Facebook has lured hundreds of millions of users into one place. I could leave just that one sentence and every marketing executive in the world could read that combined with the title of this article and simply say, "Yep!"
Then Facebook took things farther by leaps and bounds!! First it was keyword advertising. You make a post about travelling, suddenly there are ads for travel agencies and vacation destinations filling the borders of your browser. These were great because they happened somewhat without you noticing. You happened to be thinking of a vacation, and Carnival just so happened to have an add on your page!! Coincidence?! Haha..I think not!
Then Facebook partnered with app developers, offering them a platform to reach hundreds of millions of credit card wielding users. Zynga is among the most notable developers to use Facebook as a springboard to achieve targets that far exceeded their initial expectations. With games like CityVille, Farmville, Mafia Wars and Poker, Zynga has become a household name - found mostly on peoples bank statements!
Now, you may have started to see pages that offer a button that says "Sign in with Facebook". Now this one is PURE GENIUS!! A company allows you to access their info in exchange for gaining access to ALL of yours!! Most people don't even realize what they are doing when they click this "easy" button and then without worry click the "allow" button on the ensuing pop-up. You have allowed that company access to your complete profile. Yes, privacy laws prohibit them from doing most things, but not from obtaining the one thing they want most - You! It was you that went to their page. That already made you a very high-percentage consumer. Now you have granted them access to know exactly HOW to target you as a consumer. Take this concept over the millions of people that have clicked the same easy button, and marketing execs can accomplish what only 10 years ago would be described as nothing short of MAGIC!!
Companies have even taken to creating their own "profiles". Starbucks, Converse, Target, WalMart and Disney are some of the companies that have over 15MILLION users being reached every time they make a post!! My favorite part of this, is the long desired, however noticeably absent, "Dislike" button. To access a company page, and essentially link yourself to them, you have to click a "like" button. Netflix last year saw their "likes" rapidly increase as they made one of the worst decisions of 2011 by announcing a 100% price increase that scambled users to their keyboards. After the traffic overwhelmed and crashed the Netflix server where the announcement was made, users then flooded Facebook. The page received over 30,000 comments in the next 6 hours! The catch - users, despite their anger, had to "like" Netflix to make those comments. Fast forward almost a year later, and many of those users never bothered to "unlike" Netflix, and have allowed Netflix the ability to continue to communicate as they attempt to mend their image.
As Facebook continues to evolve, there will be a seemingly endless stream of avenues to generate revenue, for both the companies that associate themselves with Facebook, and for Facebook themselves. What remains to be seen, is can Facebook find enough gold to justify the astronomical valuation they had for their IPO earlier this year.
Then Facebook took things farther by leaps and bounds!! First it was keyword advertising. You make a post about travelling, suddenly there are ads for travel agencies and vacation destinations filling the borders of your browser. These were great because they happened somewhat without you noticing. You happened to be thinking of a vacation, and Carnival just so happened to have an add on your page!! Coincidence?! Haha..I think not!Then Facebook partnered with app developers, offering them a platform to reach hundreds of millions of credit card wielding users. Zynga is among the most notable developers to use Facebook as a springboard to achieve targets that far exceeded their initial expectations. With games like CityVille, Farmville, Mafia Wars and Poker, Zynga has become a household name - found mostly on peoples bank statements!
Now, you may have started to see pages that offer a button that says "Sign in with Facebook". Now this one is PURE GENIUS!! A company allows you to access their info in exchange for gaining access to ALL of yours!! Most people don't even realize what they are doing when they click this "easy" button and then without worry click the "allow" button on the ensuing pop-up. You have allowed that company access to your complete profile. Yes, privacy laws prohibit them from doing most things, but not from obtaining the one thing they want most - You! It was you that went to their page. That already made you a very high-percentage consumer. Now you have granted them access to know exactly HOW to target you as a consumer. Take this concept over the millions of people that have clicked the same easy button, and marketing execs can accomplish what only 10 years ago would be described as nothing short of MAGIC!!
Companies have even taken to creating their own "profiles". Starbucks, Converse, Target, WalMart and Disney are some of the companies that have over 15MILLION users being reached every time they make a post!! My favorite part of this, is the long desired, however noticeably absent, "Dislike" button. To access a company page, and essentially link yourself to them, you have to click a "like" button. Netflix last year saw their "likes" rapidly increase as they made one of the worst decisions of 2011 by announcing a 100% price increase that scambled users to their keyboards. After the traffic overwhelmed and crashed the Netflix server where the announcement was made, users then flooded Facebook. The page received over 30,000 comments in the next 6 hours! The catch - users, despite their anger, had to "like" Netflix to make those comments. Fast forward almost a year later, and many of those users never bothered to "unlike" Netflix, and have allowed Netflix the ability to continue to communicate as they attempt to mend their image.
As Facebook continues to evolve, there will be a seemingly endless stream of avenues to generate revenue, for both the companies that associate themselves with Facebook, and for Facebook themselves. What remains to be seen, is can Facebook find enough gold to justify the astronomical valuation they had for their IPO earlier this year.
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