Two of social media’s Big Three are now selling ad space. Twitter has announced that, although it is looking for a means of monetization, it will not compete in that arena.
Facebook and MySpace have advertising distribution programs that are very similar, at least on the surface. Rather than incorporating advertising in their search functions, a model which most of us in Internet marketing are experienced, their platform allows demographic targeting.
These models present two challenges (or are they opportunities?) that require an expansion of the skill sets of an online entrepreneur. First, while most of us have a gut feeling for the demographics of our niches, few of us have actual data confirming our assumptions. Second, most of the advertising that most of us have done with our online businesses has been targeted toward people who already have a predisposition toward our product or information. After all, we advertise to our prospects when they have taken the initiative to search for related products or information.
Such is not the case with the Facebook and MySpace models. Our ads will appear on pages that are primarily viewed as social venues. Much as the businesses that advertise on television invade the living rooms of their audience, so too do the ads on these media invade the personal space of their targets. When a user enters a search query, they truly want their problem solved, their question answered or their need met. The user of the social media platform may have the same problem, question or need, but they are probably not visiting Facebook or MySpace hoping for a solution.
We each went through a learning curve with search marketing. We must be willing to undergo a similar learning period if we hope to achieve a suitable ROI from our social media advertising efforts. The first step is to admit our ignorance. We may believe that we know our target demographic, but we need to test that belief. We may believe that we know how to take advantage of social spaces, but we must try various approaches. And before we rush out to buy the latest hot product that is going to definitely teach us how to use advertising on social media to make a fortune, we need to remember that each niche is likely to be different, each demographic unique.
There are no shortcuts. Hypothesize, test, track, revise ad nauseum. Here we go again.
A little offtopic reply, Im using the new google chrome browser, but it looks like your website is not displaying correctly… Just to let you know. Thanks.
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[...] Business people may be interested to know that Myspace now accepts advertising. [...]
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[...] is now targeted advertising on Myspace that should interest various [...]
[...] Media websites have grown phenomenally in recent years. Millions of people use social media sites like Myspace, Facebook etc. to connect with their virtual friends and share important tit-bits of their life. It [...]
[...] of the social networking sites now have ads for sale. If you have the extra money for this kind of advertising, your ads could be seen by many. [...]
[...] Media websites have grown phenomenally in recent years. Millions of people use social media sites like Myspace, Facebook etc. to connect with their virtual friends and share important tit-bits of their life. It [...]
[...] of the social networking sites now have ads for sale. If you have the extra money for this kind of advertising, your ads could be seen by many. [...]
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[...] Business people may be interested to know that Myspace now accepts advertising. [...]
[...] Business people may be interested to know that Myspace now accepts advertising. [...]
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[...] is now targeted advertising on Myspace that should interest various [...]
[...] Business people may be interested to know that Myspace now accepts advertising. [...]
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