In July we released the Optimized CPM feature in Qwaya. As described in the blog post announcing this functionality the idea is to help advertisers reach the goals they have with their advertising. With this short post we’d like to share a few insights of our own in regards to oCPM.
Let’s start with a quick recap of how Optimized CPM works within the Qwaya app. As an advertiser you have the option to let Facebook optimize the delivery of your ads to reach any of the following goals:
- Actions
- Clicks
- Reach
- Social impressions
This means, that if you’re primarily evaluating your advertising efforts based on the amount of generated actions, you’d choose Optimize for actions. If you’re interested in clicks – Optimize for clicks, and so on. And all this seems pretty straightforward right?
Well as it turns out, the basis for this optimization algorithm is what Facebook knows about their users. Some are more prone to install apps and like Facebook pages than others, and if you choose Optimize for actions, Facebook will focus on delivering ad impressions to the more “action oriented” kind of users.
Do you want “likers” or actually interested people?
I’m going to focus on advertising for Facebook pages here, and I’m assuming that most advertisers choose Optimize for actions over the other alternatives – I know I did when starting to experiment with this. And although it actually works great for accumulating likes, I’m not convinced this is the best way for building a sustainable base of Facebook fans.
Depending on what you’re looking to accomplish with your Facebook presence, I’d suggest taking a moment to think about whether Optimize for actions actually makes sense for you. If you’re only interested in amassing as many likes as possible for your Facebook page – then think no further and just fire away.
If you on the other hand are more interested in attracting your specific target audience, there might be better options. Since Optimize for actions will make sure you get great visibility among people you might want to call “likers” (that is, people who like to like, so to speak), you risk ending up with a fan base of quite a few irrelevant people – unless you keep your targeting very specific.
It is not unlikely for this kind of Facebook users to be liking a couple of thousand pages. How many of those pages do you think will get a chance to show their content in the news feed of a liker? Not many would be my answer, not unless you manage to build up the user’s affinity with you substantially.
Therefore; if you decide to use Optimize for actions, make sure your targeting is narrow – to really capture the people you want as followers.
However, if you’re confident that the content you’re promoting is so interesting that you’ll get some action even from people that usually don’t click on stuff or like pages, I’d suggest trying Optimize for reach or Optimize for social impressions. That way you’re telling Facebook your aim is not actions or clicks but visibility, thus giving everyone in your target audience an even chance to decide whether you are worth interacting with or not – ultimately improving the odds of attracting the people you are actually looking for.
It’s still early days though and more findings will most likely surface. If we have anything to share on the topic we’ll make sure to keep you posted.
If you have any experiences of your own, you’re more than welcome to let us know in the comments!