COMMENTS
This comes across as a fairly petty sounding post with a lot of alarmist statements, not really adding up to much.
The simple fact here, is that Facebook is trying to become a legitimate competitor to Adwords, and get in on the massive CPA/Performance market that is out there. And you can't do that without offering conversion tracking.
This is just another stock feature that any CPC marketing platform should have, and that Google has had for a long time, and nearly every other big time ad network has had for years.
I am not sure why point 1 & 2 are such a big deal given google does the same thing - if anything google gets a helluva lot more information than facebook would get with this. Agree with Andrew when he says "his comes across as a fairly petty sounding post with a lot of alarmist statements, not really adding up to much. "
I have to say I am split on this issue. I have to agree somewhat with with the comment poster above said about this being rather alarmist and amounting to all that much, but at the same time Hubspot does have a point, and it's not like Facebook doesn't have the staff or resources to give you the tools to integrate that data where you want it more easily. But then you also have to consider the motives behind Hubspot itself. Hubspot has their own software that tracks and monitors these things, this sounds to me like posturing for new product additions to their CMS software package perhaps? Something to be expected from the Inbound Marketing Juggernaut I would think....
Hey I thought it was good overview, pros and cons. There is so much new stuff coming out all the time, thank you HubSpot for processing the info and making it easy for others to validate.
Stacie, No question this is good information, Hubspot is one of if not the BEST when it comes to up-to-the-minute marketing thoughts and knowledge based content. It just made me wonder, or rather what I would expect their next move to be, because they always seem to be on the forefront of all things digital marketing. :)
While I will admit the title was a little provocative let me first set the record straight - At HubSpot we are strong believers in organic/SEO and we agree there is a place for PPC. We've often used the phrase SEO is like going to the gym while PPC is like liposuction. So there is no covert agenda here. That being said if there is a need to aggregate PPC and it is right for our customers, HubSpot will surely innovate at the right time to solve that need! We are as transparent as any organization gets but you guys can be the judge of that!
Couple of other points here: 1) PPC management is getting tougher with so many platforms and just more will come. You think Twitter, LinkedIn, etc will sit back? Should one now have 7 scripts or 7 versions of landing pages for every ad group type? How many dashboards will average Joe have to log into if they are spreading it around? Of course they will have to choose wisely but it is an issue and not doing PPC some place might be an opportunity loss.
2) While we get the awesome conversion tracking from their scripts - they are also collecting info about people's behavior on our sites. Agreed - it is in the TOS when you embed their code but there is a plus side they get for FREE. Think about it we're paying them for visitors AND they get our data!
That being said we're HUGE fans of Facebook and admire companies that find creative ways of generating new sources of revenue!
Prashant, thanks for the great response, I would expect nothing less from Hubspot to be honest. And I LOVE your analogy above that PPC is like Liposuction and SEO is like going to the gym, EXCELLENT!
Also, I don't disagree with you that the tracking and compiling of all these separate "free" scripts has (and maybe already have) gotten out of control. I already have to check client performance data in no less than three places and then putting all those pieces together into a comprehensive report take more time as well. I guess that's why there are lots of successful paid website tracking services around these days.....
@Matthew My pleasure! I believe @ColleenCoyne one of our senior customer success managers first came up with that analogy but it has become a bit of a HubSpot mantra!
Plus side of point 3 is that somebody will develop a tool to make it easier to get all the information at one go rather than having to log on to multiple accounts - just like when we first started seeing a plethora of apps with sign up forms - now there are tools like 1password to keep track of all your passwords & heck it will fill out the registration forms for you - just need a bit of time for the chaos to reorganise itself
It does seem like this post was created to belittle the new facebook features. I would assume the reason for this is that hubspot wants to be your "one stop" data tracker.
I am glad for the information: pro or con. Social media is virgin territory and I'd prefer not to step on any land mines. Thank you!
Great info.. Thanks for sharing
@DavidBelden Excellent point! That is absolutely THE reason features like this make sense. So customers can optimize their ads for highest yield on dollars and effort. Thanks for sharing.
This is a very good statement towards the security point of view.
I (personally) don't worry about sharing outside data with Facebook; if anything (in theory) it opens up your ability to better adjust your bid levels in a dynamic auction environment based on passed back conversion data.
With that said, I am pretty sure that many brands i work with will have privacy concerns- but that always comes with new scripts, tags and sharing of data.
I would much rather use one universal tag across mtpl channels instead of another proprietary tools that does the same thing.
Facebook will hopefully wise up and just decide to focus on their brand and user experience and partner where it makes sense instead of trying to put their own stamp on what is already out there.
Let's face it, this ad model and tracking are not new and Facebook is (hopefully) not the new villain we need to clutch our wallets around. I take more exception with the way this article and headline were written, which is somewhat like a tabloid shocker or teaser for the late night news. "Greedy Facebook Wants Your Money" (Really?) But hey, it got my attention and made me click on the email link. It also made me question hubspot a little on their shock news tactics. Good content really doesn't need gimmicks, does it?
@john I agree the title was on the edgier side and backfired a little.
The intent behind the choice was to 1) show a different point of view (that I held albeit only part of my opinion - I love the data we get) and 2) generate some good conversation where everyone can weigh in and/or agree to disagree. And that has happened. But this was definitely a lesson in tact learned with the use of the word "greedy" in association with a "popular" brand. Had I used this in association with say, Microsoft it probably wouldn't have gone over so badly. As humans we are fallible, me in this case! Sometimes we take educated risks, learn from it and are all the better for it! And the learnings will be shared with everyone @hubspot and hopefully a good follow-up article on the blog! Thanks for sharing!
I didn't read all the comments, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I thought it was insightful. Am I talking this post to heart, not entirely, but I like knowing what's going on in Internet Marketing and being mindful of viewpoints like this when making decisions.