I was going to create a fantastic infographic about facebook‘s rate of growth, it’s virtual population size compared to some of our biggest countries, and some big yellow images about how many new users are signing up per day, but, Pingdom had beaten me to it with a great infographic celebrating facebook’s 400 millionth user back at the start of February. Not being one to reinvent wheels (plus Pingdom’s infographic was a damn sight sexier than any effort I might produce), I decided to, ahem, ‘update’ their infographic myself…

So, there you have it. 500,000,000 people worldwide now use facebook – are they talking about your business or service?

BONUS: 10 fun facts about facebook, courtesy of mashable.

If your currently:

A) Starting a Google Adwords Campaign,

B) Thinking of spending money advertising stuff on-line,

C) Getting little value from a PPC campaign,

D) Wondering if it’s worth spending money advertising on Facebook,

Then this tool is well worth the 3-minutes of your time it takes to complete.

By asking a series of 10 questions, the tool is able to give you a likelihood of success for a Facebook advertising campaign. Although as with Google Adwords and other Pay-per-click campaigns, you only pay for the clicks your ads do get, there’s still an investment of time in setting-up, writing the text/designing the images, and testing your ads – If this is a waste of time for you, IsFaceBookForMe is quite blunt in it’s appraisal. That could save you a lot of wasted effort.

If it turns out encouragingly for your site’s budding relationship with Facebook users, you’ll benefit from Facebook’s insanely targeted campaigns – advertise by geographic location, occupation, keywords, in profiles, inside knee circumference (OK, maybe not that one, but it is frightening how much Facebook knows about us Humans…) I’m not suggesting you rush out and spend your hard-earned budget on Facebook Ads based on the opinion of a web page, but it does prove insightful as to the type of businesses that could succeed on Facebook.

If you’re in the business of SEO, Search Engine Marketing, PPC Campaigns, or the like, why not join me in a little game I’ve just created: How great am I at knowing if Facebook Ads might possibly be right for my client. (Disclaimer: It’s not as fun as it sounds).

Take the IsFaceBookForMe.com quiz, trying to anticipate which type of business would most benefit from running Ads on Facebook. The higher your score, the more you now about your clients’ best interests and Facebook’s role on the web. (for the sake of gloating, I scored a 9.2 out of 10 – Thank you, thank you, I accept your warm applause and admiration-filled glances…)

Of course, if you’re a client, you can always ask your SEO firm/web-guru to play my little game. If they haven’t heard of Facebook, didn’t know you could place PPC Ads on Facebook, or wouldn’t know how to submit a web form, Run. Run and spend your profit-dependent marketing budget elsewhere (hey, I’m free*)

Warning: If you’d like to play my new game, turn away now: I’m about to reveal what business qualities are best suited to a Facebook Ad campaign!

Facebook Ads could work well for you if:

• You sell to consumers, and not other businesses;
• You sell memberships, events, travel, training, or experiences;
• Your products or services are personalised;
• Your business is national (although you can target ads locally, too).

You’re probably wasting your time and energy if:

• You mostly sell directly to businesses;
• People can buy your products or services at the local supermarket;
• There’s no ‘story’ around your product or service;
• You think of Facebook as a virtual water-cooler for spotty adults who don’t leave the house much.

So, no you know. Go ask your SEO/local web hero if you should be running Facebook Ads.

(* If you’re in or around Hertfordshire, I’ll sing like a bird about what’s best for your business on-line in exchange for Coffee.)

First, Paul Glazowski interprets a Guardian report that Facebook UK usage is in decline as more a reflection of poor stats, combined with winter being less ‘sociable’. Facebook has seen some heavy criticism recently but I think it’s too soon to start dancing on its grave. Following on from yesterday’s debate about building or joining social networks, I would expect to see an increase in niche groupings, which may or may not coexist with larger social networks or simply break away. Federated states of social networks, perhaps.

The second Mashable story sees Kristen Nicole describe a new Facebook app called Celebration. This is being launched by Mars UK and will allow users to send each other real bars of chocolate. Well, almost. In a neat solution to privacy issues – and UK postage woes – you actually send points to be redeemed by the recipient.

I think we’ll see more of these marketing drives hitting social networks. Does it cheapen the network? Or do you think it adds value? Let me know in the comments.