Social media giant Facebook have hired Rebecca Van Dyck as their first Chief Marketing Officer. Van Dyck, who has previously worked with Apple on campaigns for the iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes, joins the company following Facebook's admission of conducting very little consumer marketing.

Facebook has recently increased its marketing budget from 2010s $8 million to a hefty $28 million and is expected to take part in more traditional advertising, following television advertisements from rival social networking site Google+.

Van Dyck is set to lead all future marketing, with the first big change expected to be advertisements appearing on Facebook's mobile apps. Currently, the most frequently downloaded app in the US does not display ads to its 425 million monthly users. However, 'Sponsored Stories' are likely to feature on the app within weeks in order to bring new revenue.

The social networking site also currently allows brands to create fan pages free of charge, allowing businesses to promote products to millions, though there are no plans to monetise this service.

In a letter accompanying the Securities and Exchange Commission S-1 filing, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stated Facebook aims to improve how people connect to businesses:

“We think a more open and connected world will help create a stronger economy with more authentic businesses that build better products and services."

Facebook may have work to do in order to maximise their earning potential, but with $1 billion profit in 2011, it's unlikely that Mark Zuckerberg is losing any sleep.