There was a time, not very long ago either, when brands looking to build their content-marketing strategies inevitably started in one place: Facebook. That’s where the masses were, that’s where these brands could try their hands at publishing content to reach them.
That’s no longer the case. Facebook’s move to choke off organic reach has caused marketers, and their agencies, to reassess the role Facebook plays. Bryan Wiener, chairman of 360i, said Facebook now occupies the role Yahoo once did in digital advertising: a way to get tremendous reach.
“Facebook used to be the center of the content-marketing universe,” he said at the Digiday Platform Summit in Half Moon Bay, California, on Thursday. “Now, if you really want to have a home for your content, Facebook’s not the place to be the source of your community.”
Instead, brands are looking elsewhere to fill that role, either their own properties or on Tumblr or Pinterest. Facebook is then used for mass distribution, Wiener said.
“Facebook is now a place to drive reach to your content-marketing programs and less a place to be the center of your architecture,” Wiener said.
This approach is clearly working out for Facebook, as its booming earnings attest. The open question is whether it is giving rivals an opening to become key partners with brands that want more than just a way to put their ads in front of customers.
See Wiener’s thoughts on Facebook’s new role — and how brands’ followers there are basically just a retargeting pool — in the five-minute video below.
Lunch & Interview with Taboola Create Brand Impact with Content Marketing from Digiday on Vimeo.
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