As a marketing analyst for an interactive agency, I have the pleasure of staying current with the latest and greatest in our industry. I was there when Facebook decided to start showing ads on its site. I was behind the scenes learning about how to monetize this (which is ongoing) when clients came to us with questions. And now, with a wealth of supporting research and success stories, I’m fully confident when I tell our clients that, yes, they should target their consumers on social networks. Everyone should! It’s a great medium. I feel like shouting it from the rooftops: Get on Facebook!

Then, I go home at night to turn off the ole thinking machine and log on to Facebook, perusing the wall I’ve grown to love. And that’s when it hits me: I’m 26, recently married, and every single ad appearing on my wall has to do with babies, diapers, daycare and moms.  It’s bad enough that every relative has to persist with the “So, when are you going to have a baby?” Now, even Facebook is telling me that it’s the next logical step in the grand scheme of life.

I wish there was a way I could have an open conversation with Facebook, which might go something like this:

Hey, Facebook, thanks for all the great times. You’ve had some pretty good suggestions over the past year. I reconnected with old friends. I become a fan of my favorite TV show. You even congratulated me with wedding ads when I changed my status to “engaged.” But I just wanted to let you know that I don’t know if I’m ready to have a baby right now. Can we maybe revisit this in a year or two? I’m not saying I’ll be ready by then, either, but you can check in. I’ll let you do that.

Sincerely,

Jamie

Well, I’m sure my request will go unheard by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, but this also brings up another interesting point. Becoming a fan of something on Facebook and having ads shown on your wall are two completely different ways for businesses to utilize the popular social site. I’m not sure if there are any metrics for performance yet, but I’m just taking a wild guess that becoming a fan converts a lot better for a business than an ad. One (being a fan) is voluntary, much like a search on Google (you wanted to find the information), and is a great way to build a community around a brand. The other (ads) is making assumptions about you based on information you know is out there (but not necessarily something you would want to give to every advertiser).

It’s a delicate line. I’m sure those baby ads won’t go away soon, but when it does come time to make that decision, you can bet that is not where I’m going to look first. I will still recommend that businesses jump on the social bandwagon for the community building aspect, not the intrusive ad aspect.