The Internet has been a good tool in providing answers to our questions and solutions to our problems. Specifically, if you want to know the capital of Peru, you just type it into Google’s search box and a list of results will be provided to you. Not just only the capital, but other details about the country as well.
Moreover, if you are looking for a recipe of marinara spaghetti you just type into Google and a list of different marinara spaghetti will be shown to you. Also, if you are looking for shoes, or where to buy one, just type in “looking for cheaper shoes”, then there will be a bunch of results that Google or other search engines will give you.
For every question or problem, there are endless results and options that you can choose from.
In short, knowledge is just a type away. Type anything and a multitude of answers will be given to you. This is a very convenient way and a good opportunity to gain knowledge. That is why it is not surprising that Google and other search engines are using search as an advertising opportunity.
In line with this, it is not also surprising that Facebook, a social media, will use this feature as another advertising option for marketers. Just like Google and other search engine sites, Facebook also has a search option where users can search for people or friends or pages. It is a convenient tool especially if you are looking for a specific person or page. What’s amazing with Facebook search option is that it has auto suggest so you will be able to easily find what you are looking for.
But now, Facebook is thinking of upgrading search into something that is more useful especially for advertisers. Indeed, Search is another untapped tool on Facebook. And to use this as another advertising feature will give advertisers and marketers more options to promote their products and services or build a good brand presence.
The Facebook “Search” Experiment
Facebook announced in December 2018 that it is about to test the feasibility of Search as another advertising tool.
The initial search ad test will be implemented to selective automobile and retail advertisers. This may just be a small experiment, but Facebook is looking forward to bigger results. And from its effectivity, they will think about its expansion.
The Facebook “search” experiment will be available on static images as well as on carousel ads. For the meantime, it won’t support video ads. Also, the experiment will only be available to the United States and Canada. Once the experiment shows positive results, Facebook will start to expand to other countries.
Just like Google search result ads, Facebook search result ads will also have a tag for the users to identify that the result is a sponsored one. They will have “Sponsored” tag and users have the option to turn off these kinds of ads if they want to.
For advertisers and marketers in the United States and in Canada, they can turn on their search results ads by just selecting “Search Results” in their settings. This will be made available to accounts as additional marketing or advertising options.
Once they click the “Search Results” option, their product will be included in the primary search and in the marketplace search inventory. However, as mentioned, it will only be limited to automobile and retail topics.
Also, advertisers need to note that they cannot select or set up specific keywords for their product unlike in the Google search results ad where you have to select keywords and set it up.
This new feature that Facebook is testing once proven to be successful will provide a range of benefits to users and advertisers. Some of its benefits include:
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More opportunities for advertisers and marketers
By being in Facebook search results, advertisers and marketers will have another opportunity to market their product. This means that they will have higher engagement and reach. More users will be able to see their ad, which means more opportunity to convert engagements to sales.
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Converting engagements and interactions to sales
As mentioned, the new search result function will give an opportunity to increase engagement and interaction. And if you have higher engagement, you will get a higher opportunity to turn this engagement into solid sales. Moreover, since people will be using search result to find what they are looking for, this will be a direct recommendation of your product. This means improving your social media sales funnel. It will be easy to create sale if customers are looking for a product and it will be given out to them in an instant. That is why this feature is definitely a must try for all advertisers.
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Better user and customer experience
If a user is looking for a specific product or needs help in finding a specific service, he or she will just type it in the search bar and a curated result will be shown to him or her. He or she does not have to look for people, pages, posts, etc. The result will be curated only with specific results about the product or the services the user is looking for. This saves time and energy on the part of the user.
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More organized Facebook
With this, content on Facebook will be organized. All sponsored posts will be labeled as such. Also, users have the option to deactivate this feature if they don’t want to see sponsored ads.
On the other hand, on the part of the advertisers, they will also have the option to choose this or not for their marketing campaign.
This is just in the experiment or beta stage. So once Facebook finally launched it in public, there will be more features that could be expected. Also, this means that there will be more opportunities and benefits that advertisers and users can experience making it important to always be on the lookout for more updates with regards to this or other upgrades that Facebook and other social media platforms are doing. Also, this change and other changes on the platform and on Facebook’s advertising system will greatly affect your digital marketing strategy as well as your overall reach and results.
