Question: Who knows you better than your friends?
Answer: MySpace and Facebook.
If only it were that simple.
In the last month, MySpace and Facebook have made headlines not simply as hubs for internet eyeballs, but as gatekeepers of precious personal data. However, it's not behavioral targeting that has sales people at MySpace and Facebook buzzing. While both sites have the ability to infer what users are interested in based on how they navigate the web, each has elected to focus on a different tactic: interest-based targeting.
At MySpace, the plan is to create 10 enthusiast segments (think music, sports, autos, games, fashion, etc.). With each segment representing a minimum of three million users, officials at MySpace plan to develop thousands of niche segments as the program evolves.
MySpace CRO Michael Barrett says the profiles can be precise tools that allow marketers to get hyper-specific when they run their campaigns on the site. For example, Barrett explains, a movie like "The Bourne Ultimatum" could be marketed to action fans or Matt Damon fans, but it also could be marketed to users who have expressed very specific interests such as an affinity for a co-star in the film or a passion for a car that is prominently featured in the movie.
"The biggest thing that sets [interest targeting] apart is that the data is volunteered by individuals, as opposed to previous data that tried to infer interests based on behavior," Barrett says.
Barrett makes a convincing point, explaining that a search for "wedding" is most likely to yield results geared toward a would-be bride or groom. "But what if you're just planning to attend a wedding?" Barrett asks.
While Barrett says there are limitations to BT and search-based targeting, he also admits that interest-based targeting is something that is quite logical for a social network because it lets the site leverage something it has in abundance: billions of pieces of data about what its users are thinking, saying and doing.
So it should come as no surprise that MySpace and Facebook see their biggest advertising potential in the same place. According to numerous published reports, Facebook also is working on a similar interest-based targeting program. However, unlike MySpace, officials at Facebook have so far declined to speak to the press about their plans.
What is certain is that social networks, which previously offered marketers crude launching pads for banner ads with questionable relevance, are now in the middle of a revolution.
While many marketers tout the virtue of listening to consumers to help craft and shape successful marketing campaigns, few have had the opportunity now presented by MySpace and Facebook. Unlike consumer surveys or focus groups, marketers will now be able to get inside consumers heads without them knowing it. In other words, MySpace and Facebook will soon offer a window into the minds of their users. But if the vantage point is much improved, it's worth asking whether the chatter on those sites is bankable information or questionable babble.
Next page >>
