Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

Social Network sites have long been the domain of a youthful digital culture, looking to connect and build friend circles away from the structure and convention of the real world. While this may still be the impression the general populace has on sites such as MySpace, many would be surprised to find out what makes Facebook truly stand out from the pack. Facebook comes of age and sets a pace to bring relevance to a more sophisticated user-base. More after the jump.

When Facebook opened its floodgates to non-academic users, new member registrations came in droves. As of February 2009, Compete.com ranked Facebook as the most used Social Network based on worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. But while MySpace still sees ongoing growth and more impressive revenues (eMarketer pegs MySpace revenue at roughly $495 million, down 15%, with Facebook trailing significantly behind at $230 million), Facebook has more aptly positioned itself as a mainstay of social media.

With a solid foundation (both strategically and technically) and scaleable framework, the Facebook Platform allows third party developers to create branded experiences that integrate with the platform. Facebook, unlike its closest rival, is not simply a directory of members and bands.

While both of these Social Networks have become big business, Facebook has also overcome a brand hurdle, transforming itself into a household name that both teens and moms now find useful, driving the upward spike in its member-base and creating a more broad demographic for advertisers of everything from beer to eyewear. In fact, InsideFacebook.com counts Women over 55 to be the sites fastest growing demo. As a result, spending on Social Media is now expected to increase 30+ percent annually over the next five years.

With this in mind, it’s worth taking a closer look at the numbers Facebook has to offer. Brian Solis has pulled together a summary of some of the key points that make Facebook an important line item in any marketing mix.

Some highlights:

• Facebook has more than 250 million users
• 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
• People 35 years old and older represent the fastest growing demographic
• More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
• 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day
• 1 billion social objects (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week
• 30 million users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices
• Facebook is growing faster with women than men in almost every age group. Women comprise 56.2% of Facebook’s audience, up from 54.3% in late 2008.
• Facebook growing in every age/gender demographic. Fastest growing segment: Women over 55

The numbers are impressive no doubt, but what can Facebook offer advertisers to make reaching their audience a reality? If you’re interested in more specifics, Facebook also publishes their own set of stats online here.

Facebook Platform
The Facebook Platform allows brands to create games and tools that tie into the core functionality of the system. Now in its third year, this is a constantly expanding area of opportunity, though the most recent redesign of the sites interface pushed Applications in a direction of near obscurity, making it less attractive for advertisers and developers alike. The Facebook Platform Application Directory also boasts over 350,000 active applications (200 of which have over 1 million active users), which, like all forms of media, makes it difficult for brands to cut through clutter and rise to the top. Simply building an application is not an effective strategy. Applications are experiences that need support from other marketing initiatives, which let customers know they exist, while providing them with access points. Coastal Contacts’ Virtual Mirror, a try-before-you-buy microsite with an accompanying Facebook App was recently created by Engine Digital. The social application has seen over 100,000 users and 500,000 photos generated in little more than 6 months. Coastal Contacts has also done an exceptional job of harnessing the community building power of Facebook and pushing users towards contests and the Virtual Mirror Application, taking a balanced approach to broadcasting and experience building social media tactics.

Facebook Advertising
Facebook also provides marketers with an intelligent advertising platform with targeting and optimization tools to make sure every dollar spent goes to good use. Considering the volume of content users publishing through Facebook (Upwards of 1 billion photos and the10 million videos uploaded, 2.5 million events, and 1 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) created each month), incredibly relevant ads can be provided to site users. With CPC and CPM models, which are similar to Google, Facebook private ad network lets advertisers set daily budgets and create and manage their own image or text-based ads online, in real-time.

In short, Facebook is now attracting a broader demographic, including moms. Facebook Platform and Facebook Advertising are marketing channels to consider for brands that attract customers that are likely to support the brand message among their friend circle. Facebook ads are low cost and offer extremely intelligent targeting based on user input, and Facebook Applications allow for brands to develop creative customer interactions including utilities and games – based directly on the product or service, or not.

Engine Digital can craft a Facebook strategy to drive traffic and build a positive brand experience for your customer. Speak to us.

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