Perhaps some advertisers aren’t sure if promoting their brand on Facebook is worth the extremely high cost, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest it is. Currently about 90% of businesses incorporate some type of social marketing into their campaigns. Despite these facts some advertisers are frustrated with the big “FB’s” lack of available ad space and conventional metrics for evaluating their value.

The problem is, social media is still new and many platforms have yet to adapt a functional rating scales for marketing purposes. While I am sure its part of the grand scheme to get this done, sometimes progress just takes time.

Rebecca Lieb, an analyst with the Altimeter Group comments on the evolution of Facebook:

“People didn’t invent the 30-minute sitcom and the 60-second spot right away. It took time to evolve,”

“Facebook is in that position now, introducing brand new advertising and marketing features. Are they guaranteed to work? No. But give it a chance.”

Still, the facts remain, there are many studies to suggest Facebook ads are engaging people and experiencing a greater success rate than television and other online advertising sites. In fact, Facebook is even providing advertisers with more exposure than Google.

Speaking of Google, there are advancements currently underway which seek to successfully adapt the Gross Rating Points (GRP), slot evaluation tool from television, to the Google ad space. Nielsen, the survey people, are also doing some work on adapting the same system for internet marketing purposes.

This is most likely the type of system which will dominate social sites like Facebook for attracting and landing interested brands. Knowing what times and what days their ads will be most effective and reach the largest audiences is essential for advertisers. Embracing GRP or something similar for the internet would be a huge step in limiting reservations about investing more of the marketing budget on social media.

Either way, I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere anytime soon. With their IPO set to Launch in just weeks, I am sure advertisers will be more than happy to have their brands showcased on the site regardless of the presence of a proper ratings metric.