Social networks competition... How to fight it?

[tabuausada]

Hi all, don't know if its the best place to include this topic but here it goes...

I've been noticing for some months now that Facebook is boosting it's functionalties regarding buy and sell groups (don't know if this is the proper name for these type of groups) and so on. I'm also noticing that potencial ads specific website users prefer to use these sort of Facebook groups to post ads instead of using proper ads websites (someone shares this perception?) that are specificaly designed for the purpose of publishing ads with broader functionalities (at least for now...) then Facebook or other social networks. Can Facebook ads groups mean the end of the "micro" ads websites? Or even of the colossus of the online ads industry like OLX? How to market our osclass based websites against Facebook?

Please share your views on this subject! Thanks!

[luka93]

You need to reverse disadvantages into your advantages. I get over 60% of traffic from facebook (xx.xxx numbers) - I own few big classifieds facebook groups which are used to promote ads from my website and appeal users to post ads into my website.

So I post every single ad from my websites to facebook group (I am using dlvr.it), and use group cover photo to promote my website.

[tabuausada]

luka93, thanks seems an interesting idea!

So, for example, instead of having a simple "corporate" facebook page to where you post ads published in your website with a certain frequency (that's what I have today), you have a ads group to where you publish ads from your website directly. Is this it? And do you allow members of the group to publish in the group? If you do, what is incentive for members of the group to publish ads in both sides (facebook and osclass site)? What is the message you use to drive member of the group to your website?

By the way, when I have the time I run around the groups dedicated to the niche my site is dedicated to using some guerrilla marketing sending msg to group member like: "forguet the up's up's publish your ads at xxxx.com... " It doesn't produce any relevant results...

[p206ab]

Having a group is now a better idea than having a page. As Facebook lowered reach of page posts to encourage more people boosting them and spending money, while in groups everyone will see it and I think by default they'll also be notified of each new posts in group, until they stop these notifications.
And yes, Facebook is trying to be competitive also in classifieds with this new functionalities, but I believe regular sites have still the advantage for organic searches as for example if you google for "used laptop in london", I don't believe you'll find an ad posted in a group. You may find a group named like this, but not the ad inside it. At least not where it matters (in top 10).

[tabuausada]

Having a group is now a better idea than having a page. As Facebook lowered reach of page posts to encourage more people boosting them and spending money, while in groups everyone will see it and I think by default they'll also be notified of each new posts in group, until they stop these notifications.
And yes, Facebook is trying to be competitive also in classifieds with this new functionalities, but I believe regular sites have still the advantage for organic searches as for example if you google for "used laptop in london", I don't believe you'll find an ad posted in a group. You may find a group named like this, but not the ad inside it. At least not where it matters (in top 10).

Yes for organic searches no doubt that for now ads websites produce the best results, but Facebook is (was...) the second major source, at least according to my experience, to drive trafic (for free) into a website. Now things are getting more complicated  once they are clearly conquering space in the classifieds terrain...