How to Market on Facebook
There's been a lot of buzz around Facebook lately. Ever since it opened up its API, its been a veritable new media darling. It's been accused of being the next Big Brother, hailed as becoming the next google, and charged with killing off LinkedIn. In fact, even LinkedIn has had to avail itself of Facebook's API. I mean, even those who don't get Facebook are buzzing about the social network as passionately as those who love Facebook.
Well, whether or not the social network is worth its salt, only time will tell. What is both certain and au courant, however, is that when you're a new media darling, you also tend to be a new marketer's dream. Nevertheless, Muhammad over at Pronet Advertising isn't convinced. He lists 5 reasons why Facebook is not a Viable Marketing Platform. He might have been better, however, to title the post along the lines why Facebook is not a viable Advertsing platform. After all, his reasons all focus mostly on advertising considerations, and he misses the branding potential of the social network altogether. Briefly summarized, his reasons for Facebook's marketing shortcomings are:
- Lack of Focus
- Lack of Visibility
- Not Compelling Enough
- What's in the CPM?
- The Academic Approach
If you want the ins and outs of each of Muhammad's reasons, you'll have to refer to the original post yourself. Otherwise, you'll just have to take my word for it that I'm not misrepresenting his position just to be a contrarian jerk who's out to get linkbait.
First of all, Facebook's lack of focus stems from it user base of 20 million. That's a serious market, plain and simple, and if you don't want it, I'm sure your competitor will. Besides, the manner in which users interact with both Facebook and its other users means that the social network collects relatively exhaustive demographics on its users. For example, regional basis of networks is optimal for geo targeted ads. If you can't work out something to target the right market, that's your problem.
As for Facebook flyers lacking of visibility and not being compelling enough, Muhammad might have a point there. Mind you, at the same time, there are those that would argue that banners that blend in to the site's design are more noticed. Basically, banner blindness effects different audiences in different ways. Since there are 20 million users on Facebook, it's a pretty sure bet that some are predisposed to pay more attention to banners that blend in.
What really makes not sense, though, is that Muhammad thinks there's no value in the impression of flyers. Conversions on CPM advertising can't be measured on click through rates. No, when you're paying for impressions, you're paying for exposure. In other words, you're paying for branding and to have have your logo or name become recognizable in the mind of the user.
This brings me to my final point. Marketing via Facebook -- as with on any other social network -- comes down to a question of branding and reputation management. It offers companies to create communities for themselves. This is what's known as building a trust economy:
So what is the ROI on Blogging, Podcasting, Twitter, Second Life and every other online tactic that people are lumping into the term “social media”?
Let’s trade. I’ll give you the ROI of social media, if you can return back the ROI on trust. Fair deal?
The benefit of social media communities is that users/consumers tend to have an earnest desire to belong somewhere. When they do belong to a community, it fosters trust between community memebers. By building communites around their brand names, then, marketers can establish a bond of trust between themselves and the comsumer/user. And that will convert better than any single click.
