The article also mentions that many companies are cutting out the "middle man," (agencies) because these agencies seem to be getting in the way. Is this possibly because, in an effort to keep up with the changing habits, advertisers are actually out of touch?
As a college student studying strategic advertising, web advertising is constantly being pushed. I often feel that professors thrive on hearing "Facebook ad" as a touch point for any advertising campaign that is targeted towards the college crowd or younger. Being so computer-savvy it must seem obvious that this is the best way to reach these younger generations. However, having used the internet since 5th grade (that's 11 years of internet use so far!), I barely even notice ad banners, pop-up ads, and I especially pay no attention to Facebook ads. Just as I can hit the "mute" button during television commercials, I can mentally mute out online ads. AdWeek's article says, " 'The millennials -- the people born in the '80s and '90s -- cram something like 20 hours of media consumption into seven actual hours of time,' says Scott Neslund, Mindshare North America CEO. 'Those kinds of habits greatly increase their ability to ignore commercial messages.' " In an effort to improve and personalize online advertising, Facebook provides the options of giving an ad a thumbs-up or thumbs-down and choosing why the user disapproved of the ad, but let's face it - none of us comp-savvy users are on Facebook to look at advertising.
There are ways to utilize Facebook to effectively advertise to a target market.
1. Don't bother paying for a banner ad - users of younger generations don't even realize they're there. And with the Facebook format constantly changing (3 times in the 4 years I've been using it) those ads get lost in the new layouts.
2. Create a brand page or Group. Users have the ability to become a fan of different brands or join a group about the brand and the page administrator can add videos, pictures, post blogs, links, news, polls, and start a discussion board. Pringles (as in the chips) currently has 713,350 fans.
3. Events. Facebook gives the option of creating events. This is great for contests and limited promotions. But a word of wisdom... don't invite every friend you know - only invite those that are interested in the product or brand (Group pages can create events that will only invite the members of the group). Inviting 7,000 "friends" that have nothing in common with the brand or product makes the event an obvious promotion, rather than an invite to something that may be of interest to the user. An event for a University-related Victoria's Secret promotion currently has 1,600 members. The best thing about events is that attendees can invite other friends that may be interested - oh the joys of social networking!
In other words, if Facebook is a chosen tool - use it accordingly. If you wouldn't go to a networking event to look at advertisements hanging on the wall, then it should be obvious that users aren't going on Facebook to click on banner ads. Facebook is considered a social networking site for a reason, so use it as one. Otherwise, using Facebook is a waste of time and money.
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