By now, most Facebook users probably have not have noticed Page Post Like Sponsored Stories, FB’s paid organic amplification product, creeping into their news feeds. Facebook marketers, on the other hand, are jumping up and down for joy. CTRs (click through ratios) for Page Post Like stories are through the roof and, with clever second degree of separation targeting, there is obviously hay to be made. Sure, we’ve heard this was coming for months. In fact there has been reporting on the subject since last December. Still, not everyone has seen news feed stories. Now the feature seems to be mainstreaming, as evidenced by rising CTRs across many campaigns.
Facebook Ads Sponsored Stories have traditionally been displayed at various locations along the right sidebar of the FB template, clearly noted as sponsored. Now, they appear inline with organic news. The “Sponsored” moniker is very subtle. Yes!
The D.I.Y. ad unit uses a whole bunch of the original brand page post it’s amplifying, unlike the RH side bar version. Here’s what the slipped-fish looks like in my news feed:
Sponsored Story CTR has usually been higher than traditional Facebook Ads. “Higher” still meant sub 1%. Starting a few days ago we’ve seen some sponsored story CTRs roll in the door at an absurdly high rate. The highest for a good size sampling of impressions was 13%+. The conversion rates for connection KPIs (clicks to Likes) range from 3% to 30%, depending on the story’s content.
AIMCLEAR votes: Yes! We’ve known for quite some time that “ads” displayed with social endorsement perform much better. FB friends of friends download and use more apps, like things more, watch videos, etc. These new Page Post Like units are through-the-roof-cool. Its huge size and extended text are going to make many marketers happy and users might not mind. This of course depends on the strength of FB editorial in keeping the riff-raff out. Of course, higher CTR means more money for FB. You know the rest.
