Facebook Ad Revenues Expected To Hit $4.2 Billion
Advertising accounted for the vast majority of Facebook’s $3.7 billion in revenue last year -- at $3.2 billion, or 85%. The company’s ad sales will grow 32% this year to $4.2 billion and hit $12.6 billion by 2017 -- representing a 25% compound growth rate, according to a new forecast from Brian Wieser, senior research analyst at Pivot Research Group.
In five years, advertising will still make up 70% of Facebook’s revenue, though e-commerce and other businesses will grow faster during that period. By 2017, the report estimates Facebook’s share of the U.S. display ad market will more than double from 12% to 25%.
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Marketers Find a Friend in Pinterest
In an age of fat data plans and broadband access, Pinterest has a message for the media: a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s about seven Twitter posts.
Magazines like Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens and marketers like Whole Foods and West Elm have been quick to embrace Pinterest, the social media start-up firm that allows its users to share images by “pinning” them.
Andrew Lipsman, the vice president for industry analysis at the research firm comScore, called the site’s popularity among brands one more example of “the rise of the visual Web,” along with Instagram (which was recently acquired by Facebook) and Facebook’s timeline feature, which is heavily driven by images instead of text.
“Pinterest is creating sort of a meritocracy of what’s visually appealing,” Mr. Lipsman said. “Brands are scrambling and trying to figure it out. They know it’s going to be big, but they don’t necessarily know the best way to use it.”
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6 Ways to Acquire New Customers via Social Media
We all know social media is an important tool for brand awareness and customer acquisition — but how exactly are you supposed to convert random Twitter and Facebook users into real-life customers? Well, that depends.
Different brands have different challenges when it comes to customer acquisition: “If you’re our customer, you’ve signed up for a year-long service, unlike the Starbucks of the world, where you can be a customer by coming in for a cup of coffee one day,” says Lisa D’Aromando, social media community manager at Equinox. Whether you’re a clothing shop, a restaurant or a subscription service, you must tailor your strategy so that it makes sense for your brand. That said, there are a few universal ways to help your company attract new faces on the social web.
“I’m a big believer in creating and sharing meaningful content,” says Danni Snyder, co-founder and creative director at jewelry brand Dannijo. “Over time, that is every brand’s best bet for creating and sustaining a following that will grow their business.”
But what does it all entail? Mashable spoke with some super-social brands about how they find new customers and lock in their existing ones they have as repeat buyers.
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