Facebook is drawing in new advertisers each data from the paid search world. However, the principles that apply to advertising in paid search (and even display) do not necessarily apply to Facebook. There are many differences including the size and type of images that work well, the type of copy that produces results, targeting, and perhaps most importantly, the type of ad.

In this post I will briefly highlight two types of ads new advertisers will immediately be forced to chose from:  ads that go to your off-site landing page and ads that encourage people to “like” your Facebook page, delivering them to your Facebook page.

MarketingProfs just published an articlediscussing a large comScore Facebook study that definitely proves that the 2nd type of ads (the ones with the like button) will, in most all cases, outperform ads that take users off of Facebook.

Here’s why:

When someone “likes” your advertisement, that activity shows up in their newsfeed. The comScore study shows that Facebook users spend a large amount of time reading news feeds, so your friends will see the like activity related to the activities you perform. This is profound because the average Facebook user has between 100 and 200 friends. So, for every “like” you get, you get (FOR FREE!) as many as an additional 100-200 brand impressions (and potential free likes if those users then chose to engage with your brand from the feed).

However, if you are driving users to your Facebook page, there are some things you need to keep in mind:

1. You should have a custom welcome tab that explains who you are, provides a call to action, and contains other relevant information. This will be your first chance to convert a like into a customer.

2. You need a strong, vibrant and engaged community. This starts with good community managers who engage the fans with meaningful content, polls, discussions, and offers (if relevant).

3. A social media policy that covers the management and moderation of your community to address negative issues, customer service, and so on.