Saturday, November 28, 2009

Social Ads for Social Media

Facebook does not have many ads on its site, but the ads that they do have are different from most banner ads because they are strategically targeted to an individual's profile, and they are socially interactive.  This type of interactive ad makes sense with the demographic of people on Facebook who already consider the Internet very social.

The ads sometimes give viewers the option of "Like-ing" the ad, becoming a fan of the product or company on their Facebook page, or sending an online RSVP to the Facebook event being advertised.  This might not be that different from the usual click-through ad except for one rather unusual feature.  If you choose to get rid of the ad by clicking the small gray "x" in the upper right corner, you are asked to comment on why you do not like the ad.

Comment box that appears when you try to remove an ad on Facebook.

This comment box serves as a useful tool to create a database of customer preferences and conduct market research.  As Facebook tells it, "Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users."

Facebook already uses a lot of its users' information to segment its advertising like, location, age, sex, keywords, education, workplace, relationship status, relationship interests, and languages.  You can find out more about how Facebook segments its users on the Facebook advertising page.

I know from personal experience that the ads on my Facebook page are very responsive to changes I make to my profile.  Once for April Fools Day I changed my relationship status to "engaged" and I was immediately barraged with ads about wedding rings, dresses, photographers, venues, caterers, and more.  Also, when I was studying abroad in Barcelona last spring, my Facebook advertisements were mostly in Spanish or Catalan.

Facebook's interactive advertising style with the opportunity to remove ads, comment boxes, "Like" buttons, "Become fan" buttons that link to the advertiser's Facebook page, etc., is a new type of online advertising that works well with the site's already interactive nature.  It also reflects a general increase in Web sites integrating "social" options that make interaction between companies and consumers easier.

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