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You can target facebook ads amazingly well. I can reach only under-30 single programmers in San Francisco. I have friends who've built businesses targeting ex

by fizx 17y ago

You can target facebook ads amazingly well. I can reach only under-30 single programmers in San Francisco. I have friends who've built businesses targeting exactly who they wanted to reach, in a way that would have been prohibitively expensive (and less effective) via AdWords. I'd love to share their specific stories, but I don't have permission (yet?). Edit: I guess I can elaborate a little. What these businesses had in common: 1. You could nail down the interested demographic in facebook to reach ~0.01% of the population who would be immensely interested in your service. 2. The service itself made sense in a social context. I don't know if advertising a plumbing business would work, despite being able to drill down into local married people of homeowning age.

stcredzero 17y ago
...What these businesses had in common: 1. You could nail down the interested demographic in facebook to reach ~0.01% of the population who would be immensely interested in your service. So perhaps Facebook isn't bound to take over the whole of the Internet. It's just bound to take over as advertisement infrastructure for the easily categorizable subset of the Long Tail.
- fizx 17y ago
  It's a good point, but we're all unique, so we all might be part of the "easily categorizable subset of the Long Tail". Take the most average guy you know, and he still has unique qualities, and lives in a targetable location. Add any hobby or interest, and now he's part of some long tail group.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    Perhaps "easily categorizable" is the wrong way to put it. I suspect that there are lots of long tail demographics that are online, but still exceedingly hard to reach or market to unless you are an insider. In terms of groups that I am a part of, Facebook doesn't broaden my reach. It only acts as an address book. If Facebook advertising could effectively give access to a lot of insider's address books, I'm still not home free. I still have to figure out a message that will reach everyone without coming across intrusively.
byoung2 17y ago
I've never advertised on Facebook, but it has some impressive targeting options: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=863 http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=863

by fizx 17y ago

stcredzero 17y ago

...What these businesses had in common: 1. You could nail down the interested demographic in facebook to reach ~0.01% of the population who would be immensely interested in your service. So perhaps Facebook isn't bound to take over the whole of the Internet. It's just bound to take over as advertisement infrastructure for the easily categorizable subset of the Long Tail.

fizx 17y ago
It's a good point, but we're all unique, so we all might be part of the "easily categorizable subset of the Long Tail". Take the most average guy you know, and he still has unique qualities, and lives in a targetable location. Add any hobby or interest, and now he's part of some long tail group.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  Perhaps "easily categorizable" is the wrong way to put it. I suspect that there are lots of long tail demographics that are online, but still exceedingly hard to reach or market to unless you are an insider. In terms of groups that I am a part of, Facebook doesn't broaden my reach. It only acts as an address book. If Facebook advertising could effectively give access to a lot of insider's address books, I'm still not home free. I still have to figure out a message that will reach everyone without coming across intrusively.

byoung2 17y ago

I've never advertised on Facebook, but it has some impressive targeting options: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=863 http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=863