Isn't Facebook Missing the Point?

posted by:  Pete Nikiel

A short report from Bloomberg today told us that video advertising on Facebook was going to be priced at as much as $2.5M per day

What?
                           
That has to be the price for a full-membership run, right?  They must be talking about the full 1.15 billion members, 61% of whom go to the site each day.  Yes they are.

Surely it becomes more affordable as you start defining your target, right?

Wrong.

The report also said that the only targeting that was going to be available would be gender and age.  That's it.  They are said to be mimicking the way that network television sells it's ad inventory to make established marketers (those with the BIG budgets) more comfortable in including FB in the media mix.

The advertisers will receive three runs of a 15-second spot in a single day for the price of $1M to $2.5M, the price difference being, presumably, the gender and age you target

That's broadcasting at its worst.  Huge reach, small frequency, high cost.  Internet advertising, and Facebook in particular, are currently pulling ad dollars away from broadcast with its ability to target both geographically and by lifestyle choices.  It is able to drill down deeply eliminating waste, improving effectiveness.  Why in the world would Facebook turn its back on this profound advantage?


They are going after the biggest advertisers with this strategy and turning their backs on "the long tail."  Are they choosing the right strategy?  I guess we will see.

                                   

The Media Mix... Old and New.

Decades ago you mixed broadcast with print and maybe some outdoor.

 

Ten ago you started mixing in online display, typically at the expense of one of the traditional media.  (Newspapers, how's it going?)

Several years ago you started mixing in social.  Then came mobile.  Then we were sitting around in groups discussing if we needed to find a way to mix in QR codes and Augmented Reality.

I downloaded an interesting report today that talks about the top 10 trends for 2013 regarding email, social and mobile marketing.  There is a lot of good stuff in this report (I'll toss you a link later) but I was drawn in by trends # 4 and #5 which discussed how integrating email and social marketing makes 1 + 1 = 3. 

Some ideas:

-  Use email marketing to increase your social audience.  Send out emails solely for the purpose of inviting people to follow you on Facebook, or Twitter, or Linkedin, or Google+, or whatever your favorite is today.

-  Use social to increase opt-ins for your email list.

-  Tease an upcoming offer (to be delivered through email) on your social pages.

-  Adopt social sharing in your emails.  Let the people click to share the information from your email on their social sites.

It is the sort of stuff that makes you say "Of Course!" after you read it. It's logical.  It's simple.  Why isn't everyone doing it?

It also a great reminder that no matter how technology and modern thought change marketing, the basics still hold true.  The idea that a mixture of media can always make a campaign stronger if the pieces work together was as true in the days of Mad Men as it is today.

Here's a link to the full report.