On Wednesday the May 14^th, I attended a 2-hour+ presentation and panel discussion on utilizing Facebook as a business promotion tool. The event was presented by IIMA and was the most attended event in IIMA history, which only reinforces the growing interest in this marketing area.

I can honestly say that after 2 hours I am still somewhat in the dark as to any real value of Facebook in the B2B world, but can see how certain businesses could gain an advantage in B2C marketing.

Facebook Facts:

-          Currently 70 Million Users World-Wide, almost 9 Million Canadians

-          Competition: MySpace= 68 Million members, LinkedIn= 20 Million

-          2^nd most visited PHP-Powered site on the internet

-          6^th most visited site of any kind on the web

-          Current estimated value is $2.4 Billion

-          Fastest growing demographic is 25+

-          Estimated 25% of Canadians are on Facebook

-          1.3 M of those Canadians are over 40. (500,000 are over 50)

-          FB is the #1 blogging and photo-sharing site on the web

-          The venture capital branch of the CIA has a public investment in Facebook

About Facebook Culture, and social networking in general:

-          Facebook spans common boundaries such as generational and geographical

-          Facebook is mainly about conversation while MySpace is about teens “preening” and LinkedIn is for professional networking

-          People want to take control of their culture… who really owns Facebook?

-          Members come to Facebook for FUN and to RELAX. They consider it their personal space and any intrusion, including advertising is generally not welcomed

-          Any advertising needs to be FUN. Most successful ads have been viral in nature (videos, games, applications)

-          FB has a PPC ad network similar to AdWords, but allows for very precise targeting. Example: “women, 45-50, interests include shoes and gardening”

-          Ad copywriting needs to be unobtrusive and carefully thought-out and presented.

-          The 600×160 skyscraper banner can be found, but has been shown not to work in this environment.

-          The most successful RRSP ad run by Citizens Bank of Canada in Feb was a banner ad highlighting their donations to H4H. CTR was between .02-.03% Dismal! They consider the campaign a success because of the positive social image they created <?> How did they measure that value???

-          One presenter felt that websites as we know them would be almost non-existent in 2-3 years. Companies not on FB would “not exist” on the web

-          It’s very easy to offend and become an “outcast” in these social networking environments (does not apply to LinkedIn)

My conclusions:

-          FB could be a valuable venue to build ‘Brand’ recognition and loyalty, especially in the under 30 demographic. Having a ‘page’ could benefit companies that rely upon brand loyalty, such a banks or a chain of restaurants.

-          A company ‘page’ needs to be fun and dynamic, which could consume a great deal of time.

-          I can see value in the demographic targeting for their PPC ads, and the click values are currently much less than Google.

-          Great value for groups, associations and non-profits to develop a presence, especially as a venue to announce events and fund-raisers and to communicate with their members.