Pizza joint buys a Facebook ad and discover how well it works

[bill]

More evidence that social networking ads don't work?

Pizza Delicious Bought An Ad On Facebook. How'd It Do? [npr.org]

The campaign cost them $240 — almost $1 for each new Facebook fan they got from the campaign.

"Is that feeling of exhilaration worth $240?" Michael said. "I don't know — hopefully that translates into new business."

It didn't.

After a long night of asking every single customer where he found out about Pizza Delicious, not one said it was through Facebook.

I guess it's not surprising to see NPR toeing the corporate line in their news reports...

[httpwebwitch]

Facebook marketing works for some businesses, not for others. I found it did not convert for me... I got a few new people following the page but it made zero difference in my bottom line (well, actually a negative one, but I only spent about $20).

Another time, I tried selling something i own via a facebook ad and it got zero response. Similar ad on kijiji and I had multiple offers by the next day.

But I have anecdotal evidence that it does work well for some things... it's great for promoting concerts for instance. People "like" the bands they like, and they see the ad on facebook and say hey! they're playing this summer near me. I will go and buy some tickets now.

What impresses me most here is that NPR felt compelled to broadcast this ho-hum story as if it's news. There are a thousand ways to spend a marketing budget badly, and a thousand more ways to interpret its effectiveness wrongly. Maybe all those new FB fans haven't bought pizza yet, or didn't on the night that Pizza Delicious was polling... but now the business knows that 240 people KNOW about this odd little window of pizza, and they might show up, or tell their friends to, and this facebook campaign may have been an inconspicuous seed that spawns a word-of-mouth buzz in the community. And they need it - judging from the photo of their business, they surely aren't attracting attention using effective signage or a remarkable storefront.

I dare to guess that the story on NPR has probably done more for their marketing presence & local awareness than the $240 spent on facebook. Good on them.

[Panthro]

mmm pizza.

I agree with you httpwebwitch, that it works for some things and not others. People have to remember that FB is just another website (granted, it has a LOT of eyes), and not the only one in the world to advertise your product or services.

[StoutFiles]

I'd like to see how well ads do that promote ending Facebook addiction. I bet there are lots of people that just log in out of habit, and wish they wouldn't waste their lives reading about what other people do.