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Facebook is Giving Away Money!

Facebook moneyIf Facebook gives you money will you place an ad? Despite ads under performing as a whole, most people in the adult entertainment industry have not been able to take advantage of ads due to Facebook restrictions. But some of us can. In fact more of us can than think we can.

The assumption we make is that an ad has to go to a website. Adult websites are not allowed on Facebook, so you cannot link and therefore you cannot ad right? wrong. You don’t have to link your ad to a website. Link your ad back to your fan page. Use the ad as a way to build fans, and then use your page as a way to promote your brand and push people to your site. But do you consider putting an ad for your fan page a worthwhile investment? What if someone gave you a free $50 in ad money?

Early in 2012 Facebook Marketing Solution which includes a partnership with the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will be launching a $10 million dollar grant program. The purpose is to give every qualified small business on Facebook $50 towards advertising on the site. This is an effort to promote commerce, help small businesses get an advertising boost and help familiarize small business with Facebook Ads. The primary desired result is awareness, additionally they are looking for more fans for the pages, more revenue for the small business and an increase usage of Facebook ads by small business.

This is a huge opportunity for small business to get acquainted with the ad program and get some free marketing money. Because details have not been released we do not know what counts as a qualified business. But if you do not yet have a fan page for your business, now is the time to build it so you if you do qualify for it, can get you money!

 

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Sex and Facebook Ads

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scantily clad girl in a christian singles ad on facebookIf you thought having an adult Facebook page was hard to accomplish, try running an adult ad. It is almost impossible. Even running content that is considered family friendly can be really hard to maintain due to the strict rules set forth by Facebook.

To run a successful ad campaign on Facebook you have to start with the content of your page. Your content has to be deemed acceptable, and Facebook has some pretty strict guidelines. Many of these seem pretty simple and straightforward. But the reality is, when you are on the network and doing your thing, it can be pretty hard to color within the lines.

Facebook Rules for Advertising:

General Rules:

  1. Ads must directly relate to the content on the landing page.
  2. Ads must clearly represent the company, product or brand that is being advertised. Products or services promoted in the ad must be directly available on the landing page.
  3. Ads cannot insult, harass or threaten a user.

Translation:

  1. You cannot have an ad that is advertising something different than the page it is linked to.
  2. You cannot pretend you are a different company or a different person than you actually are.
  3. You cannot tease or taunt people in your ad to get them to click on the ad.

Landing Pages:

  1. Ads that contain a URL or domain in the body must link to that same URL or domain.
  2. Landing pages cannot generate a pop-up (including “pop-overs” and “pop-unders”) when a user enters or leaves the page.

Translation:

  1. If you show a web address in your ad, the ad must link to that web address. So you cannot have a web address but have the link go somewhere else.
  2. When you click on the ad it cannot take you to a page that has pop-up ads or pop-up pages.

Targeting:

  1. Any targeting of ads based on a user attribute, such as age, gender, location or interest must be directly relevant to the offer, and cannot be done by a method inconsistent with privacy and data policies.
  2. Ads with adult themes, including contraception, sex education and health conditions must be targeted to individuals at least 18 years old. Platform ads should do this via Demographic Restrictions, not by obtaining user data.

Translation:

  1. When you target an ad to your audience, it has to be directly related to the content you are advertising. So if you are advertising a dating site, it has to be directed to singles.
  2. Any ad with adult content can only be directed to people 18 and older.

Prohibited Content:

  1. Adult content, including nudity, sexual terms and/or images of people in positions or activities that are excessively suggestive or sexual, or provocative images in violation of community standards;
  2. Adult friend finders or dating sites with a sexual emphasis;
  3. Adult toys, videos or other adult products;
  4. Ads must not be false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive.
  5. Ads will not be permitted in cases where a business model or practice is deemed unacceptable or contrary to Facebook’s overall advertising philosophy.

Translation:

  1. Porn. Naked pictures. Sexual pictures. Naughty words. Violence…in a nut shell. Nope, probably no nut-shells either.
  2. Dildos, vibrators, strap-ons, lube, and pretty much anything you would find in a sex shop.
  3. You cannot lie in your ad.
  4. You can’t go against the code of ethics in the Facebook Terms of Service.

Most people in the adult industry will find advertising on Facebook pretty difficult. Some of you will be able to do it, depending on what your website or content is, some might not. Learning the rules are the only way to know if you can.

Stay tuned for the next post on porn stars advertising on Facebook and learn some tips and trick on how to run a Facebook ad if you are in porn.

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Hypocrisy & Sex in Advertising, more from Blogworld

Hypocrisy riddles advertising when it comes to sex. Some interesting dichotomies were discussed at Blogworld Expo 2010 such as the portrayal of acceptable sex in the media. The delineating line in advertising being romantic sex is ok to use for sales but sex for the sake of sex is not. For example, KY Jelly ads always portrays married couples having sex. The message being, recreational sex is OK if you are married.

Of course this is not a new message or a new issue.  In the United States married sex is truly the only kind of sex that is OK to promote, whether it be recreational or procreational.  Sex between unmarried people for pure pleasure is frowned upon, at least in advertising.

Now outright sex might be frowned upon but implied sex, ie. provocative imagery, is not.  At least it is not frowned on for everyone.

The ability to utilize provocative imagery in advertising is inherently tied to the purveyor of the imagery. The brand is the ambassador not their image. So if the brand is respectable then sexually provocative imagery will be accepted, but if the brand is not considered mainstream acceptable then even conservatively provocative imagery will be viewed as innappropriate. This of course is a generalization. We do see backlash when even respectable brands push the envelope too far.  But they can still push the envelope much farther than so-called not respectable brands.

picture of a highway billboard for Adultcon

The image to the left is a Calvin Klein ad that is featured in mainstream magazines. Similar ads are on billboards in major cities, off highways and scattered across the country. The image to the left is a billboard for Adultcon, an adult entertainment convention. The Adultcon billboard was asked to be taken down because of its proximity to a school despite there being nothing provocative about the billboard. The only questionable thing it says is “Adult” and that word is not that questionable, though many would consider the inferred industry to be questionable.

Interestingly though, if you search “Porn Billboard Ad” in Google images, the first image you see is not some big breasted heaving porn star.  Nope Jenna Jameson was the third image! An ad by Calvin Klein is the first.

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