Fellow blogger Matt Chan recently posted on Facebook’s struggle to attain money from advertising.The website has an immense user base, but still hasn’t found ways to implement advertising in an efficient way.

For one, in the realm of media, users tend to hate banners and traditional advertising. I believe Zuckerberg and his team understand that and are trying to stay away from such. The question then, is how does one advertise in other ways?

I think, after reading about the advertising campaigns of Tumblr and other social media websites, Facebook should use more methods that mesh with social interaction among the web. If Facebook were to do so, they would have to enhance the platforms companies currently use to advertise.

The “Page” has allowed Facebook to do so by giving companies a place in which users can reach them. By enhancing this experience on mobile devices, showing companies how to better use this method, and help develop more socially interactive methods Facebook will increase its potential in advertising. If they can find better ways to help companies advertise, then they will be able to make use of their many users and profit from each one.

Tumblr is a website in which users may create blogs and follow others’ in a convenient format. Its user base has grown over the years as it attracts internet users looking for a place to release their own content since they are unable to on websites like Facebook.

As a result of their success, businesses are looking into the website for advertising opportunities. The main struggle though, stems from Tumblrs unwillingness to have traditional advertisements on the website as CEO David Karp has already rejected the idea of banners.

If businesses want to use Tumblr for advertising, they must devise more advertisements that mesh within the social atmosphere of the website. Adidas recently posted advertisements and received immediate attention from users.

To do so, companies need to keep a close eye on their advertisements. If they want to appeal to Tumblr users, they cannot simply show their product. Instead, they have to show the heart of their business and the reason why they sell their product. As a result, companies with poor business models may have a hard time attracting Tumblr users. What attracts users is not just product, but a message they are willing to support in lieu of making their purchase.

Spotify is a rare breed of music provider: they give music for free. This type of service instantly attracts followers, but can it sustain itself with such a business model? While currently unavailable in Canada, Spotify has brought in many new users over the past few years and its revenue increased by 151% from 2010 to 2011.

But, the operating costs nearly tripled over those years, causing an overall loss in profit.

Spotify’s plan is to first attract users with the promise of free music, then convince them afterwards to buy the premium plan they offer. For only $10 a month, users can have an almost unlimited supply of music in their pocket at all times. Yet, the business is struggling to convert users to this plan and as a result, Spotify has been unable to meet to cost of supplying so much free music.

While its fan base is growing at a very fast pace, Spotify may need to reevaluate its business model. As of now, it attracts users via its point of difference–unlimited free music–but needs to figure out a way to do so while getting more money or lowering costs. Even a small change could affect its appeal to followers though, and Spotify will need to sacrifice something huge in order to be profitable.

In this article, Randall Rothenburg looks into the differences between the west coast–the sector that develops products to sell–and the east coast–the sector that develops advertisements for those products. This separation showed during the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which brought together innovative minds in advertising and business.

The west coast tends to simply produce appealing product to the customer and that will automatically bring in revenue. The east coast on the other hand, uses a more conservative approach in which 30-second commercials and billboards are used to advertise. Both sides are innovative, but they are not working together.

As we’ve discussed in class, businesses require communication among many different sectors if they want to be successful. Thus, if these businesses want to progress, they need to communicate between not only consumers and suppliers, but between the product and the business model. While there may be personal benefits to privatizing information, being able to communicate, especially in advertising, is what helps businesses really connect with their consumers and have synergy within the company.