Thursday 19 September 2013

Advertising through Facebook


Advertising through Facebook




 

Facebook has become a part of globalisation as it has spread all over the world (excluding some countries) and is able to advertise businesses, products and other desirable objects. Technology is a fundamental enabling force in the globalizing of economic activities.

As I stated in my first blog, Fisk, L. (2011) said in an article on www.socialmediatoday.com, “Today and every day, 500 million users log-in to Facebook.” As of 2012, Facebook had reached 1 billion active users, and is still climbing in numbers. Facebook is a site that connects all these people to one another, giving them the ability to share thoughts, ideas, and life events with each other. We advertise on Facebook whether it is about a restaurant review, or a social event, or even just what we are doing for the day. However, our activity on Facebook enables Facebook to recommend businesses, products, and ideas that we may find interest in through the use of advertisement on Facebook.

On Facebook, we are constantly observed by our peers, and Facebook itself. In order to recommend advertisements, Facebook recognises our ‘likes’ on Facebook, and can send advertisements in relation to our likes. However, in order to gain more information about what your preferences are, when removing an ad, Facebook asks why you removed it by providing a series of options so it can re-evaluate which ads would appeal to you. However, Facebook is not limited to sending you recommendations according to your profile; Facebook also recommends pages that your friends have liked. Facebook also considers your relationship status as a key factor in recommending ads. When single, Facebook may advertise dating websites and exercise, but when in a relationship, Facebook would advertise engagement rings, weddings, and nice resorts, as this could appeal to you if you were in a serious, long term relationship.


For more information on how Facebook determines what advertisements to recommend, I suggest you look at the article on http://www.socialadstool.com/facebook-ads-guide/how-facebook-ads-work/ to find out what Facebook really knows about you and your interests.

 

References:

Dicken, P. (2007). Winning and losing: An Introduction. In Global shift: Mapping the changing          contours of the world economy (pp.437-453). London, England: Sage.


Fisk, L. (2011). Leveraging the Power of Facebook. Retrieved at http://socialmediatoday.com/lindamfisk/385515/leveraging-power-facebook

 
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1 comment:

  1. Hi Summer,

    I like how you have observed how Facebook takes in factors such as our relationship status and social settings when deciding what products to advertise to us. We are much like the panopticon mentioned by Turkle (1995) in week two’s reading in this sense. However not only are we being observed to ensure we behave appropriately, we are also being monitored so Facebook knows which products are best to advertise to us. As Dicken (2007) states “the era of globalisation has been marked by dramatic increases in technology, trade and investment”. Facebook’s clever marketing strategies and increasing popularity have definitely contributed dramatically to the development of globalization and international consumerism. Just last year studies showed that “65% of companies use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy” (Moth, 2012). It’s amazing to see how much one site can contribute to the development of companies; it just goes to show the power and influence that social networking has over us.

    Thanks

    Reference:

    Dicken, P. (2007). Winning and losing. In Global Shift: mapping the changing contours of the world economy. London: SAGE Publications Inc.

    Moth, D (2012). CTRs on Facebook ads increase 50% in the past 12 months. (May, 2012) Retrieved from: http://econsultancy.com/au/blog/9825-ctrs-on-facebook-ads-increase-50-in-the-past-12-months

    Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York: Simon &Schuster

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