should be able to expect a reasonable CTR based on your targeted demographic

Without targeted traffic, no amount of advertising is worth it. Be sure that, with whatever advertising platform you are using, you can reach your most targeted demographic. Also, be sure that you can reach them for a reasonable price. If you have to pay too much to get traffic to your site and can’t get a return on your investment then it isn’t worth it. A reasonable CTR may be different for a variety of campaigns, but generally it means that you are reaching targeted visitors who are interested in what you have to offer. Converting the visitors into sales is up to you and your website!