Facebook is its biggest Enemy for Brand Advertisers
Over the weekend I reloaded the list of advertisers on facebook a few hundred times and then used a tool I have that shows me all the advertisers on Facebook based on demographics and other factors. I was really curious what I would personally see, versus what other people could see on the pages. I had thought perhaps that my user experience was significant different than other user’s experiences and perhaps that the advertising varied. I found out two things: first of all, since I am not single, I was being blocked from seeing thousands of dating ads featuring long-legged girls in strange positions and secondly, that there is a huge lack of brand based advertising on Facebook. Facebook, despite all its push to get brands, still doesn’t have major brands advertising that frequently on Facebook and the main reason is because of Facebook itself.
Facebook has touted that brands can connect with their audience via Facebook through both advertising, and more importantly (and often mention first), through creating fan pages for their brand. Many local and niche targeted companies have taken advantage of this and one can find fan pages for at least a few thousand coffee shops in almost every major city. Some major brands have created fan pages for those who are already interested in the product, but very few of them have engaged in major campaigns to promote them. Most major brands have a fan page of some sort, created by the fans but not affiliated officially with the company.
The reason why brands are keeping away from facebook is pretty simple – just look at what happened the Nestle Brands. Their facebook page was taken over by activists who are against the use of palm oil in their products, because among other things, it threatened the Orangutan. While it’s most likely a worthy cause, the Red-Asses Organgutan, I’m pretty sure its not on the list of most people’s top causes. IT probably ranks up there with helping starving models receive more collagen injections. Still, when activists took over the facebook page and heavily publicized their defiance, the facebook page suddenly became awash with angry Organgutan supporters. Not long after that, a cause that no one really cared about was infuriating chocolate lovers everywhere who started also posting that they were not going to indulge in caloric treats if it pissed off one of our sapien cousins.
In this rests the real problem about working with facebook: the uncertainty of the ability to protect your brand. A computer gaming company can advertise their game on IGN.com for example, and send people to their buy page and promote their product and share the message that they are interested in. Many consumers are aware of comparison shopping engines, and more importantly the ability to read reviews – they don’t buy everything a company says. However, they still go to the source often to learn about the basics of the product. If they stumble on a facebook page about a product with tons of angry customers is would give a lot more credence to the complaints. One’s entire social media plan and budget could be destroyed in a day because some smart-ass decides to get him and his 20 friends to leave messages against the product.
Thus, my friends at the agencies have told me that it makes no sense to them to use Facebook at this time to promote their products. They see that there is a possibility of using facebook and always investigate it, but to actually buy advertising, and then risk that they will create some type of immediate backlash created by their own promotions seems really stupid. Facebook is still too much of an unknown, and a risk they won’t be willing to take with many of their clients in the near future.
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10 Responses to “Facebook is its biggest Enemy for Brand Advertisers”
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(C) 2010 Pace Lattin. It is the policy of this blogger to not edit or remove any content and comments, unless it is specifically attacking a protected group or irrelevant to the conversation, such as a spam. These are the OPINIONS of the respective writers, posters, commentators. All DCMA Notices shoudl be sent to pace@pacelattin.com
Pace,
You’ll find the reason that many brand advertisers have not run major campaigns to drive fans as you mentioned above is that just as the practice was starting to be adopted on a large scale by brands FaceBook banned the practice. A number of branded advertisers are engaging users on Facebook but it is more through partners like wildfire and not through traditional agencies who themselves do not seem to "get" FaceBook and continue to propose very bland "in the box" solutions.
Hi Pace – there are always going to be comments that are inappropriate, malicious, untrue undesirable, flat out ridiculous or politically incorrect in places where the public can access and leave comments.
Perhaps Industry in general can take a leaf out of the Pharmaceutical social media space where mediated discussion on Facebook etc. is needed to remain compliant with FDA reporting and reduce misleading claims that may well have legal implications.
Traditional mediation can be expensive but new tools that automatically filter posts (semantic filtering) in social media spaces for content violations is just around the corner.
Let’s see what the next generation of Social Media development brings for Brands.
In a way it is like stopping unwanted and ugly graffiti from being applied all over urban landscapes before the paint hits the walls – it just wont stick.
Does this help solve the problem?
http://www.zemoga.com
Killer article Pace! Everyone has an opinion… even if it’s wrong, and you’re right. Facebook can be an anarchists playground where groups of people take cheap shots at companies and voice their opinions. Suddenly everyone is an activist. There is a lot of left wing propaganda on there that’s for sure. This is the problem with the Internet in general. Everyone and anyone that can type http://www.Google.com is suddenly an expert on everything from brain surgery to global warming and nuclear fusion. Have you seen the comments on YouTube lately? It’s a sad indicator of the average level of human intelligence.
Facebook needs to contract with you, Pace!
Pace,
I can appreciate your assessment of Facebook. However, I think some key points are being missed. Facebook isn’t the only social media vehicle on the Internet that allows people to comment, positively or negatively. In your example, I am sure I can go to a Nestle website and make the same negative comments about the use of Palm Oil. The activists of Nestle could have easily started their own anti-Nestle page and commented there for the world to see. Nestle and every other brand can not ignore social media because they are afraid of what might be said. The chances are that it is already being said somewhere. These brands should take the opportunity to engage with their customers and activists to set the record straight. Of course this can be more difficult if the brand is doing something unethical. In every situation it is better to be heard then silent.
"then used a tool I have that shows me all the advertisers on Facebook based on demographics and other factors" – What tool are you referring to? Is it publicly available?
Pace what is this tool you are referring to. I would really love to be able to use a tool like this.
I acknowledge the risk of fan pages on Facebook for brands.
But that doesn’t mean brands shouldn’t advertise on Facebook. You can use Facebook ads to send traffic directly to your own website. You don’t HAVE TO send the traffic to a Facebook page.
This is good info! Where else can if ind out more?? Who runs this joint too? Keep up the good work