Facebook announces new ‘Preferred Marketing Developer’ center

Want to market your company or yourself on Facebook? Now it’s easy to find a reputable company that won’t get you banned from the most popular social network on the planet.

Social media marketing has been a bit Wild West at times — sometimes resulting in Facebook banning brands or marketing agencies. To ensure marketing campaigns on its platform follow Facebook’s rules, Facebook has long preferred that brands use approved marketing vendors, launching a Preferred Developer Consultant program this past April.

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Now that program has a home online — and marketers have a directory in which to search for partners.

That home is the new Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) Center, where Facebook lists 260+ preferred marketing partners who can help marketers do anything from create pages, manage ad campaigns, run Facebook contests, build Facebook-connected apps, and analyze Facebook page and interaction results.

What this means for agencies that want to provide Facebook marketing services, of course, is that they need to be on the list for maximum credibility.

Facebook’s strategic PMDs, which is a designation “reserved for a small group of PMDs that are driving outstanding positive impact in our marketing developer ecosystem” include Adobe, Glow, and SocialCode. Facebook Exchange partners, who integrate with Facebook’s real-time ad sales engine, include AdRoll, Criteo, and Xaxis.

Interestingly, the PMD center includes a sort of purgatory where partners who have access to the Facebook Ads API but have not yet qualified for the PMD badge are displayed. They include Acquisio, Havas Digital, ReachLocal, WiseMetrics, and dozens of other companies.

The PMD center should make it easier for brands looking for reputable social media marketing partners. It will also make it easier for Facebook to control what happens on its platform.

I found Facebook’s description of the Strategic PMD level partners revealing:

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Each Strategic PMD earned the distinction through a rigorous selection process that, among other considerations, is based on shared values, strategic alignment, and growth potential with Facebook.

Shared values, strategic alignment, and growth potential … in other words, they won’t do things we don’t want them to do, and they will drive significant profits.