The Not-So-In-Your-Face Form of Advertising on Social Media
It’s no secret that social media is no longer an option for companies. Whether you prefer a curated mix of channels or aim to be on the latest and greatest, social media is now a company essential to connect with your customers, provide a humanizing angle for your brand/employees, and an outlet to share important company updates and news.
That being said, advertising on social channels hasn’t always been the most savvy. Facebook ads are great, but who truly pays attention to the side bar of their page when your newsfeed is chock full of engagements, baby photos, a sale at your favorite store and someone’s awkward photos from a night out. Twitter hasn’t had much in the form of advertisements until late and several other channels are just now really cashing in.
With all of the new improvements in advertising on social channels, 2013 will be the year of the not-so-in-your-face form of advertising. Facebook and Twitter are leading the way. In late 2012, Facebook introduced the Sponsored Stories concept – a way to advertise to your followers and their friends by promoting an item you posted on your brand page. Instead of the annoyingly lining the side of your page, Sponsored Stories show up in your newsfeed appearing as content versus an advertisement. Spend a little money and a greater percentage of your current fans and their friends will be exposed to your content; simple enough. Twitter has also been pushing their Promoted Tweets options. While not inexpensive, for the companies willing to make the investment, these tweets appear at the top of your feed, based on an algorithm the Twitter team applies, and again appear as “organic” content within your feed. Most likely, Instagram, Pinterest and others will follow suit, allowing your pins to be the top of the page or latest photo to make the Insta favorites.
I’m crossing my fingers that this means 2013 will see less banner ads and annoying pop ups as we make the transition to savvy advertisements that are integrated with our existing content, allowing for a more streamlined user experience. Why didn’t they think of this sooner?