Facebook has hit back strongly at claims by research firm Forrester that its platform is failing marketers, slamming a critical report by the firm as “irresponsible and illogical”.
A principal analyst at the outfit this week made headlines after penning an open letter to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerburg off the back of a survey of 395 people that suggested that Facebook was bottom of the pile in delivering marketer satisfaction.
The letter, from a research firm that carries weight with marketers, is unusual. It has left marketers questioning the validity of the report upon which it is based, the survey sample used and the sources cited.
Nate Elliott, Forrester vice president and principal analyst wrote that Facebook was failing marketers because: “First, your company focuses too little on the thing marketers want most: driving genuine engagement between companies and their customers.”
Secondly, he wrote, “your company isn’t good enough at the pure advertising business onto which you’ve shifted your focus. We estimate your site now delivers tens of billions of display ads every day. But fewer than 15% of those ads leverage your ever-growing cache of social data to target relevant audiences”.
Despite the survey itself showing that over three quarters of the respondents market on Facebook, and half advertise on it, the report recommended that marketers “do not take Facebook back until it has mended its ways”.
The report concluded that while Facebook had the audience and the potential to revolutionise marketing, it had failed to do so. “Our surveys show that Facebook creates less business value than any other digital marketing opportunity, both because its marketing opportunities don’t stack up to competitors and because Facebook offers marketers too little guidance and support”
All was not lost for the platform with a billion plus logged-in users, however. Elliott, wrote that Facebook still had time to fulfil its potential if it heeds Forrester's research and quickly changes tack.
Facebook has been mulling the legitimacy of the survey, its sources and conclusions and has now officially responded. A spokesperson sent the following statement to AdNews:
"While we agree that the promise of social media is still in process, the conclusions in this report are at times illogical and at others irresponsible. The reality is that Facebook advertising works. That's why we have more than a million active advertisers including all of the Ad Age 100. And, countless studies have demonstrated the significant return on investment marketers see from Facebook. Our promise is to continue to deliver positive results for marketers."
The timing of the post, ahead of Facebook's quarterly results, due later today, is interesting and the blog has sparked debate among marketers. Some agree with Forrester's premise. Others however, do not.
See a selection below, send us your views.
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