My daughter Vivi was born on May 24, 2007, the same day Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched the ability for companies to build applications inside Facebook’s site.
Within days, I had conceived of my latest company, Buddy Media. And we have been helping advertisers succeed on Facebook, and the other major social networks, ever since. Today, close to 1,000 companies, including 8 of the world’s top 10 global brands, use our software to manage their social marketing programs.
This has given me a front-row seat to the social marketing game, and with it, access to a large set of aggregate data about the state of Facebook advertising. And I am here to report that the actual results we’ve seen are different from some of those cited in a story from The Wall Street Journal that mentions brand advertisers are souring on Facebook advertising.
Our aggregate, quantifiable numbers, as well as knowledge of our brands’ ad spend, show the speed at which brand advertisers are investing into Facebook. Companies that spent $1 million last year are spending $5 million this year. Companies that spent $10 million last year are upping spend to $25 million or more.
I assure you they’re not doing this in the face of significant doubt. They’re doing it because it’s the most efficient way to enter a two-way dialogue with consumers today.
In the first quarter of 2011, our technology managed 3 billion social ad impressions. In the same period this year, we managed 127 billion impressions. That’s a 42-fold increase in just a year.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a brand manager at Kia Motors as evidence of advertisers’ “big doubt.” “The question with Facebook … is, ‘What are we getting for our dollars?’” asked Kia’s Michael Sprague.
