I am always looking for new and interesting ways to advertise websites and products online. As much as my SEM experiences have taught me about driving traffic, it’s not the end solution and more approaches should always be looked into.
It was just now that I thought of a new way for companies to advertise online using Facebook as their foundation. Let me try and paint the picture for you as best as I can.
Facebook gifts are extremely popular! Most of us, who have credit cards have most probably purchased a Facebook gift to send to a friend, whether it’s a friendly hello, a happy birthday or a gift for a lover, there’s always a reason to send a gift.
For a company, which has an online shop selling a certain type of product, the company could contact Facebook and sponsor gifts for the day. On the gift GUI (below), the company will be able to select a name for the gift as well as a picture of the gift. Let’s say a company sells iPod’s online, the company could have a picture of an iPod design and allow users to send the gifts for the day, obviously some thought will be required as to how to brand the gift, so users would see it and move to a URL. By sponsoring the gifts for the day, this would allow users to send gifts left, right and center for free, in other words, users WOULD send the gift is they’re not paying for it.
Another point to keep in mind is if only 2000 gifts are sent, the company would only pay for those gifts, but you should bear in mind that putting a ceiling budget on the campaign might be a wise idea!
Personally, I think it’s an excellent way to create awareness for a company and I would not be surprised if companies are already venturing into this form of advertising.
What do you think? Good idea or bad idea?
