Facebook released an infographic called The Power of Facebook Advertising yesterday that shows just how obsessed their users are with the site. The infographic, which is chalk full of data points around how Facebook’s users are connecting and engaging with brands, is meant to serve as a way to bolster sales of the site’s ad platform.
While there are certainly some great stat lines in here that can serve as fodder for marketing decks, I think the most interesting part of the infographic is that it gives us insight into how Facebook wants to portray itself. Here’s what they’re trying to say with this infographic, and whether or not it’s merited:
We have your audience. 955 million active users. The average time on site is 6:35 hrs per user per month. There are 3,200,000 likes and comments every day. This infographic continually reinforces that your customers are on Facebook and that you should be too. And these staggering stats are hard to argue with – the potential reach of Facebook spans across demos, interests and geos.
We know your audience. Facebook has a wealth of data on it’s user base. They know where you live, who you’re friends with, and what you like, and can use that information to better serve ads that are relevant to you. While they have this information, their ability to act on it is still a work in progress. Ads on the platform typically see lower than average click-throughs/interactions and the data they have isn’t as standardized as one would hope – but they’re certainly getting better. And the opportunity with Facebook’s open graph technology is amazing (just check out Ultimat’s Social Life Audit or Intel’s Museum of Me for proof).
We’re mobile. The number of mobile users have grown 67% year over year, with 57% of it’s active user base now accessing the network via a mobile device. While these are certainly compelling stats, what stood out to me the most was the notable omission of any location-based mobile stats. Back in 2010, when Facebook announced the launch of Places, I think we all thought that would spell the end for location upstarts such as Foursquare. To many’s surprise, that just didn’t happen – Foursquare has grown significantly since then to become the preeminent location-based service while checking-in on Facebook still hasn’t caught on for the majority of its users. This is one area that they need to improve upon if they want to succeed in the future.
As always, you should be a little skeptical of infographics that are promoting the products of the company who made them. For example, the drive offline sales claims made in here are highly compelling – but it would help to know how exactly they were derived. I’m not going to put much weight in a stat when it’s citation is “A variety of 3rd Party Methodologies, Like Panels, and MMM.”
Click on the infographic to view the original image size
