There has been a lot made lately of Facebook’s shortcomings in terms of its status as a lackluster advertising platform (read this! The Facebook Fallacy). However, it wasn’t until the other day when I realized how much better Facebook could utilize the troves of data they have access to. Here’s what went down…
My good friend just returned from the Birthright program. Essentially, Birthright is an all expenses paid, 10 day trip to Israel for American Jewish youth (age 18-25). This program exists in the hopes that seeing Israel firsthand will foster further generations of Israel-supporting, American Jews.
Anyway, my friend returns, and right away (as they did not have access to Internet while abroad) gets on Facebook to find 40 friend requests from his other trip participants. They are also uploading and tagging each other in many photos. He had an amazing time, and apparently everyone returned from the trip with a significant newfound pride in the state of Israel.
Some Newfound Pride in Israel
It is completely reasonable for Facebook’s infrastructure to recognize these new relationships and what they have in common: a recent trip to Israel. That pride is what SHOULD be capitalized on. If FB’s advertising platform was advanced as it could be, all of the kids on this trip would be getting targeted ads pertaining to Israeli “pride” products. Israeli flags, Naot (a popular brand of israeli sandals), and all sorts of other items could fly off virtual shelves if given the opportunity.
Experiential data is extremely valuable, as it plays to people’s emotions. Facebook should orient its advertising platform accordingly.
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