Facebook is getting something of a facelift that advertisers may like. Reports have emerged suggesting that the company is developing new ad units and analytics. Facebook spokesperson Annie Ta told […]

Facebook is getting something of a facelift that advertisers may like. Reports have emerged suggesting that the company is developing new ad units and analytics.

Facebook spokesperson Annie Ta told ClickZ that the company is "constantly testing different iterations and layouts" for ads. The source reports that the company appears to be testing a paid promotion section on the right side of its site (although Brafton is not seeing this yet).

InsideFacebook recently reported that the company may also be testing geolocal targeting options. The site is reportedly using a “Which city do you live in?” sidebar to prompt users to offer more information, then ads are displayed according to a user's location.

This may be good news to marketers who want to get in on the rising local ad market. Local ads on Facebook could be particularly effective, as Brafton has reported that the social site drove display ad impression growth in 2010. Plus, the new unit offers more opportunities to marketers who are already planning to increase their ad spend on the social channel this year, according to eMarketer forecasts covered by Brafton.

Moreover, InsideFacebook says the social network is updating its analytics offerings. While there haven't been any official announcements and not all users are seeing the updates, the source reports seeing real-time data about post engagement.

Perhaps more interesting is that the site seems to be offering CTR data, so marketers can gain an understanding of how much traffic individual Facebook posts drive to their sites.

This type of insight will enable marketers to more effectively plan their content strategies for social sites. As Brafton has reported, studies suggest that social content marketing will be key to catching clicks in 2011, and experts at the recent Affiliate Summit West conference agreed.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.