Building the Facebook Compatible Business

It’s easy to forget how revolutionary “keyword based marketing” was when Pay Per Click was new. All the sudden, the entire English language was literally on the auction block.

So we evolved a design for the “Google compatible business.” The secret success formula in every business is adapting to its environment. The front window of a retail store, and everything about it, matches the merchandise inside to the street and everything else outside.

Just as there’s a series of events that happen as a person comes through a physical front door of a physical store, there is a specific set of events after the person clicked on your pay per click ad. That’s what makes it profitable.

Tens and hundreds of thousands of new businesses and billions of dollars have grown out of that explosive new development.

So it will be with Facebook ads.

But Facebook is a different animal.

Google is the Yellow Pages. Facebook is the Coffee Shop.

Can you do business in a coffee shop? Most certainly. Anything remotely related to…

• Arts
• Entertainment
• Music
• Community
• Beliefs
• Culture

…is prime for promotion with Facebook ads. You just need to design your store accordingly.

Please understand: You don’t have to sell art, entertainment, music, community, beliefs OR culture to be a Facebook compatible business. You just need to ADD a few of those elements to your existing business. Just like Starbucks did with coffee.

When you walk into a coffee shop, all kinds of things may be for sale there but you’re never assaulted by sales people and there’s no pressure. Nobody feels unsafe at a coffee shop. They’re there to ENGAGE with the various people and events there.

Not everything on Google is about business. Neither is Facebook.

There are huge parts of Google that are more like a library than a yellow pages. Quiet, studious and most definitely non-commercial. There are vast buckets of keywords that will never earn a dime.

Similarly, there are huge numbers of people on Facebook who never spend any money on anything. There are people who never buy anything at a coffee shop besides a $1.50 cup of coffee.

But every single day, other people go home from coffee shops with CD’s under their arms, and jewelry on their arms, and even $1500 oil paintings. And new angles on politics or religion or the contest to elect a new mayor.

Most people are hanging at the coffee shop for no particular reason at all. But a painter or a musician is probably there for a very specific reason. She’s not there to “just chat” or “just hang out.” She’s deliberate and unapologetic about it.

So too must you be. Just because you’re friendly and approachable doesn’t mean you’re aimless or wasting your time. Every move you make is deliberate. You adjust your business to match the culture and traffic habits of Facebook users.

In the early days of search engines, people said, “Information just wants to be free.” Direct marketers knew better. We knew that if you stake your claim on the right piece of real estate and conduct business wisely, there’s a lot of money to be made.

So it is with Facebook. Those who are deliberate and methodical and measure their results will find Facebook to be not only a friendly place to do business, but a profitable one as well.

I predict that in the next 6-9 months, the face of Facebook will change. Even your experience of being on Facebook will improve. Why? Because highly relevant, intentional “Facebook Entrepreneurs” will come on board in large numbers. They will build Facebook compatible businesses, taking full advantage of the affluent, targeted customer base Facebook has amassed.

Welcome to the gold rush.

Perry Marshall

Is Facebook for me? A 60 second “compatibility test” for your business

Drew Bischof’s landmark videos on Facebook Marketing: Video1 Video2 Video3

2 interviews with Facebook advertisers who started out losing money, then dramatically turned things around

Converting To Asynchronous Code

There's a pretty strong push now for everyone to move to the new Asynchronous Google Analytics Tracking Code. It's the only code that's available from the interface now, and nearly all of the documentation includes examples of this as the primary code to be used. Converting your code to the new async code might seem like it's just a hassle, but there are benefit to using the new code. Because the code loads asynchronously, there's no longer any danger that it will interfere with the loading of the rest of your page. This means that the code can now be placed up in the header of your pages rather than right before the closing </body> tag. The result is that you'll be able to track a greater percentage of your visitors than your were previously, which will improve the accuracy of your reports in Google Analytics. Now if your setup isn't too complex, converting won't be too big of an issue. Your old code might look something like this:

<script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-XXXXXXX-X"); pageTracker._setDomainName(".example.com"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script>

