Facebook To Offer Free Ads For Small Businesses

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Interesting new move for Facebook coming up, as the nascent entertainment hub looks to offer up eight figures worth of free advertising on Facebook in a bid to get small businesses more interested in shelling out cash. But will small businesses be interested, or do they already have a plan in mind?

Facebook is set to offer up fully $10 million worth of free advertising credits on Facebook as part of a partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business in a bid to get more small businesses looking at making Facebook a part of their marketing mix. It’s set to kick off in a matter of days–the reports say it will begin in October, so that’s anywhere from about five weeks to as little as six days–and the triumvirate will go heading off to local chamber of commerce offices to educate people about the benefits of using Facebook advertising. In turn, the actual giveaway part will kick in in January, with 200,000 small businesses finding themselves on the receiving end of $50 worth of advertising rebates.

This is actually an interesting step for Facebook; indeed, they’ve got the reach to be credible as an advertising source, and with their recent moves to bring in still more features, they’re not likely to lose that momentum any time soon. But here’s the rub: small businesses are already using Facebook in their marketing mix, and they’re not paying Facebook to do it. Facebook marketing has become a big part of marketing for a lot of people, with Facebook likes being used as contest giveaway triggers (ask yourself how many times you’ve heard “like us on Facebook to enter” just last week alone) or as the key to unlock special discounts or just keep people aware of new products and services. People are already using Facebook as an advertising medium, and they’re not paying Facebook a nickel to do so.

This makes me wonder just how effective Facebook’s push to get small businesses buying advertising will actually prove to be, so I’ll open up the floor for you guys. Figure that the Facebook ad push will get a lot of interested small business ad buyers? Or will they take the freebies and run? No matter what you think about this, we welcome it in the comments section below.