Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Bainzy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:50:57 -0000

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Google, facebook and all the rest of them will really have
to come up with something exceptional to break through the
Bainzy Barrier (TM) Online Advertising method.

Bainzy not only has won this battle it also can celebtrate
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Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Bainzy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:50:57 -0000

Google, facebook and all the rest of them will really have
to come up with something exceptional to break through the
Bainzy Barrier (TM) Online Advertising method.

Bainzy not only has won this battle it also can celebtrate
having 40+ revenue making streams for both user and
customer.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Craig Berlingo — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:25:57 -0000

Facebook and other social media sites, as they are currently structured, won't ever have decent click-thru rate -- which should be expected and marketing strategies should adjust for it! These users are passively surfing, with no intention of purchasing. They are in a social space which gives two people some tools to interact, and that's pretty much all they'll want to do. They are not there to shop individually or together (well unless that is the point of the network).

Online marketers have to remember that people don't have their wallets open every time they are on the internet. The only effective kind of advertising in these kinds of environments is branding-related. You'll have much better success letting people know that a movie was just released than, say, magically inspiring them to purchase a new laptop.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

runnerr0 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:20:30 -0000

Two words to respond "Adblock Plus"
Oh wait also "NoScript"

Basically for me it plays out like a control issue.
Uhm I can choose not to see ads or I can have ads for stuff I don't want shoved down my eyes and ears.. I prefer product placement \ LOLs to traditional ads... actually I think efforts like meat/desire are where is going..BK has been able to get me to shut off the blockers cause guess what I want to see the content...

my 2 c
Lex

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

alisa leonard-hansen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:29:04 -0000

Hi Simon, thanks for the nod

@Ben- to your point about selling the data (which is what my post was about)...the answer may very well lie in Facebook Connect. Connect essentially grants access to that valuable data to 3rd-party sites. One hypothetical is if an e-commerce site is using said graph data as part of their merchandising model (thus creating more relevant shopping experiences), FB would be well within their bounds to charge for that valuable data. There is also value in simply selling anonymized user data (protecting privacy)-- Experian sells such anonymized consumer purchasing data to market researchers to the tune of $5.6 billion a year...

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Paul — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:21:31 -0000

Good article and conversation. A few things I would do...

1) Offer a premium service (no ads, more space, better features) for a small annual fee.

2) Make a gift/wish list one of the built in Facebook aps (on the same level as sharing videos and pics). Include ads or affiliate links to those items. It's one of the few reasons someone would want to buy something in a social network.

3) Improve the ability for businesses to interact with their "fans." Facebook pages stink because there's no way (that I can tell) for a business or organization to put something into their "fans" news feeds and therefore no way to draw them back to the page. As the CEO of a small business and leader in a church, I would love to have the same capabilities to post links, pics, videos, status updates for my business and church that would appear in one's fans news feeds in the same way friends do. I would be willing to pay for it that.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Ben Parr — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:43:53 -0000

That sounds a lot like beacon, JenDV. "Your friend Theresa bought Harry Potter for Mary. Why don't you get her a Harry Potter DVD?"

Remember what happened with beacon? It burned because it revealed to people who got what for X-mas, it took information people didn't want taken, and it became a mini media firestorm.

They'll try again through Facebook connect, but it's not as simple as you said.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

JenDV — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:52:39 -0000

First off, excellent article. Social media advertising sounds incredibly inticing, but just becuase you can potentially target your audience on Facebook (or other sites) doesn't mean that your ad is gong to get through. And Adam has a good point. People go to social networks to socialize! They visit, they check out their friends, and they leave. They're busy. They don't want to be distracted from socializing by ads - relevant or not. So I think advertisers should reconsider their goals - maybe it's enough to get your brand into the heads of the right demographic. Cause facebookers are not going to click. Maybe it's enough that your ad, if relevant, sticks in the back of their mind and one day down the road, as they Google 'where the heck do I get a new toaster', they recognize your brand's website and take a look. But how do you measure that?

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Brewster — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:19:57 -0000

The first thing FB should do is make themselves accessible. I've emailed them twice (since there is no way to actually call them) with questions and got ZERO response! Customer service, anyone? Why they want me to spend my hard earned dollars when they won't even answer some questions is beyond me. I also agree with those who state that FB needs to target specific interest. For example, let's say my cousin Betty has a birthday coming up in a few weeks. Why not have companies offer coupons/discounts for items that Betty has profiled (interested in rock music, romantic movies, traveling, dining at Italian restaurants, etc.) not only to her friends but to Betty. Make it a big deal, like, "Betty, you say it's your birthday? Here's some coupons to local restaurants you might enjoy!", or to her friends, they could offer - "Did you know Betty has a birtday coming up next week, and she really enjoys romantic movies? Why not surprise her with a 3 month's subscription to Netfix and send her some popular romantic movies?" Wow!! Million dollar ideas here for a company that won't even answer my emails. That's what I'm talking about!

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Chun — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:52:39 -0000

great post! good topic starter.

this ad game involves 3 parties, consumers, advertisers, and FB. consumers won't change, and FB cannot make us change. what they (and all social media sites) can do is to eventually change the way of advertising. the current model won't work, no matter how hard FB tries (and they knew it).

prior to google, there was no search ad model, however, google eventually changed the ad industry. let's keep an eye on FB apps - the giant lab of new ad experiments. I cannot spot the exact "overture" as for google. please name one FB app if you are convinced it's the next "overture" for FB.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Adam — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:33:01 -0000

If Facebook really wants to get its users clicking ads, the ads need to be more connected to what the users are there for.

