How Social Media changed advertising

Social media has changed advertising. Advertising has, since its inception, held a dubious position within society. For example, when we watch TV or view a web page we consider it "what pays for the stuff we like". However, there are those of us that buy magazines just for the ads and the Sunday paper is filled with shopping specials. But, by and large, it is what is passed by for more interesting content. I have written a number of blog posts on this topic. I have over the past several years written several blog posts about advertising's diminishing effectiveness with consumers.

Advertising is diminishing in effectiveness largely due to explosive growth of Social Media and Social Networking. Never before have consumers had such control over brands. And consumers do this without constraint. Social Networks allow for free and unhampered communication and connection. How can advertising compete with all that fun stuff flying about?

nielsen-landscape-online-audience-utilities-video-social-media-unique-audience-february-2009.jpg via kwout

Well, Rich Cherecwich of Imedia Connect has an interesting solution; make advertising look less like advertising. This is a good step forward. At Prosperity Research we have avoided the advertising dilemma by been using video based social media marketing strategies with our clients for years. Consumers appear to be very willing to engage with brand messages provided those messages add value to their lives and are interesting. it is all about being relevant.

How about the value of video based social media. Well a recent article from Clickz.com made the generous statement that video was a good bet in a recession -- probably one of the most effective and affordable methods to reach and retain your consumers.

Much success,

Doug

Social Media slams Banner Ads 2 to 1

Social media's superior effectiveness over banner ads is likely attributed to 2 factors:

1. Brand information found on social sites is the #2 most trusted source of brand information, second only to family and friends.
2. Social sites are growing at a rate of 2:1 over all other internet areas making them the most active areas of consumer to consumer (C2C) conversations.

Brand Mentions Preferred over Ads - eMarketer via kwout

Industry information has been pouring in for more than a year showing a significant decrease in the effectiveness of banner ads and traditional forms of marketing. Additionally we are all very aware of falling printed advertising value as more and more people use the internet as their primary source of information and entertainment. What this means is that marketers must shift their traditional perceptions of advertising and marketing and adjust to a new set of rules that govern digital marketing. 

1. Social Spaces are powerful arenas for consumer opinion and they are democratic
2. Generally, people do not like advertising and especially don't seem to like it in social spaces
3. Consumers are sophisticated and trust each other more than businesses for brand recommendation
4. Consumers have the ability to filter out unwanted noise; advertising is the first to get filtered

Marketing in social spaces definitely plays by a different set of rules. But if business recognises and respects these rules social spaces offer significant advantage for smart brands that can adapt.

Much success,

Doug

Data Driven: People don't like advertisting??!!

Like those crazy government funded studies to prove that death is the result of dying or eating makes you full, here is another study which provides overwhelming evidence to the obvious; people don't like advertising. However, in the author's defense, despite this ubiquitous truth, businesses continue to advertise and so maybe it is still necessary to reinforce the fact that "People Don't Like Advertising”. This study goes one step further in its pursuit of seeking the obvious. It is now scientifically proven that people are especially averse to aggressive advertising. Another revelation???

So what can be done? Prosperity Research has been for years pioneering an alternative approach to promoting brands online. We believe it is just as easy to be interesting as be advertising. And, if you believe this study . . . well then people will like you.

Ad Clutter Reduces Effectiveness, Degrades Brands via kwout

Ad Clutter Reduces Effectiveness, Degrades Brands via kwout

Social Network Marketing: Catch More Flies With Honey

Web 2.0, rich media, social media, social networks what ever you want to call it, IT IS DIFFERENT. In this blog I write tirelessly about the need to largely abandon much of the traditional advertising methods that have been in place for eons and embrace the wonder that is the new medium.

Since the beginning of time advertisers have been positioning their messages "next to" interesting content:

• Read the newspaper for the news, the ads are little boxes next to the news


• Watch TV for the shows, the advertisements are for snacks and toilet breaks


• Surf the web, the advertisements are the banners around the interesting content, and banner ads served all around them


• Videos on the internet now have advertisements tagged to the front and back of them

After all this time you would think that someone could have come up with something a bit more clever. But the reality is, since the beginning of time the same method of serving up advertising has changed very little. And not surprising people's views on advertising have changed even less.

If people don't like advertising and people do like engaging content (e.g. news, tv shows, web pages, and videos) why is it an impossible leap for advertisers to just start creating interesting content and say "forget it" to advertising.

Well the truth is most likely of three sources.

1. With an industry as large as the advertising business, it is unlikely that even if it wanted too, it would or could change quickly


2. Old habits are hard to break, and consumers support the old model, even if they don’t consciously want to


3. Well, I can't think of anymore

Thank goodness for Social Networks. With the creation of Social Networks each individual now has the same ability to influence as big business has traditionally had. Collectively, individuals on the internet can now make or break a brand by their input. Now content created by individuals is viewed more often than professionally produced content making the internet a truely democratic forum.

