We heartily support John Battelle’s “calling bull” on the idea that social media advertising isn’t effective. As he so cogently points out in his post on Open Forum: “social media ‘assets’ don’t look like packaged goods assets, and neither should social media marketing.” What Battelle fails to mention is advertisers are seeing immense opportunities in the highly targeted area of applications on social networks.
Battelle is responding to an Ad Age article in which Procter and Gamble digital media director Ted McConnell claims that advertisers don’t necessarily belong on social networks. Battelle’s argument relies on a more generalized prescription of becoming “conversational” with social networking users, and rewarding them with useful information. We at Offerpal Media have found that people also like to be rewarded with items that fit into the experience they’re having on social networks–that is, virtual currency and goods that fit in with the application they’re engaging with.
Interestingly, P&G’s McConnell doesn’t make this same omission. According to Ad Age: “He cited Facebook applications as a potentially valuable vehicle for advertisers, one in which they can create an environment that’s favorable for their brands and consumers alike.”
Not that we needed P&G to say it–we’re already well aware of the immense opportunity in social networking apps. However, it would be nice if those who are discussing this issue kept it in mind as well. It’s too big a piece of the pie to ignore anymore.
Filed under: advertising | Tagged: offerpal, social advertising, social applications, social media advertising
