Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

From Wired: Facebook’s New Social Ads Turn Your Friends Into Marketers
No, they’re not talking about some form of paid referral program. At least with that, the person making the referral actually bought the product or service. What they’re now doing is “social advertising” Marketers could pay Facebook to send newsfeeds ads - that don’t look like ads - to your friends, as if they come from you. Hmmmm…I’m already forced to ignore about 2/3 of my Facebook page…and now I’ve got to be wary of my designated friends? What’s the point? Why should I stay on Facebook? Do they literally not know any better?

I mean, the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is - what - 12? (actually, yes I know - he’s 23.) And, I give him TONS of credit for being a scary smart, creative, successful guy…and he’s far more together than I was at that age (I could barely manage getting to work on time…much less start a business? Heh. That would have cut into my party time.)

But I also have to wonder - is Facebook having these problems because Zuckerberg hasn’t been around for long? Or, (and here I am, being all old and cynical)…are they simply in business to make a lot of money, any way they can…and then call it a day? (They do, after all, have a Director of Monetization.)

You simply can’t abuse people’s trust - no matter how great or cool or creative you or your product is - and build a sustainable business. Okay, maybe once you can make a misstep - as FB did with Beacon. To Zuckerberg’s credit he apologized for it. But…one of my Facebook friends (who I know in real life - what a concept!) has removed the single designation from his profile in the hopes of stopping all the cheesy Facebook dating ads. And now they’re going even further down the advertising rat hole…From Wired:

In an interview with AllFacebook Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of monetization, outlines some of the new social ad schemes Facebook will be rolling out. Currently, Facebook users are shown ads specific to their interests and profile data. But in the next 6 to 12 months:

“Marketers will be able to pay to accelerate usage they find valuable, to dial up and down actions that people take on applications, as part of the Social Ads program. For instance, News Feed uses an algorithm to communicate a users actions to the friends who would find it most interesting. Marketers will be able to pay for increased or enhanced distribution above and beyond what News Feed already provides.”

What does that mean? If you get a newsfeed from someone you haven’t spoken to in years who “totally loved Dark Knight!” it’s probably because Warner Bros. paid to have it broadcast to you.

And, here’s straight from Kendall: “That is advertising,” Kendall told Wired.com last week. “But it doesn’t look like that to your friends, because they care about you.”

“Social Ad Schemes?” “But it doesn’t look like that to your friends, because they care about you.”

All I can say is “eck.” (Yes, that’s a professional marketing term…)

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, communications, social media, social marketing, social advertising, Facebook