So, like in any true democracy, you need to vote for what you like and against what you don't. Therefore, if you like content vote by clicking on it. And if you don't like advertising -- don't click on it!!!

Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride

There is a significant industry built around the idea that if you stand next too, wear the same clothes, drive the same car etc. you will be as magnificent and glamorous as the people in the advertisements. We all know that this acquisition of fabulous attributes through proximity is absurd. So why is it that advertisers continue to push on businesses the concept of placing their advertisement next to interesting content is the preferred, if not only, method available? After all, it is still advertising and no matter how engaging the content is it is placed next too; it is will always be advertising. Would it be better if the advertising was really the interesting bit?In the digital age it is now easy for anyone to develop content and distribute on the internet. So why should businesses settle for "being next to" when they can be the "centre of attention". That is right, everyone can now be a bride and all of us are the better for it. Imagine if all the money that was spent trying to attract your gaze away from the interesting content was spent on making interesting content in the first place.

All of us are sophisticated enough consumers that we would certainly "get it". After all we know that if we want to be a star athlete like our heroes we will need to buy the kit. And if we want to catch the babe we need the car, clothes and cologne.

Prosperity Research is working hard to educate small and medium business' that it is O.K. for them to be the centre of attention. They do not have to be a 2 inch square advertisement at the bottom of the weekly paper. They can create rich media to WOW their customers,

So if you had your choice, would you be advertising or interesting?

7 Things You Must Know about Social Marketing

Paradigm shift is how I have referred to the unparalleled increase in influence of Social Network spaces on most all aspects of our lives. In this blog I have written about the 7 required shifts that businesses need to make to survive the move from real world to digital. I will continue to articulate and refine these shifts because they are at the core to business’ success in the digital world. To survive business must move from:

1. Advertising to Interesting
2. Me to You
3. Side to Centre
4. Viral to Social
5. Video to Burst
6. Push to Pull
7. Print to Pixel

Taking these on board is not as easy as reading this blog. Steering clear of the many pitfalls that line the path to change is not easy. Very few "Social Marketing" companies actually do social marketing. What they do is attempt to cut and paste old school methods into the new world and we all suffer badly for their ignorance. Good luck on your journey.

Marketing going digital, content more interesting than ads, people like themselves, Duh!

In this installment of my data focused blog I again get to point out the obvious. I do this because despite an overwhelming amount of data that never varies in its direction, many are still in denial. And so I continue to beat the drum until everyone gets the beat.

Marketers #1 wish for 2009 is for agencies to get better at digital! Marketers believe that 50% of all budgets will be spent on digital media. Agencies are ill prepared to fill the gap. Prosperity Research has been the thought leader in this area for several years and we continue to marvel at how large agencies continue to stumble. What is worse is the attempt to cut and paste traditional marketing strategies into the digital realm as if it is as easy as that. Digital marketing has a whole different set of rules and the old rules do not apply.

Marketers’ Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future via kwout

Paul Brienza, SVP Laughlin Constable, gets serious brownie points for stating the obvious and completely missing the point altogether. Mr. Brienza first points out that advertisers want to put their ads in the content area of web pages because content is more interesting than advertising and people look at content and avoid advertisements, duh! Secondly, has Mr. Brienza ever thought that maybe instead of making advertising that people don’t enjoy looking at a business could invest in creating content that people do want to look at? Duh again! Prosperity Research has been doing this for years. We never create advertising because we have always known that nobody likes it! Be interesting not advertising!

Social Networking for Baby Boomers - eMarketer via kwout

I will not rail much on this one. I wrote about this in last weeks blog and simply put, people are interested in themselves and their own issues. Products and services are only interesting to individuals if they meet their needs. So if you want to reach your customer base you need to switch your communcation style from ME to YOU.

Web Ink Now: Nobody cares about your products and services (except you) via kwout

From Viral to Social

In this blog I discuss the difference between viral and Social Network Marketing and why, depending on your goals, viral is still something best left to your doctor and not your Advertising agency.

"Viral -- not a living organism, it can only reproduce by infecting its hosts and contaminating its genetic code"

The term viral has been useful in describing a type of marketing effect that results from personal sharing of social media. The process is simple; one person shares it with two people, those two shared it with two more and so forth thereby creating an explosive rate of growth in a short time frame. Pre-Internet this effect would not have been easy or even possible. Can you imagine trying to throw magazine ads at 20 of your closest friends and then have them throw them 20 more at their friends and so on? Limitations of non-digital media prevented this "viral" phenomena from occurring.

