Ford differ from GM on Facebook ads: We're putting <em> more </em>money in, says spokesman

Despite that putdown for Facebook yesterday from car giant GM, saying it was pulling out of paid advertising, the other American car giant Ford is taking a different tack - and will be spending MORE on the social network. GM will not vanish from Facebook. It "remains committed" to the social network as part of "an aggressive content strategy, " said a GM spokesman. Before the word "content" insert "free". GM will not be buying ads because of concerns about their effectiveness Ford however seems to disagree. It says it will "accelerate" ad spending on Facebook in conjunction with the "content" it's producing for the network.The GM announcement was seen as a punch in the solar plexus , coming in the week of Facebook's highly anticipated IPO, but there was NO connection. And it certainly hasn't deterred would-be share buyers. Scott Monty, Ford's head of social media, told Adweek that they were bullish about Facebook ads -- particularly "sponsored stories" that contain a social layer -- and intend to "accelerate" spending on them."We've found that Facebook ads are very effective, and they're most effective when we strategically combine them with great content and innovative forms of storytelling rather than a straight media buy," said Monty. He wouldn't give the percentage of Ford's overall Facebook budget allocated to ads- but did say that 20% to 25% of Ford's overall marketing budget goes to digital and social media. Yesterday GM, the third-largest U.S. advertiser, posted a link to its Facebook page asking fans how they found out about the company.Fans were given a list of alternative responses, including:* Saw an ad in Facebook; * Saw an ad ad outside of Facebook: * Searched for GM on Facebook; * Saw it on someone else's Facebook page.Sounds as if they are wondering if they are doing the right thing. Certainly , both GM and Ford can't both be right.

Facebook: when giants disagree