According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “Facebook Ads represent a completely new way of advertising online”. While the verdict is still out in this, some of the elements of the platform are very unique in their nature.
Today's announcement can be broken down in the following categories:
More than 100,000 Facebook Pages Launch Today
- Pages representing 100,000 brand will launch today. The pages will be similar to user pages
- “The core of every user’s experience on Facebook is their page and that’s where businesses are going to start as well,”-- Zuckerberg
Distribution through the Social Graph
- As with any interaction that friends have with friends, any interaction a someone has with a brand will be spread though that users social graph via the mini news feed
- Users can add reviews, comments and write on the Wall of a given company
Unique Ads with Social Actions
- “Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people"-- Zuckerberg
- “It’s no longer just about messages that are broadcasted out by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends. So we set out to use these social actions to build a new kind of ad system.”
- Social Ads can combine actions taken by users with messages directly from the brands themselves, giving brands the ability to join in the conversation taking place in the social graph
Insights about Brand Presence and Promotion
- Facebook is promising useful metrics on various interaction with the social graph.
- Facebook Insights is a free service for all Facebook Pages and Social Ads
- Protecting User’s Privacy
It will be interesting to watch whether or not Zuckerberg and crew will be able to be more relevant in social environments than competitors have been. While I am not sold on the fact that the Facebook crew has found the solution to advertising in social networks, I really like their thinking and approach.
Time will tell...
Tags: Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Graph, Social Ads