Viral was a great boom for marketing gurus for a number of reasons:

1. Lower production value seems to work best translating into lower cost
2. Customers provided the momentum further reducing costs
3. Placement of content on consumer generated spaces or Social Networks greatly reduced costs normally associated with media buys.

Despite these strong upsides, as one might expect from a virus it is not all good. Translated into marketing terms the negatives of Viral marketing can be largely described as:

1. Low brand control
2. Brand message limited
3. Customer relationship loyalty low

Viral has become a very popular tool in the modern marketeers arsenal and an occasion benefit to brands. So what are the options to preserve the good and minimise the downsides. The recommended is Social Marketing.

"Social -- pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations"

Social marketing uses the same forces that Viral marketing uses; word of mouth and grass roots energy. However unlike its viral counterpart the focus is more on connecting with consumers and less upon eyeballs.

Social Network Marketing, at its core, is about creating interesting content that incorporates a strong message and exercises strong brand control. Strong brand control does not mean "advertising" it only means that the content should reflect the brands personality or DNA so that consumers can see a clear link between the two (content and brand) and benefit from the association.

Social Network Marketing is usually more targeted in its content so as to appeal to particular demographic as opposed to the more risky alternative of trying to appeal to every ones taste. This could result in fewer views but it significantly increases the likelihood that the people watching are appreciating, understanding and developing loyalty. One of the significant standout features of Social media done well is that it engenders ownership and connectedness to the content. Whereas viral tends to be expendable and transitory.

Social

1. Exercises strong brand control
2. Is interesting and relevant
3. Designed for a targeted population but maybe interesting to many
4. Develops audience and loyalty through relevance
5. Utilises word of mouth to gain momentum
6. Benefits from lower production cost which provide a grass roots look and feel


Everything evolves and it is time to move past the concept of viral as the optimal achievement. More sophisticated analysis shows that it is better to have 100,000 views by potential customers and 1,000,000 views by random persons unlikely to benefit. A move away from a pure viral approach is a benefit for both consumers and brands.

Consumers benefit from receiving quality, relevant content that enhances their lives and brands benefit by being able to stay true to their core message.

As more and more content is generated, consumers will become increasingly selective in their viewing habits. Occasionally choosing the frivolous, but more often selecting the familiar.

China, on your mark, get ready, SPEND!

The China people need to spend more money!! That was the clear statement from the China government several years back. Or at least that is what I heard. For any right-minded business person this is an invitation of a life time. So we ask,

Why did the government issue this statement? Also, with sales of western products, with the exception of highend, largly falling short of expectation, what can we do different?

The answer to the first question:

• The average Chinese consumer saves 90% of their earning wage
  
• The China economy and their middle class are, arguably, the fastest growing in the world
  
• China has the largest population and by logical extention the largest potential consumer market by country
  
• The trade imbalance between China and the west is huge and unlikely to be sustainable
  
• Growing the Chinese consumer market will help in buffering against a weakening of orders from the west
  
• Spending puts more money back into the economy Well hell, spending is just so much more fun than saving!
  
  
  (This video was done by a friend of mine, Patrick Carr a film maker in Shanghai, and provides an excellent look into the emerging consumer market in China with an angle on the easier to penetrate highend brand market – please note my interview!)
  
  

Question two:

Well all of this sounds pretty easy, if the China consumer is buying then all there is to do is sell. It must be as easy as falling off a barstool. Well, many Western brands have thought that and not succeeded. The solution lies simply in having a better understanding of the Chinese consumer.

Simply put there is no China consumer and therein lies the problem! The China consumer has not had access to consumer goods or freedom to enjoy lifestyle and luxury products. Therefore the problem lies in knowing how, what and why to buy rather than to buy or not.

There is a significant opportunity to provide guidance to the emerging China consumer on shopping behaviour. Providing the confidence to spend their money and showing them how it will enhance their lives is an important first step to energising the China consumer.

From Advertising to Interesting

When I see articles like the one displayed here questioning the vitality of Social Networks as a viable marketing channel I laugh. And not just a giggle either, it is a full on belly laugh – all the way to the bank. Social networks are “social” places. Traditional advertising and cut and paste print advertising does not work and has no place in them. Attempting to use these methods to reach consumers is on par with placing a square peg in a round hole. The term Behavioural Targeting gives me another giggle. Huge amounts on money, brain power and industry effort is put into this exercise. It is the real world equivalent of a dog chasing a car or a moth drawn to a flame. But being the moth is never the same as being the flame. So behavioural targeting will always be a less effective strategy than being the flame or being interesting.

Has social media lost its luster? - iMediaConnection.com via kwout

Changing from Advertising to interesting is the only way to fully reach your consumer market in Social Network spaces. Move your content from the side of the page, banner ads, to rich and engaging content in the middle of the page. Not only is it inline with what people expect to see in Social Network spaces but, unlike banner ads, its placement is free. What does this mean? Simply become a content provider that interacts with consumers as they would with each other and do it honestly.

