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Thinktank

THE RISE OF SOCIAL ADVERTISING

Zoe Piper 29th January 2008

Jargon:

Web 2.0

We learnt last time that online advertising is set to increase, and my thoughts on that weren't entirely positive. This week takes a look from the other side of the fence; how web 2.0 allows the kind of targeted marketing that advertisers' dreams are made of. With personal information becoming public property, you can now target consumers based on their hobbies, interests and even social background. The holy grail of demographics is available to all through one of the most popular sites on the internet; Facebook.

Facebook's been in the news a lot recently thanks to privacy concerns; users can stalk strangers or have their profiles seen by outside parties (e.g. prospective employers) all of which sounds very Orwellian. Privacy concerns aside however, members willingly enter their personal details like age, marital status, education and job. You can then search for others with the same interests or who went to the same school; the database is 'opted-into' automatically.

There's never been this sort of database before; not just demographics but personal preferences are stored. Want to know who loves The Beatles? Who goes snowboarding? Run a search and find your target market instantly.

So how can I get in on the action?

Well, there's a simple walkthrough guide to help you choose your audience and set up your advert. It really is as simple as clicking a few buttons. Like Google Adwords, you can choose to pay for clicks or impressions, and you have access to free analysis tools showing your adverts' performance.

Sounds great doesn't it?

And to be honest, I think it is. Or at least, it has the potential to be. True, people aren't searching for something like with Google or Yahoo!, and they're not necessarily in buying mode, but Facebook advertising gives you potential leads in a way that Google and Yahoo! can't come close to emulating.

At the moment it's yet to go mainstream (we've only just started using it in earnest for some of our clients) and its effectiveness remains to be seen. Preference-based advertising is the future however and Facebook is just the beginning.

Today's Moral

Watch this space.