My apologies in advance for the math here– I’ll keep it to a minimum to explain the points.

Below is a Google Analytics screenshot from a funeral planning site.  Facebook traffic represents sources 4, 5, and 8.

4) apps.facebook.com: This is self-serve PPC traffic from ads that show up on apps.  Most plentiful but has a bounce rate of 90.13%– about as bad as you can get.
5) facebook.com/referral: These are from people click on our links and posts– organic traffic.  66% bounce rate, which is high, especially compared to the site overall bounce rate of 40%.
8 ) facebook.com/cpc: Facebook PPC ads that show up other than on the apps.  Bounce rate of 81%.

We’re probably paying 15 cents a click for Facebook traffic, but the 80%+ bounce rate means we’re losing 4 out of every 5 folks on the landing page.  With Google AdWords, we’re paying 50 cents a click, but bouncing only 42%– in other words, losing 2 out of every 5 visitors.

So with Google, we’re paying 3 times as much per click, but keeping twice as many folks past the landing page.  On a per kept visitor basis, Facebook is still a better deal.

For the analytics smart-alecs out there, let me respond to your points:

• landing pages are the same: True, you’ll get different bounce rates if you send to different pages. Plus, you can’t compare a homepage bounce rate against a landing page bounce rate– they have different goals.  Well, we sent everyone to the homepage, as silly as that is– but it’s still an apples-to-apples comparison.
• not all clicks are the same: A higher bounce rate is likely to be a lower conversion rate, even if you adjust for the bounce.  Maybe– although it is true that EPC (Earnings Per Click) is what matters at the end of the day, not cost per click or bounce rate.
• data is not statistically significant: Okay, so the 80% and 90% bounce rates might actually vary 5-6% should we run a few thousand more clicks.  But given that we’re spending real money, there’s no need to blow a thousand dollars to find out that our estimated 80% bounce is more truly 77%– it’s still bad.

Were I Facebook, one thing I’d do is allow separate bids for application traffic versus non-application traffic.

Remember a few years ago when Google allowed advertisers to set separate content and search bids?  This is the same thing.

Michael Jackson’s estate management challenge.

What Would the King of Pop Want?

The will itself is rather straightforward; the estate, however, is already proving to be a nightmare. A complex labyrinth of assets, music royalty rights, custody arrangements, creditors, lawsuits, and beneficiaries must be negotiated and it may be several years before the estate is settled. While the will is pretty specific (last wife is out; Mom is in as guardian of the kids), so far, little is known about Jackson’s precise wishes for his funeral arrangements, other than the fact he wished to be buried at Neverland. (What to wear: Swarovski crystal-encrusted glove or red leather Thriller-era jacket?).
As the family takes control of the details, it appears that his beloved ranch could become the next Graceland, with Jackson undergoing a double burial; first at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, (in a funeral that will probably be the biggest in entertainment history) and then (after a probable legal battle with California state law) at the now dilapidated residence.
His own parents didn’t even know that Jackson had a will. Given the star’s eccentricities, this is perhaps not unusual, but it’s more common that you might think. According to some statistics, less than 15% of parents have discussed with their heirs how the estate should be divided or what they prefer in their funeral arrangements. This year alone, over 2 million American families will face losing a loved one. Few will actually know what needs to be done after they have received the devastating news.
To date, there have been scant online resources that could fully assist a family in administering the estate of a loved one. But when funeral sites launched in early summer 2009, families, as well as the entire Baby Boomer generation (aging steadily at an alarming rate) were suddenly given the tools not only to plan their own estate and funeral arrangements down to the most minute details, but the ability to spare their loved ones the trauma and stress involved in administering their estate after they shuffle off this mortal coil.
Contemplating what our loved ones must deal with when we’re (hopefully) in the sweet Hereafter may not be pleasant, but if you want the sendoff of your dreams, you want to be clear about what goes to whom and you want to make that transition easier on them, then the new funeral sites are the places to go and start planning—now.