There's been a string of recent announcements from Facebook about new ways to advertise to its billion-strong user base. First they announced the ability to buyFacebook search ads, then they released Facebook 5.0 for mobile devices that has new ad serving capabilities.

Last week they announced the ability for advertisers to target users based on their phone numbers, email addresses or User IDs. 

What does this mean for brands and consumers?

Brands can target existing customers and prospects

Relationship marketers will be excited to learn that they can upload a database of email contacts or phone numbers for people they are already talking to and serve them Facebook ads.

Here's an example:

About a month ago, I was evaluating what gym I wanted to join. I signed up for 24 Hour Fitness email newsletter because I figured they might have special offers they'd send out that I might want to take advantage of. Last week, I saw an ad on Facebook inviting me to join the 24 Hour Fitness Facebook page.

24 Hour Fitness likely uploaded their database to Facebook which cross-referenced it with their database and served me an ad.

This is great for marketers for two reasons:

Market to existing customers. There's no prospect better for companies than someone who has already bought. Now, brands can target their existing customer base with content, offers and the human face that Facebook provides a platform for. A clear ROI can be calculated when brands get customers to opt-in for email communications. That ROI can increase by also getting them to opt-in for Facebook communications.

Nurture leads and prospects. Whether you're 24 Hour Fitness or a B2B marketer or a retailer, you likely have information on your prospective customers. You can now reach them through an additional channel.

Consumer privacy threatened by Facebook

Using cookies to target consumers is a broadly used and broadly debated topic. There are vast databases that drop a cookie on you, monitor your online behavior and allow brands ads to "follow" you around the web. Retargeting, behavioral targeting and interest-based targeting are all examples of how ad serving technology allows companies to target groups of individual consumers (as opposed to just buying a site or group of sites that appeal to certain audiences). 

Privacy advocates make a lot of noise about this and Congress likes to thump chests about it. But the reality is it's creepy, but it's pretty harmless. While brands can show you an ad based on your online behavior, that's all they can really do. They don't know who you are—you are just a bit of data being crunched.

But 24 Hour Fitness didn't target a bit of data that visited 24hourfitness.com or some other list of fitness related sites. They targeted Adam Kleinberg. 

Facebook has a long history of introducing sleazy features and crying mea culpa when they get caught. And if they don't get caught they just move on. It remains to be seen if this move will cause an outcry. You can bet others are watching.

Google has my email. So does Yahoo. If Facebook gets away with it, you can be sure others will offer similar capabilities in the near future. Other companies will sell your email addresses and phone numbers too (they already do which is why you get spam, but you'll also get ads all over the web directed at you, personally). 

Again, I don't know if this is evil. But I do know it is a shift.  What do you think?

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