Facebook launches new era of online advertising with Social Ads
In November 2007, Social-networking site Facebook unveiled some new "social advertising" features. This article outlines the benefits of these features.
To learn how Facebook can help you reach your target audience, contact us today on 03 8617 8160 or click here to have us call you.
The new features include:
- Social Ads - which allow companies or individuals to create advertisements that are targeted at specific groups or demographics within the social network, and
- Facebook Pages - which allow companies or groups to create their own dedicated areas where they can connect with users.
- The third social-advertising feature is one of the most interesting. It's called Facebook Beacon, and it effectively tracks the online behaviour of users - those who specifically choose to take part in the service - not just within Facebook but elsewhere on the Internet as well. For example, when someone buys something on the Amazon website that information is recorded through the use of a tracking cookie, which allows it to be broadcast to the person's Facebook friends. In effect, it becomes an advertisement, but it is inserted into the "news feed" that Facebook users get from friends.
What Facebook is offering, especially with Facebook Beacon, is a form of advertising that doesn't really seem like advertising. This is the holy grail of advertising. Advertisers like to say that a properly targeted ad isn't really an ad at all, it's information. For example:
- If you feel like watching a movie and someone recommends one, you're more likely to see that as a useful and persuasive opinion rather than an ad.
With Facebook Beacon, the potential is even larger. Most people will agree that the best ad is a sincere recommendation from a trusted and known friend. Unfortunately for advertisers, getting recommendations like those are difficult to come by and unpredictable. Beacon is offering the possibility to advertisers to receive these recommendations more frequently.
The idea is that if I'm browsing or shopping online, my behaviour is transmitted to my friends instantaneously and it gets mixed in with all the rest of their news feed items about how someone has uploaded new photos, joined a group, or posted a comment. Rather than an overt advertisement it becomes a subtle recommendation.
With 50 million+ Facebook users the potential advertising benefits are enormous. As an advertiser wouldn't you be ecstatic if you could get users to advertise your products and services to their friends for nothing?
To learn how Facebook can help you reach your target audience, contact us today on 03 8617 8160 or click here to have us call you.
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