IAA Summit: 'Facebook's news feed is the tool to success for marketers'

Will Platt-Higgins, Director, Global Account Partnership, Facebook, speaks about how Facebook can be used to build brands and sustain them



Sohini Sen | Mumbai | October 1, 2013

As more and more companies and brands wake up to the importance of digital marketing, Facebook emerges as the number one choice for all marketers. Whether they choose Facebook to make consumers more aware or to connect with them, whether it is get feedback or market a brand through contests and giveaways, Facebook has been-there-done-that. At the International Advertising Association (IAA) - India Chapter's Global Marketing Summit organised yesterday in Mumbai, Will Platt-Higgins, Director, Global Account Partnership, Facebook USA, spoke about the importance and process of building a brand on Facebook.

Platt-Higgins leads a team of people across the world to partner with brand marketers and their agencies, enabling them to maximise the business and brand building potential of the Facebook platform. The session, chaired by Neville Taraporewalla, General Manager-India, Advertising & Online, at Microsoft, threw some light on how agencies and clients can achieve success on Facebook, and what brands can do on the social media platform.

Platt-Higgins started his discussion with a comparison of digital consumer behaviour in 2004 and 2013. While in 2004, most people were scared of revealing their true identities or sharing actual information online, in 2013 people are fairly honest about their virtual identities and more and more people are also using online transaction methods, which mean that they are also ready to share vital information online.

"I may also mention that 2013 is the first year in the history of America that more time was spent on digital devices than on television or radio, and it is only headed up," Platt-Higgins said, citing a report.

The logical question then arises: why are people spending so much time on a digital device? By looking at why they are spending so much time on Facebook, one can try to answer the former question as well.

Facebook in 2011 introduced news feeds in its layout. News feed basically means a structured listing of posts and videos and articles from the people you interact with the most. The news feed also shows the posts by fan pages or brand pages, thereby showing up only when you have liked a certain person or company or brand. This not only lets one read all the news he or she might need, but also lets them select what are they interested in. In a way it is, as Platt-Higgins called it, “a personalised newspaper” for people.

Does the news feed feature impact marketers? Platt-Higgins certainly thinks so. By making the news feed more relevant, the platform makes it easier for marketers to choose their target as well. On a more basic note, the advertisements on Facebook, compared with those in print or a webpage are bigger and brighter. Unlike a bottom banner on your cell phone, Facebook ads are put at the eye level – making it easier to make contact with the target audience. With an ad placed on Facebook – even if shared through a tablet – one can like, share and thereby build more brand following.

Along with brand building campaigns, Facebook also helps generate massive awareness. "Brands like Budweiser, Nike, etc., have used Facebook to the greatest advantage. Not to mention that authentic identity across devices helps us, as marketers, to get the right content to the right people," said Platt-Higgins.

However, while Facebook is the social media platform with the optimum reach, there is still two-thirds of the world's population who have no access to an internet enabled computer. Facebook, with the help of some partners, has launched internet.org. This global partnership between Facebook and non-profits to bring internet to those who don't have it is a new step the media giant has taken.

Sohini.Sen@BestMediaInfo.com

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