It’s been said that you learn more by teaching than you do by being a student. I recently taught a seminar at the Denver Mart on Facebook Secrets, and I certainly found this to be true. One of my students taught me about Facebook “beacons” – devices that can be installed in your physical store to let you interact with customers who come into your shop if they have their cell phones on and have the Facebook app installed on their phones. This sounds intriguing as a store owner, as it will automatically log a visitor to your location. It is alsoscary. Previously called “Place Tips, Facebook beacons are a physical form of adware. Just like their virtual counterparts, these tools collect data about you, including purchases you made at the store. Is it any wonder that Facebook ads are able to target people so specifically? Here is a great article about how to use Facebook beacons:
http://thrivehive.com/are-facebook-beacons-good-for-small-business-marketing
The purpose of the Facebook Secrets seminar was to teach business owners how to effectively use Facebook for marketing purposes including how to create ads that work. And make no mistake, Facebook is a great advertising platform. I recently went skiing with someone who bought a pair of custom skis from a Facebook ad, so I know they work. Facebook is able to target people very specifically, making it extremely cost-effective as an advertising platform. For example, if you want to advertise to 30-40 year old soccer moms within a 25 mile radius of Denver, Facebook allows you to do this for as low as $1 per day. As a business owner, this is HUGE. In fact, I will be doing a followup webinar on this topic next week (you can sign up for it here).
But as an individual, this feels like an invasion of privacy. One of the other topics I speak about is Cyber Security. As both an advocate of Internet marketing and using Facebook ads, as well as a webmaster and professional speaker concerned about adware, this is an interesting dilemma. What are your thoughts?
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