In 2011, Facebook observers obsessed over Timeline, privacy, and a supposedly imminent IPO. Brand marketers and social app developers followed different stories in 2011. (OK, we obsessed over those others too.)
Here are the three developments we liked most in 2011:
1. Upgrade to Facebook Insights: Facebook has not always met the demands of enterprise-level social marketers, especially with the platform’s analytics package Facebook Insights.
That changed in October when Facebook rolled out a major upgrade to Insights. The update included a beautiful graphical interface, new data for individual posts, and dozens of social data types including People Talking About This, Reach, and Consumption.
2. New interests targeting ad options. Facebook added two new methods for targeting ads at users based on their interests. Here’s a rundown of your three interests targeting options:
- Precise interests are the likes and interests users have shared in their Facebook profiles. Example: motherhood, soccer mom, being a mom, etc.
- Topics (indicated with a # symbol) combine similar precise interests to enable easier targeting. Example: #mother
- Broad categories combine interests and other profile content into high-level groups for easy targeting. Example: parent (child 4-12)
3. Sponsored stories. Want more social in your PPC ad campaigns? Sponsored stories put your brand in front of a user’s friends when that user engages with your page, app, place, or website. In other words, they add a little ummph to user endorsements.
There are six types of sponsored stories, each with a unique trigger:
- Page like. A user liked your page at any point in time.
- Page post like. A user liked one of your posts in the last week.
- App used. A user used your app twice or for 10 minutes in the last month.
- App shared. A user shared a story from your app in the last week.
- Check-in. A user checked in or claimed a deal at your place in the last week.
- Domain. A user liked or shared content from your website in the last week.
So, what Facebook marketing developments did you like in 2011? Let us know in the comments!