Notice that the only modification on this code from the standard code is the line for subdomain tracking. The approach to converting something like this to the new asynchronous code is pretty standard:

<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X']); _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', '.example.com']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>

Google has provided several migration examples if you need more information. But what if your code is a bit more complicated? Perhaps you've added initial referrer tracking to your Google Analytics Tracking Code:

<script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-XXXXXXX-X"); pageTracker._setDomainName(".example.com"); if(document.cookie.match("(^|;\\s)__utma=")) { pageTracker._setReferrerOverride(""); pageTracker._setCampNameKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampMediumKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampSourceKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampTermKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampContentKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampCIdKey("zzz"); } pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script>

The trouble with this type of modification is that it includes a bit of logic in addition to the standard tracking method calls. Something like this certainly looks possible:

<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); _gaq.push(['_setDomainName', '.example.com']); if(document.cookie.match("(^|;\\s)__utma=")) { _gaq.push( ['_setReferrerOverride', ''], ['_setCampNameKey', 'zzz'], ['_setCampMediumKey', 'zzz'], ['_setCampSourceKey', 'zzz'], ['_setCampTermKey', 'zzz'], ['_setCampContentKey', 'zzz'], ['_setCampCIdKey', 'zzz'] ); } (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>

This will work just fine for this example. But your code most likely looks very different and may have even more modifications. The benefits of the asynchronous code certainly sound nice, but do you really have the time and resources to change the code, test it, and then figure out where you missed a bracket or comma? Fortunately, there's a fairly straightforward way to convert just about any traditional Google Analytics Tracking Code snippet to the asynchronous code:

<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(function () { var pageTracker = _gat._createTracker("UA-XXXXXXX-X"); pageTracker._setDomainName(".example.com"); if(document.cookie.match("(^|;\\s)__utma=")) { pageTracker._setReferrerOverride(""); pageTracker._setCampNameKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampMediumKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampSourceKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampTermKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampContentKey("zzz"); pageTracker._setCampCIdKey("zzz"); } pageTracker._trackPageview(); }); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>

I personally like this style a lot for several reasons. It can turn the conversion process from a 1 to 2 hour project to a 10 to 20 minute project. There are also far fewer chances to make mistakes. Rather than having to change every single line, you can follow a few simple steps: 1. Start with the following code:

<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(function () { // Put your code here }); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>

2. Copy everything between "try {" and "} catch(err) {}" from your old code and put it where it says "// Put your code here." If your code is old enough that it doesn't have a try...catch block, just copy everything between the the last opening tag of your Google Analytics Tracking Code. 3. Replace "_getTracker" with "_createTracker". If you have multiple tracking objects, in addition to pageTracker, like a secondTracker, then you'll need to change the _getTracker lines for these objects a bit more. Something like this should work: secondTracker = _gat._createTracker("UA-XXXXXXX-Y", "secondTracker"); The "secondTracker" in quotes could be anything at all, but using "secondTracker" might make it easier if you have to reference this later on. If you have additional code, such as ecommerce code, you can convert these according to the migration examples. You can also follow the following steps: 1. Start with the following code:

<script type="text/javascript"> _gaq.push(function () { var pageTracker = _gat._getTrackerByName(); // Put your code here }); </script>

