Kenneth Wisnefski, July 16, 2012
Less than 2 months after Facebook’s botched IPO, the social media titan seems to “want” to make a comeback and win over investors once again. The company is developing a “want” button, aimed at creating a virtual wish-list for their 900+ million users. Additionally, General Motors, who ended their Facebook paid advertising campaign due to unimpressive results, is in talks to resume their paid advertising campaign worth a reported $10 million annually.
Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting with FOX News and discussed the chance that Facebook is making a return to the credibility it once had.
A few notable points stick out to me:
Development of the "Want" Button: Industry experts have found in Facebook's sourcecode a new button, titled "want". This button is comparable to their "like" button that is current, however this time, it gives consumers the ability to express their intention with a product or brand. I like this for Facebook. As I state in the interview, this takes some of the work away from investing in market research, and almost allows companies to have their own research conducted through the social network. Imagine you are a television manufacturer and hundreds of thousands of people click the want button, you will immediately see what type of ROI you can expect to make on this particular product.
Facebook Jobs Board: Facebook is in a very strong position to launch a sort of "jobs board" that would directly compete with LinkedIn, Monster, and CareerBuilder. Consider this: Facebook stated during their IPO that users spend an average of 10.5 billion total minutes per day on the platform. Small businesses (who already have a follower-base on Facebook) can post jobs and disengage from Monster and CareerBuilder, and ultimately save costs from posting on these career websites. Facebook certainly has the reach needed to market this service with over 900+ million global users.
These developments and anticipated announcements all point to a possible Facebook comeback. Already, the firm is more than 20% above their low since having gone public.
