Facebook just announced that it will begin to sell ad space, and will offer several packaged advertising initiatives. This social-networking giant has over 50 million users, the majority of whom are Gen-Y’ers that are usually unreceptive to traditional advertising means and methods, due to the fact that they have been inundated with them since they were old enough to recognize the shape of a man on a pony, or a fabric alligator. Needless to say, marketers have been chomping at the bit for the opportunity to be able to get to this elusive group of people. They may just have this opportunity with Facebook.
Facebook is now going to offer several different prepackaged services. The first is “Brand Profile Pages,” which are essentially profiles similar to individual users’ profiles, but that serve the purpose of soliciting and promoting a brand name, and its products. They are not really re-inventing the wheel with this one, as Facebooks’ main competitior, MySpace, has been doing this for ages. However, it will be interesting to see how the Facebook corporate profiles compare to those on MySpace.
The second spice that Facebook offers is “Tailored Ads,” which essentially just allows individual Facebook users to sign up as a “fan” of a brand, which is basically akin to “poking” a “friend” in the usual community. If someone cites themselves as a “fan” of a certain brand, and its profile (which will likely offer some kind of incentive for the person to do so, such as free downloads, etc.) then the brand has the ability to notify that person’s Facebook friends about this new relationship, and an ad, of course, accompanies this notification.
The third Facebook offering is “Partnerships with Retailers,” which is another Friend notification system that will enable the company that is partnered with Facebook (there are currently 44 retail sites that could afford the, surely, massive bid to become affiliates) to make all of a Facebook users’ Friends savvy to any transaction that particular individual makes with said company. If that makes no sense, here’s an example: If you rent a certain movie from a Blockbuster (on of the lucky 44 affiliates), then your friends on Facebook will know about it.
However, Facebook has, until now, been an advertising-free haven where people can communicate and collaborate without having to see countless ads. The two big questions on the top of my mind are: 1) Will Zuckerberg and his crew of flunkies be able to display ads in a way that is tactful and clever enough not to perturb the loyal Facebook users too much?... and 2) If the advertising and marketing tactics become too invasive, will the users slow or cease their site visits, or protest in some way? Only time will tell, I suppose. From a business perspective, you can’t blame Zuckerberg for finally taking the advertising bait that has been dangling in front of him since Facebook began. It is about time that this super-hyped, amazingly-highly appraised social networking site begins to live up to its monetary worth, and build some tangible revenues for its owner(s).
To read more about all of this, and to take a look at some staggering financial figures, check out This Article, written by Laura Petrecca and Jon Swartz of USA Today.
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