For those of you who consider themselves to be social media “experts” and who love socializing online more than human interaction, brace yourself for what I am about to say. Social media is not a good place for advertising. Some may even go as far as saying that it is the worst medium for advertising.
I am not one of those people. However, I do agree that your product is not going to start flying off the shelves by simply Twittering about how it holds 12 times its weight in water, is machine washable and is made in Germany (this of course is the ShamWow! And it is pretty great).
Social networks were created as a place for people to connect online and share ideas, resources and pictures of their weekends. People don’t log in to their accounts for shopping, so advertisements either have to be extremely convincing or be targeted toward a very specific audience. This isn’t to say that Facebook and MySpace ads are not effective, because many online marketers are successful at driving revenue from them.
Jason Calacanis, CEO at Mahalo, believes that advertising through social media may not work. He compares sites like Facebook to online parties and during parties people don’t pay attention to advertising. The real way to succeed, he says, is through search.
In pay-per-click ads the customer basically comes to you and is actively seeking information. This raises your likeliness of a conversion since they already have an interest even before you pitch your product to them.
Calacanis says Twitter should be considered a one-on-one direct marketing tool and called it the new Super Bowl commercial. I agree with his point and would go on to say that Twitter, and similar sites, are also great for studying your audience and collecting data. You can tap into what your consumer is interested in, what they are unhappy about and maybe even figure out how to get them to buy your product.
If you feel differently about this and successfully advertise and convert through social media sites, I want to hear from you.
