Facebook has fully rolled out Sponsored Search results, which allow marketers to target users searching for content or pages within their industry on the social network. As with other sponsored search efforts, companies can pay for placement atop suggested search results within Facebook to drive traffic to their brand Pages on the social network.
Innovation on Facebook’s internal search engine has been rumored for awhile, and most users don’t know the true capability of the platform’s search tool. Users can search the web directly from Facebook, and the results for a web search are powered by Bing. Obviously, most users searching on Facebook do so to find friends or pages they’re specifically looking for. However, the network’s expanded marketing tools allow people to find more content and could help social media marketing efforts target new social prospects and drive traffic to their sites.
Since its IPO in April, Facebook has rolled out a series of new sponsored content options to help drive its own revenue. The various additions have provided marketers with more options for paid content on Facebook aside from the usual ads on the site. Given the varying success marketers have experienced with ads on Facebook in the past, providing options to drive visibility or other quality content can improve the platform’s contribution to lead generation and eventual conversions.
While the impact of Sponsored Search results and other new additions to Facebook paid marketing are unclear, Sponsored Stories, another of the new features, has already proven its worth in helping businesses increase visibility. Brafton recently highlighted a study from Marin Software that found Sponsored Stories have boosted click through rates by as much as 20 percent.
