Here Is Why Social Networks Must Do Social Advertising
While observing any social media network it is apparent that they have a need to advertise, and turn a profit. However the key that must be realized is that they must reach a happy medium with the end users who are being exposed to advertisements on the network in which they are socially invested.
Generating Revenues
Every single social network is on the internet for one reason, and one reason alone. That reason is of course to make as much money as possible. Now, the majority of social networks are doing this in almost the exact same way, and that is with sponsored PPC advertising styles.
So you say that this simply is not the case? Well, lets take a look at arguably the three largest social networks, and examine the patterns. Facebook shows ads that pop up on the right side of every individual user’s profile page. When you view Twitter, you have Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends, and lastly Promoted Profiles. The last of the three giants of social media is of course YouTube. YouTube kind of takes a unique approach by offering advertising either as a video loads, or as a bar at the bottom of videos.
All three of the networks have different settings within their advertising engines which specify just how ads are displayed, and charged for. An example of this is how you can target different criteria on Facebook. You can target for things such as:
Group Information
Profile Information
Recent Comments on Facebook
Recent Activities and Games Played on Facebook
As you can quickly see by those very specific demographics advertisers can really pinpoint potential buyers with quick little user filters.
So with all of this known, where exactly does the problem lie?
The very basis of social media is the interaction between the users on the network. These interactions can be anything from vacations, to children, and even the latest great movie that someone has recently seen. The key thing here is that everything users are sharing are experiences. These experiences are in no way monitored, or policed to sway people in choosing specific products or brands. So people simply exchange honest opinions, and brand information regarding products that they may have recently tried themselves. All of these experiences are two way conversations as anyone can comment both good, and bad experiences with products or brands.
In the world of advertising however, communication is a one way avenue. Its sole purpose and intention is to get people who see their ads, products, or services to perform a specific action. This action may be making a purchase, or simply giving them an email address to be used for future communication. Some companies argue that they are simply wanting an audience to get involved in communication, and share their experiences with specific products, which can sometimes be believable. However, for the most part this is not how social network advertising frequently works.
How do the numbers stack up?
Now that you understand what social media advertising does, let’s take a look and see just how successful it truly is. The click-through ratio of social media advertising is actually really low at a whopping 0.02% to 0.05% average. Yes, that’s well below 1%. Meaning that less than 1 of every 100 people will actually click on an ad on a social network. Now on the other hand, there are other advertising venues that make these numbers look just sad. One Marketing Pilgrim article actually quoted Google AdWords with an average click-through rate of around 2% for example.
Now, where exactly does the balance lie?
Truthfully, it is very difficult to see any method of balance being found in the near future. The social networks must make money for payroll, and buying lavish items like luxurious vacations and yachts for executives and owners. They strive to create a place for people to go, and advertisements to be sold. The more users that they can sign up, the more profits they can make in advertisements, and the more advertisers they will attract.
This unfortunately does not reflect a better experience for the average end user on social networks. This is just something that we will all have to deal with though until a new revenue stream can be found for our favorite social networking platforms. A new source of profit generation that can rid them of having traditional advertising jargon while giving users something that they can invest in to have a better overall social networking experience.
What you can do about it
Make sure to grab a piece of the cake by tweeting and sending messages from advertisers and earning money for each message. Go to our social advertising page for more information.
