Facebook Ads Get Increasingly Popular
June 2nd, 2010

As we have mentioned a number of times in past blogs, social networking sites are quickly becoming the most popular advertising tools available. With the growing majority of consumers flocking to the internet to peruse through potential purchases, more companies are resourcing the Facebooks and Twitters of the world wide web to spread their messages.

Today, The Washington Post's Brian Womack reports that Facebook has, in fact, quadrupled the number of advertisers on its incredibly popular site since the beginning of last year. Now the largest social networking site in the world, Facebook has been opening offices worldwide to serve ad clients.

According to Womack, Facebook has had to double the number of its salespeople since 2008. This, of course, is a response to the demand of companies who wish to utilize the popular site to boost their recognition. Brands such as Procter & Gamble Co., Toys “R” Us Inc. and Virgin America Inc. are cited as companies who have significantly increased their ad spending to grow their reach on Facebook.

Currently, Facebook as more than 500 million users. Said Mike Murphy, Facebook's vice president of global sales: “We’re very well positioned as people come out of this current economic situation. What we’ve become is absolutely core to marketing campaigns.”

Womack explains how the website puts those big advertising budgets to work: “Facebook sells ads that are placed on the home pages of users, where the latest comments, pictures and links from their friends are posted. The ads also show up next to profile pages, which may include a person’s information such as gender or birth date.”

Adidas, the world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker, had used Facebook to market their products and has been very successful doing so. Its youth-focused “Originals” label is heavily promoted on the site. The global digital marketing leader for Adidas, Chris Barbour sees great benefit in advertising on Facebook.

Said Barbour: “Wherever our fans are, we’re going to use Facebook to speak to them. And we’re going to try to speak to them in a locally relevant way.” Adidas has created an “Originals” page on Facebook which allows fans to check out new products and involve themselves in user discussions about the brand. As Womack reports: “Three times as many people signed up to be 'fans' of the page during the campaign, compared with the typical rate.”

In total, Facebook has run 176 billion display ads in the United States in the first quarter. This is up over 70 million ads from the year before. The popularity of Facebook is undeniable. Womack writes that Facebook was the most visited website in March, which overtook Google for the first time.