2. Copy your additional code, minus any script tags, and paste it where it says "// Put your code here." 3. If the code used pageTracker as an object, then you're done. If the code uses secondTracker instead, then you'll need to change the "var pageTracker._getTrackerByName();" line to the following: var secondTracker = _gat._getTrackerByName("secondTracker"); You can also just add this line if your additional code uses both pageTracker and secondTracker. One thing that's worth noting in the all of the above async examples is that no where is pageTracker or any other tracking object declared as a global variable. This means that if you have any onclick events that use pageTracker, you'll need to update them as well. While this might seem like another pain to go through, it's actually very necessary to ensure that ga.js has loaded, the tracking object has been created, and all methods already applied to it have been run, in order, before the onclick event can run. The benefit is that you no longer have to use try...catch blocks, checks for object existence, and recurring setTimeout statements to ensure that everything works properly; it's all taken care of for you in a much more robust way. So let's say you had an onclick event like this: onclick="pageTracker._trackEvent('Videos', 'Play', 'Marketing Video', 10);" You would have two options for converting this to async: 1. onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'Marketing Video', 10]);" 2. onclick="_gaq.push(function () { var pageTracker = _gat._getTrackerByName(); pageTracker._trackEvent('Videos', 'Play', 'Marketing Video', 10); });" Which option should you go with? Option #1 is usually best for simple onclick events like the one above. For longer, more complex onclick events, especially if you're setting them dynamically, option #2 makes a lot of sense since you can simply wrap all of your statements and simplify your conversion process. As a final note, if you need to use secondTracker or some other tracking object, this can be done option #1 style like this: onclick="_gaq.push(['secondTracker._trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'Marketing Video', 10]);" The name preceding _trackEvent in the must match the name you passed to _gat._getTrackerByName. For example, suppose your converted Google Analytics Tracking Code had the following statement: secondTracker = _gat._createTracker("UA-XXXXXXX-Y", "tracker2"); The correct way to reference this in your option #1 style onclick event would be the following: onclick="_gaq.push(['tracker2._trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'Marketing Video', 10]);" The reason you use tracker2 instead of secondTracker is that tracker2 is the name that the tracking object was registered under, while secondTracker is simply a local reference to the tracker2 tracking object. You can avoid this confusion by simply using the same name for both as shown earlier. Also note that we didn't register a name for our local pageTracker objects, so these use the default tracking object, which is referenced without a name in option #1 style statements. Feel free to leave comments if you have additional situations that steps don't seem to address. Also, while the above steps may be enough to fully convert your code, you may still want to consider purchasing support to do this, especially if you have a more complicated setup.

Facebook Advertising & Marketing Videos

A couple of important videos about the inner psychology of Facebook:

1. The problem with Facebook:

• Why Facebook is a problem for Google, and why it’s the only company Google’s afraid of
• Why it seems like nobody’s making any money with Social Media
  
• Why most everything you’ve been told to do is a waste of time
• The mindshift you must experience to make Facebook profitable

The video is here

2. The MindShift that makes Facebook Ads Pay: Facebook sells Pay Per Click ads much the way Google does. But the rules of engagement are completely different. And I’m not talking about the mechanics of placing ads nearly so much as I’m talking about the psychology of how you emotionally connect with people.

On this video, Drew Bischof explains:

• Secrets to targeting the exact people you want
• Secrets to writing ads that work
• Links that give deeper insight into who’s paying attention to you
• A tip about choosing a great image
• The one thing you must NOT do!

Video #2 is here.

Put $1 in, get $3 out – 2 profitable Facebook campaigns

I’ve posted 2 interviews with Facebook advertisers who’re absolutely cleaning up:

1) Brandon’s results on Facebook were initially *dismal.* He was buying clicks for 7 cents and only earning back 2 cents. He spent $2000 and got little of it back. Not good!

Then he changed his approach. Ran a 3 week traffic experiment and started buying clicks from a different type of user. Those clicks cost 28 cents instead of 7.

Yet his ROI went UP instead of down – now making money 3:1 instead of losing money 3:1. He spent $6,500 and got $20,000 back. In this interview he tells what he did.

2) “Mr. R” got over $100,000 in sales from $5,000 in clicks for an everyday brick & mortar service business. He describes one of his fave bidding strategies:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/facebook/2-interviews-on-facebook/

Perry

Can Facebook Grow My Business?

A few months ago I posted a mini case study on a lead generation client for whom we've been able to find success on Facebook over time. Of course we have also seen less-than-stellar advertising performance (i.e. compared to Google/Yahoo/MSN) on Facebook for clients in other spaces.

So, the question that's often been on my mind since we started managing Facebook advertising, is whether or not a certain kind of business is a good fit for the Facebook ad platform.

So, my Facebook PPC client experiences usually translate into recommendations for clients, but I've always known that those answers are a bit linear in nature and I have yet to find someone with a few more Facebook battle scars to provide more insights.

