Prior to its IPO, Facebook’s public image took a bit of a hit when GM announced it was pulling advertising from the social network. The move was surprising to many, but it drew attention to the elephant in the room: Facebook has failed to maximize its advertising services. Why can’t the social media giant, the very successful and still growing monster, seem to utilize its power for advertising good? What is holding Facebook back from realizing its full advertising potential? The biggest failures can be broken down into five distinct areas.
A few months back, Mashable also reported how Facebook’s Ad Engagement went down by 85 in the United States.
1. No Mobile Integration
This is one of the biggest knocks on the entire Facebook ad system. Users of the mobile website and the apps for iPhone and Android do not see any ads at all. With such a major chunk of the site’s use coming from the mobile platform, the company needs to correct this and incorporate ads into mobile immediately.
2. Out of Sight
For users, one of the nice things about Facebook is that the ads are out of the way and easy to ignore. For advertisers, one of the terrible things about Facebook is that the ads are out of the way and easy to ignore. Facebook’s done a terrific job of not letting ads harm the site’s usability, but they need to be more visible.
3. They’re Not Relevant
Facebook is, in theory, the perfect advertising platform. Nothing else can offer the levels of precision that it can in terms of who’s being targeted. Users voluntarily submit their information, and marketers get total control over profiling what kind of person will see their ads. This makes it strange to note that many of the ads the service displays lack relevance to the person being targeted, and suggests that the company needs to develop other targeting algorithms.
4. Too Small
While other websites offer large banner advertisements with rich colors and graphics, Facebook’s ads look like the generic knockoff of Google Ads. They offer a small thumbnail image, a few words of text, and virtually nothing else. The social media giant could easily see an improvement on its click rates if it did something more, but so far it has refused to run larger ads.
5. No Reason To Pay
Facebook is a social networking service, so it seems odd that they sell flimsy text ads while freely offering business pages. Business pages give companies the chance to interact with their users, drive sales for products, and develop lasting relationships with their customers. It’s easily the most effective marketing tool that they offer, so it seems peculiar that it’s offered for free.
All of these were stumbles, but they can be corrected. The good news for Facebook is that it’s never too late to make a positive change. With almost one billion users on the site, Facebook has given itself some breathing room. Now all Facebook has to do is start using its power to the best of its ability and it is almost guaranteed to make buckets of money.
Author Bio
This Guest post is by Christine Kane, a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety of subjects including internet provider for different blogs. She can be reached via email at: Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com
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