If the message don't match, the ad's gettin' trashed.

We're starting to experiment with Facebook and LinkedIn paid ads to drive leads for our HR Vendor Phonebook, which is a directory of over 4,500 cross-referenced HR suppliers in the marketplace.

It's early yet, and costs are high for PPC advertising per qualified lead, but we're giving it a go.

There are gazillions of potential customers between social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, and while the target audiences vary within each, well, there are gazillions of potential customers.

But you need to ensure the ad message and imagery are contextually relevant to those you're targeting.

Like this one that's popped up:

Or this one:

Or this one:

Or this one:

But when I see something like this:

I think, "What the heck?" Scholarships for Dads and I get retro Missing Persons imagery?

Or this one:

Yikes. I'd rather rent the rest of my life.

On the other hand, when I see:

I get pumped and cannot wait for the show!

Remember, if the message don't match, the ad's gettin' trashed.

Sure, I get that spammers spam everywhere and that these sites are working harder at approving appropriate ads and improving their matching algorithms...

Because why would I want to hug a dope-smoking entrepreneurial hipster anyway? Really. I mean, I'm glad they're helping the economic recovery, but c'mon.

Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn!)

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