You willingly tell Facebook who your friends are, where you live, what movies you watch, what brands you like and what your hobbies are. By clicking a simple “like” button, posting a short status, or checking in at a restaurant, Facebook remembers more information about you than your own brain probably does. The fact that they store the information isn’t the problem, it’s what they do with it.
Facebook is valued at over $150 Billion dollars. Unlike most multi-billion dollar companies, the entire Facebook business model is based on effective use of the aforementioned data, your personal data. Let me explain: They give you a free social media platform, and in turn, they sell advertising and insights based on the data they collect about you. This isn’t even where they make the most money.
Facebook earns the most money when you engage with a brand, indicating that you support a product. Why is this the most valuable? When they show all your friends that you like “Product X,” your friends are much more likely to purchase that product. Facebook earns as much as $1 per click from your endorsement. You earn none of it.
Here is my question: Are you comfortable with Facebook earning $1/click for your endorsements? Are you comfortable with Facebook tracking your browser activity, analyzing your hobbies, and sharing your personal information with brands?
An average Facebook user creates nearly $200 in value for Facebook but sees nothing in return. It’s not just Facebook. The same business model is applicable to and often used, on nearly every social media platform. It’s become the industry standard.
Unhappy about this? Turns out, brands are not a fan of this model either. In fact, we talked to over 100 companies about buying ads through Facebook. They said they would:
As a brand, we would much rather give the compensation directly to the fan that supported us, but there are no means to do so.
Of the brands we talked to, some of them try to give back to people like you through customer loyalty programs, referral programs, and discount codes… but they are often confusing and hard to complete. Plus, most companies don’t even have any programs at all.
At NeoReach, we want to change the system. We believe that the value of endorsements rests in the hands of you, the influencer. After all, it’s YOUR endorsement. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are excellent tools, but they are selling your endorsements without fairly compensating you.
We partner with brands and content creators to help you recommend the products you love. In turn, brands can give back to you directly, providing a little bit of compensation as a means of saying, “thanks for your recommendation.” After all, they would much rather pay you than buy annoying ads from big companies.
Interested in learning more? Click here to see which brands are already giving back to people like you. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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Sources: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/04/04/survey-suggests-facebook-advertising-benchmarks-0-80-cpc-0-014-percent-ctr/
