Facebook Homepage Ad Takeovers - eBay Example.

Facebook homepage ads have begun. They are effectively static full page takeovers with a Facebook module overlayed in the bottom right corner. In this example you see an ad unit for eBay's summer electronics event. On the right corner is a mini-Facebook ad unit (as you would see it on the right column of a logged-in page): it contains the copy / creative and like / share buttons. It's prime real estate and a huge unit... even if on the log-out screen. The interesting note however is that, when users are logged out, the social features are obviously not as effective... for instance, users cannot like, share or comment with a single action because they are not logged in. I suppose this is a necessary consequence of taking over the homepage. To solve this, you would need to prompt users much more intrusively: on their feed page.

Facebook's Homepage Real Estate

Ever look at Facebook's homepage and think about the ratio of content to advertisement? It's easy to overlook it because the feed itself is infinite. But the new page layout combined with the new ad formats (Sponsored posts now appear atop the feed and below the ticker) - represent a very significant portion of the visible real estate. It is even more pronounced if you include the "Apps" section on the left and the "notifications" section on the right - both of which are monetizable aspects. In this example, that ratio of content to advertisement is even more pronounced: I have one full post on the screen (a function of a photo album being displayed - takes up more space) and three posts in the ticker. You can also see the headline of a fifth feed post. If you include that: there are five posts on the page - one of which is prominent. And there are two ad-units - both of which are arguably equally or more prominent.

Location Targeted Facebook Posts

One of the most effective aspects of Facebook's advertising platform is the ability to target users by demographic, geography and even "likes". Advertisers have become quite efficient at crafting and targeting campaigns for these parameters. Some of those targeting tools are available to Facebook Page owners as well... but it isn't as widely known / utilized. Here is an example: I posted to @dogpatchlabs an upcoming event hosted by Recurly (a Dogpatch graduate). The event is based at their San Francisco headquarters... so Facebook gives me the option of sharing that post only with local fans.

This is quite powerful - particularly for brands with huge followings (ie the NBA and local games / highlights, Art.com with local art, etc).

And as Facebook continues to evaluate engagement rates as the core element of Edge Rank, this is a chance to make sure you are effectively connecting with your audience.