Some easy steps to becoming interesting

• Think of yourself as a personality not a product
• Create content that engages consumers (e.g. ask a question)
• Follow up – one time placement is not much different than spam
• Is it something you would send to your friends?
• Evolve over time, that is reveal more and different aspects of yourself
• Value the relationships you build with consumers

How do you make behavioural targeting work for you? Behavioural targeting is a good predictor of what people want. Rather than using it to place banner ads, use it as a predictive tool to place content they want where they want to see it. Offer more not less to the relationship and it will pay dividends.

The Farmer's Tale

Complexity in simplicity, it is amazing how efficiently everything works around us. I find great satisfaction in the natural order of things. Like water finding its natural level, social networks have become the great leveller of hype and propaganda driven by PR and Marketing firms. This large statement is deserving of explanation. Simply put, for as long as can be remembered advertisers have, with great determination, attempted to sway public opinion. This was done with significant success largely due to a monopoly on the channels of communication. That is, all major methods of communicating on a mass scale where controlled by those that could afford it. E.g. newspapers, television, radio and film. Internet revolution! Social Networks come alive! Consumers direct the brand! The rules have changed forever. In the following diagram I will outline in simple terms the new path for business ideas to grow in Social Network spaces.









1. The seed – businesses today have a great opportunity to provide input into the social network spaces. With resources and reach that are beyond most individuals there is a social obligation to foster ideas and provide content for discussion.
2. Fertile soil – when placing content it is important to locate it in areas where it has a chance to take hold. With the ease of finding information and well developed social networks around topics there is little sense in putting all things everywhere. That is, be selective where you seed your information. Placing information in inappropriate places makes it at best irrelevant and possibly seen as spam.
3. Nurture – good content delivered honestly and consistently will allow the conversation to take hold and build an audience that is interested and engaged.
4. Growth – an engaged audience that has good quality content will nurture it. Through word of mouth and adding their own content they can turn a small seed of an idea into an apple orchard of knowledge.
5. Harvest the rewards – Good work delivers good rewards. A properly managed campaign provides benefits to everyone. Consumers are rewarded with an opportunity to add value through their participation and. Businesses benefit by gaining valuable consumer feedback, loyalty and, hopefully, increased revenue.

In the coming weeks this space will provide a deeper understanding on this shift from business driven to consumer driven and how this impacts the way the two interact and respond to each other.

Online Ad Spending Increases With User Confidence

There is an avalanche of studies showing a significant migration of advertising and marketing budgets toward online spending. This is on the heels of increasing consumer confidence in online channels for doing brand research and making purchases. Information found online is quickly becoming the preferred choice for consumers to formulate brand decisions. The below articles are compelling evidence that a dramatic shift is happening and critical mass has been achieved to keep the momentum.

fhhi-europe-internet-trust-safety.jpg via kwout

Video, Social Networking to Fuel Sixfold Increase in Global IP Traffic by 2012 via kwout

Interactive Media Advertising Growth on Major Upswing via kwout

Top 100 Advertisers Shifted $1 Billion To the Web Last Year At The Expense Of TV And Newspapers via kwout

Social Just Became Compulsory

For a long time many of us have known the power of Social Networks. I am not suggesting that we are the overly smart, arrogant or some elite group of "in the know" people. Not that at all, we are in fact the everybody's of the world. You would have to have been living under a rock not to have noticed the MySpace and Facebook phenomenon. It appears that this has now started to filter upwards to the rarified space of the ultra compensated CEO's of companies. Similar to when U.S. President George Bush discovered scanners at the grocery store checkout and was truely surprised by how sophisticated they were-- a very different life some people live.

Executives Must Realize and Learn the Power of Social Media via kwout

Now that the importance of P2P dialogs have got the attention of those holding the purse strings we will start to see a huge movement into this area from corporate. However, when this happens it usually has the same effect as when your parents tried to hang out with you and your friends in high school. It was totally uncool but at least there was someone to pay for the beer and munchies. This will be the same in social network spaces. Companies will try and pass themselves off as having a natural presence in these spaces but will infact be nothing more than expensively contrived advertising. The whole thing about being cool is you either are or you are not -- it can't not be forced.

Social networks are all about natural cool. People interacting with other people. If you don't get this then you will always be an outsider.

Traditional advertising has always presented itself as being an outsider -- the product, the aspiration. But this does not fly in social network sites. People make many, many connections based on only temporary or fragmented interests. There is no secret flame that will attract all moths. The best approach is the simplest approach.

Engage your customers

1. Add value to the relationship
2. Yes it is a relationship!
3. Put the interest of others before your own
4. Listen
5. Respond

Yup, you already knew that