Yesterday the news broke that General Motors (GM) is pulling its Facebook campaign, to the tune of $10 million, claiming the ads don't work. As Pamela Parker at Marketing Land said, "It couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Facebook, which has its initial public offering of stock later this week." According to the Guardian, this move, coming "days before stock market sale" is "seen as an embarrassment by analysts."
The infographic we launched yesterday comparing the value of Facebook advertising to the Google Display Network goes some way toward explaining GM's move. We found that average click-through rates on Facebook were just half the industry average for banner ads, at 0.051%. Average CTR on the Google Display Network, on the other hand, is 0.4% (almost 10 times higher!). According to a study by Periscopix, that increases to 36 times higher CTR if advertisers use remarketing. (Remarketing works, folks!)
We're curious to learn from our readers if the results we found have borne out for you. Please take a moment to respond to this quick poll!
This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.