theregoesdave

Facebook’s pioneering ad strategy, announced this week , is groundbreaking in that it is the first to effectively harness the power of customer endorsement. The gist seems to be that companies can buy the ability to create a profile for their brand. Users can then become a fan of that brand which displays a story in their feed and the company’s logo in their ‘I am a fan of…’ box on their page. It also seems that this would also help marketers determine who might be receptive to an ad from that company, probably based on your connections as well as demographics.

This is interesting because it leverages a whole new approach to ad display relevancy. Traditional display advertising primarily targets consumers by demographics. On the internet, this appears as though the company is trying to shout over the clamor of the conversation between the millions of users on the web. Google innovated on that model by providing contextual advertising that is more relevant to the conversation occurring on that site. This means that the companies are still shouting over the din of the web, but is nevertheless a one-way conversation.

Facebook’s strategy relies on companies to effectively manage their dialogue with customers in order to truly be successful. Users are not likely to endorse a company that tries to have a one way conversation by shouting marketing speak, ignoring their feedback or fails to engage a sense of community. These companies ware likely to become frustrated and will inevitably slip into Facebook obscurity. Hopefully this means that the brands that are successful within this medium will have better products, be more relevant and generally less annoying.

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