Facebook. All the cool kids do. You?
For advertisers, it’s hard to miss in the market. Too many people in one place at one time. Marketers see something like this and it’s as if their dreams have come true. He’s got this bright, glowing exterior that seems to say: Come to us. we’ve got Preparation.
Numbers are important in a marketing campaign. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. However, in the Facebook world, some of those numbers have gotten them into trouble. The reason is that recently Facebook introduced a new advertising platform. A platform that brings together the numbers that not everyone feels comfortable parting with.
Numbers and demographics. Demographics tell advertisers who and where their potential customers are. When millions and millions of users register their personal information on a social site, all of a sudden demographic research becomes much easier than it used to be.
But fail to notify your users or give them a chance to completely opt out of the platform, and there will be a huge backlash of opinion. Within a month, the site could go from “Have you tried that yet” to “Remember when everyone loved it?”.
Online advertising drives online development. We all understand this, and to some extent, we’ve all come to accept this. So much so that we hardly even notice it anymore.
This is a quick thought experiment. Did you check your e-mail this morning? Do you check it every day? It is a fairly common practice. Were you aware of ads around your post? We all know they are there. Flashing, pretty colors or creative titles in bold text. They are always nearby…just in our periphery of vision.
Now, do you remember one? Do you even remember what they were selling?
I think you probably don’t.
Online advertising is an example of selling right now. If the beautiful colors or the particular text catches your eye then there you can just click on it. But it does mean that the truth is that there is as much reliance on pure motivation as there is on demographics.
Facebook is the latest in a series of platforms trying to provide an opportunity to receive targeted advertising. Isn’t that nice of them? We’ll use your personal information to deliver targeted ads, because we have to advertise, so you might as well for things you’ve given us and tips you already like. Oh, and we may sell your information to others, so they can participate in this opportunity.
But at least we got it an opportunity To receive the ads we want to see.
I am waiting. Announcements We Wants to see?
Is personal information used to determine likes and dislikes?
Let’s face it. Nobody wants ads. Coming up with an ad platform and promoting it as something useful to your user base doesn’t fool anyone. And in the wake of the backlash from this platform, Facebook changed some of its policies and made it easier to opt in or out of the program.
So what about regular online advertising in social media like these? Is it effective? Does demographics reduce dependence on motivation? Or are social site users so bent on content that ads don’t register with them?
Studies have shown that the average user tends to lean towards the latter option. Click-through rates per page view on Facebook (and other social sites) are very low.
It seems people are too busy socializing to give in to impulsive clicks.
Does this mean that you don’t need to consider social media in your online advertising campaign?
never. While there are arguments going around about the continued strength of Web 2.0 applications and whether we are about to burst another bubble, this is irrelevant to the current discussion.
In the works of society here and now. Ads may not be displayed, but advertising is not your only option on these networks.
The community works because users feel like you have their interests in mind, not just yours. Community is about communication, and this might be the best advertisement you could hope for.