What's Going On With Facebook Ad Targeting?

I love Facebook. I spend an embarrassing amount of time checking up on what old friends are doing, updating my pictures, and just "surfing around". As a person, I think it's great. As a part of a social media firm I think there are a few things that companies should remember about Facebook.
When it comes to Facebook, people aren't there to see ads, they are there for information and content from other people which presents a problem for advertisers eager to get their content viewed. When I go to Facebook and a fashion ad pops up, I'm unlikely to click through because I'm not on Facebook to talk to a fashion company. Similarly, if I'm on a fashion social community, and a fashion ad pops up then I am much more likely to engage with them and see them less as a distraction.
Does every company need a Facebook page? Well, that all depends on the way you want to communicate with your audience. Just because you want to reach moms and some of them happen to be on Facebook doesn't mean that you should use that method to engage them. Maybe moms want to hear from your company in a setting where they can read reviews from other moms. Maybe the moms you want to reach are taking blogs very seriously or are watching videos.
My point is this: it's becoming important in social media to not only consider where your audience is online but what they are doing in those places and how it relates to your company. Facebook is a huge cluster made up of many demographics but certainly isn't the only place that people are gathering online.

- Caitlin