Sure, they "like" it, but are they "talking about" it?

Among the new changes rolled out by Facebook at the F8 conference earlier this season is the "talking about" feature. This new feature tracks when users are actively sharing information or discussing a certain subject on the social media platform.

The "talking about" feature is employed when Facebook users share a particular link or respond to an ongoing discussion about a topic. When users engage in these activities, their news feed (and the news feeds of all their friends) are automatically updated to say "[User] is talking about [subject]" and it provides a link to the relevant conversation. From there, social connections can get involved with the ideas their friends are discussing, helping to promote a brand or product.

Some users feel that these practices are intrusive, and don't like the fact that Facebook automatically monitors their every online move. Others feel that the automated service is beneficial in helping generate thoughtful discussion or raising awareness regarding a particular cause or business.

For marketers, however, the new "talking about" tool is good news. It provides a fast and easy way for businesses and other organizations to get the word out to an aligned audience about their latest news and activities. The only challenge is gaining enough initial visibility to generate a critical mass of people "talking about" your news. Most businesses use a trial-and-error approach to see what works and what doesn't in lifting a campaign off the ground. There may, however, be a better way.

Semcasting's facebook microTargeting platform helps companies and organizations attain the lift they need for their social media campaigns by ensuring that their social ads are placed in front of the users who are most likely to engage and share with their friends. By using hundreds of demographic variables to create predictive models of current users, facebook microTargeting can help companies identify the most qualified audiences for their ads, and reach them at the times when they're most likely to be using Facebook. By reaching out to the most qualified online users, a campaign can attain enough initial lift to allow their conversations to go viral with the help of the new "talking about" feature.