That was until yesterday, when I discovered a 10-question quiz for the business owner or PPC manager that may be wondering "Is Facebook for me" @ Perry Marshall's new website/tool www.isfacebookforme.com - catchy URL. Here you will find a series of 10 "Yes or No" style business model questions that "provide instant feedback on whether Facebook could be a main traffic source for your business."

I completed the survey for the client that we've had success with on Facebook, and it gave me a 6/10, meaning that "Facebook will probably be a significant way for you to get more customers affordably" - and I can say that it has!

So, if you're considering Facebook now, consider checking out this new tool and getting a heads up on these 3 questions that it can help answer:

- Can I advertise on Facebook and make a profit?
- Will my products appeal to Facebook users?
- How much time should I devote to understanding how to advertise on Facebook?

The quiz is here: www.isfacebookforme.com

How to use SEO Ranking Factor Charts to Increase Your Rankings

Every year there are many ranking factors charts that are published that will tell you what factors are the most important in ranking.

However, don’t start reading them and then think that’s exactly how you should create and design your site.

There is no magic to SEO. There is rarely just one thing you can change and your site starts to rank number one for your chosen terms.

First Read The Entire Charts for Unknown Factors

The first step you should take is to read the entire charts.

This first read should not be based upon looking for factors that are supposedly the most important in ranking.

The first time you read the chart; look for things you do not understand. When you find factors that you are unfamiliar with – this is a place to learn. Read more about this factor so that you can learn more about SEO.

I can’t stress how important this step is. By understanding the global set of factors, you can start to see how one item can influence another; which will help you make much better decisions about where to spend your SEO efforts.

The Grain of Salt

My two favorite charts are created by ‘experts’. These are generally some of the best known practitioners of their craft – but SEO is opinion.

In fact, according to the SearchKing vs Google lawsuit, the judge found that PageRank is and organic rankings are protected by the first amendment (free speech) because search results are opinions.

These ranking charts are opinions from SEOs about how search engines for them opinions.

The reason I like these two charts is because when they poll experts they ask how important each factor is. Then, they show the importance across these factors as rated by the experts but also show the degree of consensus across those same people.

For instance, if everyone thinks it’s important then the consensus is high. If half think it’s important and half think it’s not important then the consensus will be low. This gives you an overall indication of not just the factors important but also if everyone thinks that factor is important or just a few people.

How to Use These Charts

Once you have read and researched the factors so you understand what all of them mean; then start making checklists.

The first checklist should be the high importance, high consensus items. Look through your website to see how you are doing on these items. Some of these will take a lot of effort (such as link building) and need to be put into an ongoing task list. Some of these factors (such as is your site listed in Google Places) are one time items (and maintaining them is essential; but the bulk of the work can be done quickly) and start there.

Continue to evaluate your site according to these charts to see where to spend your time. By starting with the high importance and one time tasks, you can start to work through these charts overtime.

The Two SEO Factor Charts

If you are working on organic SEO; then my favorite chart is by the folks at SEOmoz: Search Ranking Factors.

If you are working on Local SEO (such as Google maps) then David Mihm’s chart is fantastic: Local Search Ranking Factors.

Other helpful optimization posts:

• Video Ranking Tips
• Product feed optimization
• Google News optimization
• Image SEO

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Related posts:

1. A Look into adCenter’s Quality Score Rankings Quality score remains one of the more ambiguous ideas on...
2. AdWords Hypothetical Formula As usual, I was over analyzing a few data...
3. Meta Tags Are Not Dead Once again the discussion has come up that meta tags...

Want Higher Landing Page Quality Scores in Google? Here’s How:

Google Recently rolled out a new series of advanced tests for their Google Advertising Professionals program, and in some of the study material they explain what affects advertiser's landing page quality score.