For example, I should get an ad that says, "Hey, it's Lisa's birthday. Lisa likes Britney Spears, so you should buy her the new Britney Spears CD. Click here to buy it from Amazon.com >>"

Or, "Hey, your anniversary is coming up soon. Buy Courtney roses here >>"

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Adam — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:25:05 -0000

It's pretty simple:

On a Google search results page, people click on ads because they're trying to go somewhere else. The results page is already a jumping-off spot.

On Facebook, people are trying to explore their social networks. They're there to read about their friends, not leave.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Chris Neil — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:09:21 -0000

1) Facebook needs to have more sales resources... I just went through a frustrating exercise with a client trying to deal with Facebook.

2) Its SOCIAL media. Ads from companies I dont know about things i am not interested in are not going to work. Recomendations about products from friends - now that has more legs. Facebook has some of that now but it is not very sophisticated or targeted.

The targeting side of facebook needs to move away from the TV model were a certain demographic is the target audience - so use the shotgun approach and get the message out there. Targeting within a social network needs to focus on building a relationship, trust and permission.

I still opt in to news feeds and email newsletters, if facebook gets to know me better and asks my permission, i would pay more attention to the ads. If they add in a social recommendation element then it becomes compelling.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Kevin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:41:16 -0000

Facebook advertising is a great way to target the audience you seek. It will continue to be improved and refined. With it it should become a great option for businesses and individuals alike.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Craig — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:09:10 -0000

I also think Facebook has overall a younger audience base more educated with how online adavertising works. They don't want the advertising, and they don't want to seek it out on Facebook. They know they will see them in google, it's common and when they search they don't mind seeing them. It's not the same experience on Facebook and the advertising is terrible there. I heard the conversion rates are the worst on Facebook and it's easy to see why.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

joxmcrox — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:28:29 -0000

Wanna buy a toaster? : )

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Godfrey Parkin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:16:23 -0000

Just because click-through rates are low does not mean there is no advertising impact. Sometimes, when your analytics tell you that you failed, you need to look again to be sure you are measuring the right thing against the right goals.
Banner advertising and branded pages are but small components of what can be done in social media environments, and a nominal failure in this context cannot be used to decry the effectiveness of social media marketing as a whole.
It is a mistake to take offline marketing concepts and try to shoe-horn them into online environments. Rather, you should look at the environment through your target customerâ€™s eyes, understand the processes that the customer seeks to go through, and try to work out how you can add value in a way that also contributes to your goals.
Design a marketing intervention that goes with the flow, or supports the userâ€™s experience, rather than one which interrupts it. In this respect, innovation is far more important than creativity. There is nothing innovative about banner ads, no matter how creative they may be.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

william — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:58:31 -0000

Hail to the Thieves

Facebook Connect, Google Open Social, and twitter the closed source content trap are all a slap in the face to the Open Principals of the internet.

Any developer and proponent of a truly Open web must take an active roll in pushing for the success of Laconica and OpenID and should not help to extend any closed source application.

Today we have no less than 3 closed source companies in a race to become the "Standard" for holding our Identity and therefore having access to the content that we read and creates. These companies will leverage our content to create revenue; giving nothing back to the content owners or to the community.

Why do developers especially Open Source developers continue to build and extend applications for closed source companies that under mind open source standards and ideals ?

Why do users continue to view giving control of their identity and content to these companies as a win, when in fact the win is clearly on the side of the company that you have allowed to take control of your identity and to generate value and revenue from your content. In return for our compliance we do not even have a right to take our identity and our content where we want.

Open Source developers, please do not write any code to extend the propitiatory services of closed source applications . They are not your "Friend" When you write code for these companies you undermine the integrity of the Open Web.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Rahul — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:43:26 -0000

Can anyone suggest me is profitable if I advertise on Facebook at the moment. And can anyone advice me where can I find more information about Facebook advertising other than Facebook site.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

leku — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:02:35 -0000

I loved it

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Ryan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:17:42 -0000

Uhm they could have facebook pro and add value features like if you have pro you can turn of those god aweful app invites. Think no one will pay? You are wrong. People pay 25 bucks a year for flickr pro and its not that great you just get more space.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Tom — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:05:43 -0000

I loved this post. It set off fireworks in my head, and got all sorts of ideas bouncing around.

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Ben Fremer — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:38:42 -0000

1) Have Mark Zuckerberg call me
2) See if we can make a deal to utilize this patent I'm working on to build a powerful Facebook-leveraging search engine and some other stuff
3) Acquire me, my other company and my patent and set them up as new divisions: Facebook Search and Facebook Small Business. Assign me to lead the new Facebook Search, Facebook Small Business and Facebook Marketplaces division (there is a cohesive synergy between the three--we can possibly take the Marketplaces division back from Oodle once the other divisions are up and humming)
4) Compensate me in stock equal to Zuckerberg if I succeed in accounting for 85% or more of Facebook revenues or profits from those divisions . Compensate me minimally if I fail. Zuckerberg can focus on the users and the experience, and I'll handle chasing down the dollars from the Fortune 5 Million.

This is a serious offer in principle. If only I could get to step 1...

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Kevin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:33:37 -0000

The only advertising problem that Facebook has is the fact that it's not 2010 and they're yet not rolling in massive amounts of money. They've got the users, they've got the data, now all they need is ad inventory. If only they had some way for site owners to get users to log into their sites using their Facebook credentials...

Re: How Can Facebook Crack its Advertising Problem?

Ben Parr — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:36:54 -0000

The answer: Data.

Facebook has an incredible wealth of data. They know who you are, what you like, what you hate, and who your friends are.

If you have all that knowledge when you met someone for a sale, how tough would it really be to sell them?

Facebook, YouTube, and others need to find a way to transform that data into a sale. It's the presentation part that's stumping people.