Comments on: Facebook's new ads: Advertisers, approach with caution

The new "Engagement Ads" strategy unveiled by the social network will work extremely well for some brands. The bad news? It could be a PR fiasco for others.

[trescrepu]

"They haven't figured it out, and unfortunately, they're using brands as the guinea pigs and their customers. They really have to make it clear to their community what works and what doesn't, and develop best practices sooner or later."

Why would people think that it's that Facebook that is responsible for creating the final solution for enhanced social advertisement? Building out (and monetizing) social networks is an unfinished project just like the rest of the ever-evolving open web. This expectation is like titling a book that hasn't yet been written. Marketers will take this platform and perfect it, just like they did email 8 years ago. All it takes is time and creativity.

[nickerbocker79]

When I saw the term "Engagement Ads" I thought it was referring to the wedding ads I have been getting ever since I changed my relationship status to Engaged.

[tremorfireheart]

I initially thought it was a reference to the old beacon incident where it posted on his facebook acount about how he had bought an engagement ring. this seems like a very similar attempt to the old beacon advertising but purely pushed forward by individuals who own the page. they still have the average users of each page promoting products for them but more on interest, hype, and click rather than the frustration of seeing a grocers list of cds and other things they have bought.

[TV James]

@nickerbocker79 - what? You get relevant advertising? Wow.

Facebook actually removed the thumbs up thumbs down from the ads for me for awhile. (They were still visible when my wife signed in.) Guess I thumbs downed too many ads as irrelevant.

[anspn]

I love the use of the word "disaster' - branded advertising has been black magic and hardly measurable. There have always been disasters - just that its more difficult to know u had a disaster campaign on your hands and vested stakeholders could try and confuse the issue to hide/minimize the disaster. There are layers upon layers of experts to create, decipher, translate Ads and their effectiveness. What social media will do is to let u know (even if its unpleasant) where u stand. This is a good thing. It will make life tough for the intermediaries between advertisers and consumers just like all other areas that the internet has touched. Intermediaries will use FUD to defer these types of social ad experiments but the use of technology to gather real consumer feedback is going to accelerate over time.

[anspn]

I love the use of the word "disaster' - branded advertising has been black magic and hardly measurable. There have always been disasters - just that its more difficult to know u had a disaster campaign on your hands and vested stakeholders could try and confuse the issue to hide/minimize the disaster. There are layers upon layers of experts to create, decipher, translate Ads and their effectiveness. What social media will do is to let u know (even if its unpleasant) where u stand. This is a good thing. It will make life tough for the intermediaries between advertisers and consumers just like all other areas that the internet has touched. Intermediaries will use FUD to defer these types of social ad experiments but the use of technology to gather real consumer feedback is going to accelerate over time.

[thatvibemike]

As advertisers within social media, we're essentially inviting ourselves into a conversation between two people. Therefore, being relevant requires a personal attachment that one or both parties can appreciate. And while different brands might take different paths to figure out how they can be relevant to their consumers in social media, the most important thing for all of them will be to define their metrics for success to help them understand where they fit in the social media landscape. Otherwise, the pasta at the wall analogy couldn't be more appropriate. Except it doesn't just apply to Facebook's approach to advertising in social media, but everyone's.

[joemarchese]

I agree with Mike....

But I loved The House Bunny! (yes...I am ashamed)