Marketing gets social: 50 million Facebook users 'like' brands every day

May 30, 2011

Facebook is now an essential online marketing tool, says FB's Chief Operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. 

According to Brand Republic, Ms Sandberg was addressing the Polis Lecture at the London School of Economics last night where she talked of the impact social media had on brands, consumers and online marketing. 

"More than ever before, brands are important to identity. While 15 million Facebook users 'friend' each other per day, over 50 million users 'like' a brand page per day," Sandberg said.

The body of Sandberg's speech concerned the changing nature of the web and how emphasis is changing from what she called the "info web" to the "social web". She believes that Facebook is now bringing people and brands closer together. 

Interestingly, Ms Sandberg also answered a question concerning why Facebook hired PR firm Burson-Marsteller to plant negative stories about Google in the media. Ms Sandberg stated that it was not a "smear campaign", yet the company does regret their actions.

"Our statement brings to light a serious issue about how consumers' data is being used and I think it is interesting that there has not been much follow up on this in the press," said Sandberg.

According to Sandberg, Facebook's 'Social by design' ethos - the idea that products and services can be "built from the ground up around real people" - has many possibilities. It has already worked in gaming and commerce, but could be used in health, finance and other sectors. 

"This transition to social by design has endless opportunities. We can save lives and restructure industries with the same technology we use to poke each other," she added.

Source:  bigmouthmedia.com