Facebook and Google: Better Together

Facebook and Google are two of the most powerful advertising platforms but each achieves vastly different results. As ad:tech San Francisco winds down, Kevin Lange, Vice President of Bidded Social Media and Search Operations at Starcom MediaVest Group shares his insights.

Google and Facebook often don’t get along, but Lange says that as brand marketers, we need both of them to survive. He began his presentation with a powerful quote: “If you want to talk to me, you have to listen to me as well,” by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Listen to Better Engage

Which leads to his first point: listen to better engage. Facebook helps marketers learn about their audience and listen to them. Google has been helping people listen to their customers since 2002, using powerful tools such as Google Analytics and Insights. Google holds a tremendous amount of data about customers, which marketers can leverage to increase ROI.

Lange urges marketers to understand their customers by finding out about their most engaged audiences. What are their passions? What other media do they consume? And what type of content do they identify with? By answering these questions, you will have better insights into your brand loyalists.

Amplify Content with Paid Media

Facebook ads mark the end of traditional ad units, which are now obsolete. The new trend is amplifying content with paid media. Lastly, Lange argues that we should optimize for meaningful brand metrics. The same metrics used to measure engagement on traditional media do not work with social media.

Optimize Metrics for Meaningful Brand Experiences

Lange notes measuring “likes” and “cost per like” isn’t enough as those metrics are in the beginning of the relationship. Folks that engaged with a brand in a meaningful way were 78 percent more likely to engage with the brands in the future.

This article is part of Allvoices’ series on ad:tech, the largest digital marketing and technology conferences and expositions. Check out allvoices.com/adtech for more of Allvoices’ ad:tech San Francisco event coverage. This series is supported by ad:tech.