Facebook Sells Your Friends
Most people think of Facebook as the mega-popular social network that boasts 550 million users. Aside from reconnecting friends and making new ones, Facebook also serves as an extremely useful marketing tool. Big corporations such as Nike and Paramount have recently been using the social network to test the popularity of new ad campaigns. Small businesses are also enjoying the benefits of using the website as a advertising tool. Facebook uses the information posted by its users to determine which ads to display on the right side of the pages. The staggering amount of users combined with intelligent marketing has made Facebook an efficient advertisement tool.
Before Facebook, Google was the internet marketing sensation. The search engine incorporated ads into queries by the user. Facebook on the other hand now splices its user's own newsfeed with advertisements that are engaged by friends of the user. Essentially advertisements are becoming more integrated within user interactions. With this new philosophy on marketing however comes backlash. Users who valued the privacy Facebook initially offered are now caught in a bind. On one hand, Facebook has become a part of their lives and their friends lives, on the other hand, Facebook is slowly leaking the user's information to complete strangers for commercial purposes.
As a Facebook user I have thought to myself many times about who is seeing my personal information on the website. Colleges and corporations now screen prospective employees by looking at their Facebook pages. Honestly I feel that the site is not for everyone, especially those who are uneasy revealing information in the first place. Seeing how Facebook pages are information mines that reveal interests and possessions of the user, companies have now recognized the marketing opportunities that lie within the network. A company can release a video on Facebook promoting their product and within hours the clip has the potential to go viral. The article mentioned that Nike used Facebook to test an ad campaign, which would go on to become a huge success. Not only were users being exposed to the ad on Facebook, but eventually they would see it on the World Cup.
Possibly the most exciting feature that Facebook offers companies is the ability for users to “like” the advertisement. By 'liking' an ad, the user's friend network also is exposed to the ad through the newsfeed. The real value of this feature though is the literal feedback that the company is provided by the user's approval. Companies that run ads that are 'liked' the most are spliced into the newsfeed as a story for the masses.
While Facebook users do not usually click on the ads, let alone go through the purchasing process after clicking the squares, the ads stay in the user's subconscious after they log off Facebook. I know that after I spend a few minutes on the site I can still remember what ads were on the right side. Facebook is redefining marketing at a rapid rate, and in a few years, who knows what will be next.
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/10_40/b4197064860826.htm
1 comment:
While I do think that Facebook has become such a pivotal part of life for teens and young adults today, I can see that there are numerous potential issues to selling personal information out to third parties, even if they simply wish to suggest topics, people, or companies that we should "like." From personal experience, however, their advertising has worked. Facebook ads for a website called modcloth.com were often displayed when I logged into the website, and I actually visited the site and came to like the online clothing store, since it specialized in vintage and unique clothing that I liked. In that sense, advertising on Facebook has many advantages for companies who connect with their potential customers in this manner. Even though some personal privacy may be invaded, all users should be careful to not put too much information of Facebook in the first place. Beyond my name, school, and age, there remains little information about myself on my Facebook. The ads, in my opinion, should only help both parties involved (both me and the companies advertising). I am introduced to new brands and companies that I might have never been exposed to, whereas many companies are gaining access to millions of potential customers. In a world of mass media campaigns and advertising imagery everywhere we look, Facebook ads appear to be some of the least invasive or annoying of all the other options I have seen that utilize IT (like pop-up windows, obligatory surveys, etc.)
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