Facebook has managed to obtain detailed personal profiles of 500 Million people to create a hugely powerful asset.
A government trying to obtain this kind of information would be met with liberty groups drumming up a revolution with cries of ‘rights to a private life’, whereas we have happily provided it to a largely unaccountable commercial organisation, for free!
So how does this free data gathering service turn into a business with a revenue in the region of $4 billion that could well be valued at $100 billion after it goes public?
In essence, its value is in advertising and marketing. The vast majority of money that companies spend on advertising is wasted and one of the main reasons is lack of targeting. Getting the right message in front of the right person at the right time is the name of the game in marketing.
Information about a person’s age, status, location, interests, friends, habits, work, family etc. is extremely valuable when it comes to designing an advert that will create interest and engagement.
If prospect data lists were desserts, your traditional address list would be a small tinned sponge pudding with watery custard whereas the Facebook data base would be a six foot high multi-layered gateau named ‘genocide-by-chocolate’.
As a business trying to market itself this is great news but it is also great news for the consumer. None of us want to be exposed to adverts that are of no interest or relevance to us.
Almost everyone enjoys shopping for things that they like, so highly targeted relevant adverts appearing on peoples computer screens are likely to be well received. Look at this in contrast to the annoying irrelevant advertising that we are bombarded with elsewhere on a daily basis.
Facebook advertising is revolutionary in its targeted power and ease of access to all businesses. The chances are, whatever business you are in, your customers will be on Facebook. Are you?
Have you started to dabble with the commercial side of Facebook?
Let me know below your thoughts and experiences so far with it.
