On the heels of major announcements including Timeline for Pages and revamped advertising, Facebook has an important message for marketers. In exchange for doubling a brand’s investment in advertising and content, Facebook assures that a marketer will reach a large share of the fan base.
In plain speak? Scale in social isn’t free.
The announcement came with a number of recommendations, including Facebook’s suggestion “that marketers reorganize themselves around social,” according to AdAge. The skeptic in me says “No, duh. Of course that’s what they’d advise.”
More specifically, Facebook recommends companies create a position that oversees social across the organization, as well as a pages team that’s completely dedicated to Facebook. That’s interesting. Many of the clients with whom we work are just getting their heads around dedicating positions solely to social in general – convincing them to dedicate a body to Facebook alone, much less a team – that’ll be a cinch [/sarcasm font].
The recommendations don’t stop there. In addition to recommending a change in approach to Facebook marketing, Facebook is also pushing new terminology for its advertising, instead suggesting that marketers refer to ads as ‘stories.’ Is anyone else sick of “brand storytelling” as a catch phrase? The thing that’s most ironic, at least to me, is that marketing and PR are, at their very cores, both all about brand storytelling, pretty much since the beginning of time. This isn’t new ground we’re breaking, people. We’re just integrating digital channels into our overall brand messaging. C’mon with the hype.
Yet the real question is whether companies and marketers will spend more on advertising. After all, one of the initial appeals of Facebook as a marketing tool (especially for small businesses) is that it’s purportedly free, excluding, of course, the time and resources needed to establish and maintain a Facebook presence. And advertising is really what it’s all about, isn’t it?
In an effort to sweeten the advertising pot, Facebook has created a Reach Generator tool that, according to AdAge, “will let marketers buy all the reach they want. Priced according to the size of a brand’s fan base, the tool is designed to take a piece of content and amplify its reach by resurfacing it as an ad.”
Facebook already uses the EdgeRank algorithm to help determine content visibility. The majority of a brand’s content is weeded out by this algorithm, diminishing the effectiveness of the Facebook marketing strategy. With Reach Generator, however, a brand might see an increase in exposure of up to 75 percent, creating a compelling argument for a higher Facebook advertising investment.
Given the many Facebook advertising changes recently announced, it’s no surprise that Facebook expects increased support from marketers. The transition of ads to stories, as well as the introduction of mobile, premium and log-off ads, indicate that Facebook is making a tangible commitment to advertising, which will only truly be effective if brands and businesses buy into the platform.
What do you think? Will this influence your decision to buy ads stories?
Image by 401K via Creative Commons
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”