(
)
Facebook operating chief Sheryl Sandberg launched her own offensive yesterday, touting the social network’s Super Bowl-sized audience in a play to win back Madison Avenue.
In her first big interview since the company’s disastrous public debut in May, Sandberg talked up Facebook’s growing audience and tossed around terms like “user engagement” in her pitch to advertisers.
The social network is nearing 1 billion users, and about half of them visit every day. Last year’s Super Bowl drew a record 111 million viewers.
“Every day on Facebook, we have five Super Bowls, which means you can reach that many people,” Sandberg told CNBC.
Problem is, the company is still trying to translate that audience into ad dollars.
If the company had five times the Super Bowl’s ad revenue, which is about $250 million, it would generate the same revenue in a day that it currently does in a quarter, or $1.2 billion.
Sandberg also hit back at widespread concerns that the company is missing out on mobile advertising opportunities.
She said the most effective mobile ads are so-called sponsored stories that users see while scrolling through their Facebook feeds on mobile devices. She said that the company offers new advertising products as well.
“Our results are very strong,” she said of new mobile ad products. “People who are using Facebook to reach customers are finding that because we have real people and real engagement, the results compare favorably with basically anything else they do.”
Sandberg made it clear that while advertising was a big focus, the company was looking at other revenue-generating options, such as offering premium services to businesses.
Yesterday, it was Sandberg’s turn to answer questions after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg made his first public statements on the company at a tech conference last month.
Sandberg addressed a range of issues surrounding Facebook, including its depressed stock price.
“We’re obviously disappointed” with the IPO, Sandberg said.
Whenever Facebook’s leaders share, the company’s stock seems to benefit, and yesterday shares were up 1.5 percent to $21.99.