Here are three areas Google wants you to focus on to help ensure your website receives a decent quality score:

"Relevant & Original Content"

*Make sure visitors can easily find what your ad promises
*Don't copy content from other sites, make sure your copy is authentic and original

"Transparency"

*Openly share information about your business (contact information, address, about us section)
*Only charge for items that are actually ordered
*Follow through on every promo and promise you make

"Navigability"

*Make it easy for visitors to navigate around your site
*Avoid too many pop-ups, pop-unders, or other "annoying" elements
*Don't require visitors to register in order to get access to your site

For more information on which types of sites Google tends to give low quality scores to visit this informative page in their help center.

Poor landing page scores can lead to higher cost per clicks, limited ad exposures, and in some extreme cases Google may even shut down your account. Also, it's important to note that focusing and improving these aspects of your website is not a guarantee that your quality score will improve.

Bids and “Keywords” [Likes and Interests] on Facebook

There are two things you absolutely must get right in order make Facebook ads profitable:

1. There is a very specific bidding strategy you need to adopt, to avoid not paying literally 2X more than you should for your Facebook clicks. Drew and Bryan shot a video that explains exactly how this bidding strategy works.

2. “Keywords” on Facebook are an entirely different animal than keywords on Google. They’re items in peoples’ profile (Likes and Interests”) which are things about their identity, i.e. Democrat / Catholic / Rolling Stones fan / fan of California Pizza Kitchen – not questions they’re asking right this moment.

This requires a shift in how you connect the dots and follow the money. Making this shift is the most profitable thing you’ll do this year.

Drew Bischof and Bryan Todd give you keyword and bidding strategies for Facebook Pay Per Click, shot at our exclusive, $5,000 per head seminar in Maui Hawaii:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/facebook/facebook-presentation-from-maui/

***

About our Facebook “Compatibility Quiz” - If you got a score of 5 or more then you need to pay serious attention to this. Here’s a cool email we got yesterday:

Just a word to say I really like the questionnaire Ken McCarthy put out with you on 10 questions re facebook advertising compatibility…very succinct. The followup video from Maui, was very solid as well…in about 4 minutes it opened up a huge area for me, as I am in film distribution and specialize in indie documentaries that are too difficult or off the grid for big box stores to take them, but they are all targeting large online niches.

One day I will be sitting there in one of your major seminars. In the meantime, watch out for a package from me, with a couple documentaries I think will interest you. I have been reading your stuff for some 5 years and am pretty familiar with some of your sensibilities . . .

Best,

Dan Shannon

ID Communications Inc.

Comment:

Indie Films are something that would be VERY hard to sell using Google AdWords, or any search engine. But very good for Facebook! Facebook has huge untapped strengths. Again, if you scored 5 or more at www.IsFacebookForMe.com then you need to pay close attention.

Again, these two videos have vital Facebook techniques:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/facebook/facebook-presentation-from-maui/

Christian Entrepreneur online radio interviews me today: 12 Central

Today at 12pm Central Time June 21 2010, Matt Gillogly and Bob Regnerus of Christian Business Daily are interviewing me about purging mental garbage. I’ll share a distinctly Christian perspective on:

• Truth and fiction about “Positive Mental Attitude”
• The psychology of the news media
• Depression and discouragement
• Inspiration and victory
• Socially acceptable forms of ingesting and spreading negativity
• A completely counter-intuitive mindset

Call-in Number: (646) 200-3616. You can get a replay at www.ChristianBusinessDaily.com. It will be posted after the show.

No need to register. Call-in Number: (646) 200-3616

Scott Fox interviews Perry Marshall

Scott Fox, author of e-Riches 2.0: Next-Generation Marketing Strategies for Making Millions Online, interviewed me about Pay Per Click. We had a wide-ranging conversation about….

• How to cost-effectively attract motivated buyers with PPC advertising IF you do it right
• How to increase click-throughs (CTR) on your PPC ads
• How to save money and lower your PPC ad bid prices
• How Google Adwords calculates its mysterious Quality Score and why it’s critical for your PPC advertising success
• The biggest mistakes most new pay per click advertisers make How to get more ad impressions in a niche market
• Why Google Adwords advertising is like the Yellow Pages but Facebook ads are like a coffee shop
• Why PPC done correctly is not an expense but an investment

You can listen to the podcast here.