Facebook on Tuesday launched a self-serve conversion measurement and optimization tool for direct-response
marketers. First announced in November, the service allows advertisers to place a piece of code on a Web site to track when desired actions, like shopping cart checkouts or registrations, are driven
by someone seeing an ad on Facebook.
When marketers choose the Optimized CPM bidding option, they can see which ads drive the most conversion and adjust their campaigns accordingly. Facebook
suggested thst marketers involved in e-commerce, retail, travel, financial services and other direct-response categories would benefit most from the new feature.
Among case studies of
campaigns using conversion measurement with Optimized CPM during the beta period last year:
*Retail site Fab.com was able to reduce its cost per new customer acquisition by 39% when it used
this type of bidding to serve ads to consumers deemed most likely to convert.
*The Democratic Governors Association used the option to deliver ads to users who were most likely to sign up for
its mailing list. According to Mark Giangreco, digital director of the DGA, the association saw a substantial decrease in its cost per conversion -- 85% lower than any other campaign the DGA had
run online.
Conversion measurement and optimization can be used on all Facebook ads and sponsored stories, and in combination with any targeting capabilities. It’s also the only
analytics tool that can report when a user views an ad on one device (e.g. mobile phone) but converts on another (desktop computer).
Given that Facebook has expanded mobile advertising
dramatically since last spring, the service is suited to tracking performance in cross-platform ad campaigns. Conversion measurement is available through its Power Editor tool for managing multiple
campaigns and ads, the Ads Manager and its API partners.