It was only a month ago, just before the ultimately difficult Facebook IPO, that news GM was abandoning its Facebook ads was reported. The ensuing response cam fast and loud. Bloggers, reporters and researchers all piled on questioning the value of advertising on Facebook. After all, if GM was willing to cancel its $10 million Facebook ad budget, wasn’t that a legitimate sign that Facebook’s ads were not worth the pixels they were printed on.
GM Facebook Advertising Facts
In the few weeks following the announcement that GM would be eliminating its paid Facebook advertising, several very interesting facts have emerged that seem to color the decision differently.
For example, following GM’s announcment that it was pulling its Facebook advertising, Ford said that they are doing no such thing. In fact, they said that it is all in how you use your ad dollars. Further examination shows that Ford has over 1.5 million Likes compared to just 378,000 Likes for GM. Considering neither car company is considered wildly more popular than the other, perhaps Ford is just better at making its advertising work.
Another area of consideration is that while GM is pulling their paid advertising, they did reiterate their commitment to using the free company features available on Facebook. If they can generate enough momentum for such efforts without paid advertising, then that says more about GM’s ability to generate buzz and branding than for the effectiveness of one or more forms of advertising.
Perhaps most telling of all, however, GM made another advertising announcement shortly after the news of the Facebook adjustment came to light. It seems that GM will also be pulling out of advertising during the SuperBowl.
While every company should always do what is best for it, and use its marketing and advertising dollars in the most effective way possible, it can hardly be said that GM’s move is an overall commentary on the value of SuperBowl ads. In other words, just because GM thinks that SuperBowl ads are not effective enough for the cost, hardly suggests that SuperBowl advertising is in trouble.
If so, then how does one company leaving Facebook suggest the same?