What I Would Tell Facebook About GM.

Mary Schmidt

May 22, 2012

So, let’s assume that GM didn’t take any of my advice (What I would have told GM about Facebook.) They went ahead and signed up for paid ads with Facebook (and spent an absolutely obscene [and totally clueless] amount of money on “creative” and content).  Then, somebody at Facebook read my post and called me.  Here’s a summary of what I’d tell them in a post-mortem.  (I may or may not have a Powerpoint.  I’d probably go full-on, rock-on online for examples and - maybe - some shadow puppets…)

Sucks, dudes and dudettes.  GM’s timing was bad. That said…you don’t have an advertiser problem, you’ve got a business problem. You need a different revenue/profit model.  Advertsing? Seriously?  You’re selling old-style push advertising…pitchin’, pitchin’ PITCHIN’ to people who are already seeing ads literally everywhere, from shopping carts to the back of restroom doors…and online is jammed, crammed, and overwhelmed.

Your programming for “custom” ads needs a LOT of work. Many people ignore them anyway, but if they should happen to glance in the right column, it should actually be relevant to them. (Here’s where I show a real-time example of my Facebook page and the gout ad…and all those incredibly cheesy “Eat all you want and still lose weight” style pitches…which keep popping up.)  If you’re going to sell advertising, you should also help people craft the ads (just like responsible, successful print media people used to do…)

What’s your secret sauce? No. Really. You’ve got an online vanity billboard/chat room. (Sorry, if it looks like a duck…)  It’s nice to keep in touch with people…but what’s your sustainable advantage?  Sure, you’ve got wicked smart people hacking away behind the scenes and your code may be works of heart-breaking beauty….to you.  Users don’t care about elegance of code, they care about themselves.

You’ve got data on 900 million users. So what? How can you use that to build a sustainable business? You’ve already been slapped around in the press and by users for privacy invasion.  Also, users - gasp - do lie. For example, I said my birthdate was January 1, 1900. 

Spend some quality time with companies that DO feel that Facebook works for them. (Ford? They claim to get results, but they could also just be sticking a thumb in GM’s eye.)  Ask. Listen. Change to suit their needs. Do it better. 

P.S. GM is like many long-time established companies.  They don’t grok the changing world of marketing.  Facebook should. Get busy. 

Related posts:
Facebook Was Never The Fresh Air Fund.
Do You Trust Facebook?
Will Facebook “Recreate” Marketing?
But Facebook Doesn’t HAVE Any Customers.

In Marketing Troubleshooting, Social Media For Skeptics, Web Bytes