With millions of posts created every day, it can be difficult for people to find specific content on social media. Social media platforms have internal search engines that can be used to help users find what they are looking for. Using this space to serve relevant ads can help advertisers reach and engage with their target audience.
Like Google, Facebook places ads along the sidebar of search results pages. Since people who are looking at the search result page are clearly interested in the topic they were researching, it’s the ideal place to show them an ad for a related service or company.
Facebook search ads were rolled out last year, and the company seems ready to expand the test by making the format available to more advertisers. According to media reports, “it appears a greater number of advertisers are seeing ‘Facebook search’ show up as a placement option when setting up ad campaigns.”
Though Facebook’s search audience is smaller than Google’s, there are many good reasons for advertisers to use the new placement option when it becomes available for them. People who are searching for things on Facebook are the type of people who aren’t using Google for all of their searches. Traditional online advertising campaigns could easily miss these individuals because they weren’t using the most common search platform.
Furthermore, using Facebook Search placement mixes the benefit of search engine ad placement with the advantages of Facebook’s highly targeted ad system. Facebook has a lot of information on the likes and click habits of their users, so their system may be able to produce more high-quality leads that other PPC platforms.
Though more people are seeing the option become available to them in self-serve ad options, Facebook hasn’t announced an official end to the testing period that began in December. The increase in people with the option to use Facebook Search placement suggests that the beta tests are going well. The feature is likely to become an option for all Facebook advertisers sometime in the near future.
In the meantime, Facebook advertisers should check their Ad Manager to see if they have the option to use Facebook Search placement. It’s a great advertising tactic that business owners should use as soon as they get the opportunity.
For more recent news about changes and updates to online advertising platforms, read this article on new A/B testing options for Microsoft Advertising.