What the Facebook Is Going on Here?
How Are We Supposed to Advertise to the Social-Media Addicted?
 Peter Madden |
Then came the friends. The minority were people I talk with every week. The vast majority were those I haven't seen since we were figuring out a) whose parents could drive us to the mall (grade school); b) whose parents were away so we could throw a party (high school) or c) how to announce to your parents you haven't found a job yet and have to move back home (post-college).
At first, this was pretty cool. Then over the course of time, it just got weird. The older the acquaintance, the weirder.
It's just that the way your brain works, you compartmentalize old friends and acquaintances. They stay locked in time and space -- the haircut, the marital/family status, the immaturity level, the attitude. The maniac who played guitar that everyone was scared to death of and one time "called me out" after school should forever be that guy.
He shouldn't be a happy family guy who sells insurance, right? Better yet, he definitely shouldn't be wondering why I haven't responded to what he's written on my wall.
Most importantly, all of these tiny interactions are sucking brains dry and getting in the way of advertisers like us who need to hypnotize/manipulate/cajole these brains into thinking about the products we're selling!
When did everyone get so freaking needy, happy and always perpetually doing something cool? Why are we now in each other's lives in the most superficial of ways? It's a little bit too much work for me.
Plus, it's completely devoid of what life should be about -- enjoying what is in the present. But this has been a problem since the advent of the camcorder. Instead of watching your child take his/her first steps, you run into the other room, realize the batteries are low, get new ones, load it up, and train the lens on your child whom you just missed taking his/her first steps and is now drooling on a stuffed frog.
Now instead of actually enjoying an activity – snowboarding, concert, food, golfing -- you must pause to update your status and let everyone know that you're about to jam down the mountain, watch Stewart Copeland jam, jam on a Philly cheesteak, or jam out after a birdie on the 18th at Pebble Beach!
Friends have become the new products. So put the ad-laden magazine down and check out what I'm doing now!
I assume these same people, when not getting on Facebook to tell friends who haven't seen them in 25 years that they're about to get on a plane to Vegas, are texting other people as well. If they are in such a dizzying mess of communication, how the hell are we advertisers supposed to make them look up for a second and get their attention? Oh that's right, maybe create a fan page for Lysol. Blah.
Finally, the way people seem to collect the aforementioned friends. Tell me you don't look at how many friends you have and compare that to the number of friends other people have! You don't? Liar! I even know of one story where a guy bragged to my director of PR when he ran into her on the street that he had almost 600 friends. It's like Facebook is an opportunity to collect souls, as if your home base is Mordor (note: I have no idea if that makes sense but sounds pretty funny).
Are you feelin' me or is 2009 the year of Madden the Cynic? (Damn, I'm breaking resolutions already).
PS: Please friend me. I'm up to 200 people and going strong! No criteria needed. We're just clicks away from being BFFs! At the very least, it's worth it to check out my overly tanned, smiling face at sunset with a confused baby Gavin, probably wondering what happened to his wub-a-nub.
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As someone concerned with advertising through social media, I'm not particularly cognizant of WHY people love updating their Facebook status five times a minute. In fact, I would posit that no one really knows why - something in our collective consciousness rewards online social behavior.
More concerning to me - having accepted the fact that people are using social media outlets in droves (and by all estimation this will only increase) - is how to monetize this phenomenon for my clients.
Now that you have identified, as many of us have, that Facebook doesn't serve much of a purpose for your personal gratification you can move on to thinking about how you can innovate to generate interesting and engaging content.
Good news: you are writing articles for the online version of AdAge! Maybe you should be making friends with as many people on Facebook as possible and crowdsourcing ideas and opinions for new (and more interesting) topics!
http://admaven.blogspot.com
I suspect we'll see some interesting research in the near future that pinpoints the personality types that thrive in the facebook environment. I have to believe those who generally seek 'authenticity' in their lives are less likely to be involved in the facebook society.
As for taking heat in being a non-facebook user in a man of your position, I'm a bit split.
I'm like you in that I get weirded out by seeing old acquaintances in their new-found livelihoods. Not sure if you've seen the wave of "weird" people from high school who have made it their mission to 'friend' as many people from our high school as possible. Very weird.
On the other hand, a man of your position/profession does deserve a slap on the wrist for not signing on earlier. We're the group that needs to know the right AND wrong way of using facebook to help spread the message of brands.
Either way, facebook for us is unique. We see it through two lenses while the rest of the world only sees it through one. I recommend to you a phrase I learned from an older creative at a former job.. "I monitor facebook."
Lastly, I think you'd like (if you haven't seen already) the new BK facebook application - Whopper Sacrifice. Great way to stick your middle finger up at the odd nature that people now live their lives in a friendly, non middle-finger waving sort of way.
You nailed it man! Some people need to be a memory and nothing more. Good or bad. Don't get me wrong; Connecting with old friends is priceless and a huge reason why Facebook is so popular but connecting with people that simply do not have a place inside or anywhere near your path is intrusive and very weird.
I have wasted some peoples time in posting dumb stuff that I was doing...but it isn't my fault that my iPod Touch just lets me access FB in secs.
Get there attention by build iPod/iPhone apps and make them cool!
1. I don't know if it's just this generation of youngsters or if it's younsters in any generation, but what facebook users seek is attention. In many cases, people write on other people's walls because they want someone to write back, almost like nagging for their attention. The same goes for status updates. Users on facebook can comment on someone's status, therefore the more one updates his/her status, the more opportunities there are for more comments.
2. People use facebook to shape their image. By updating your status, uploading photos, and commenting on others' walls, users are creating a personal image--and they are given complete control over who they want to make it available to, be it anyone on facebook, anyone in their networks, or exclusively to your friends. Not everyone may admit it, but employers have now turned to social networking sites as a way to gather additional information about a potential applicant for the job. Recent grads and college students are becoming more aware of this and will go as far as updating their status to something like "Jon is out volunteering all day today!!"
Those are just my comments as a student in college.
Clearly the train is far from the station and it's not a matter of IF we embrace social media -- it's what Nicholas Kinsport said: we need to figure out HOW. My children, 18 and 21, have admitted to never -- never! -- clicking through to an ad on Facebook, however tailored it is to their burgeoning needs. The demographic with the most to spend is becoming damn near impossible to reach in any meaningful way.
My clients are primarily B2B so I see more usefulness in Twitter, but personally grow tired of reading things from people I thought would provide valuable insights when they update with gems like "On my way to Starbucks - a latte w/ tons of yum awaits!" Those who say it's a great new business tool are missing the unparalleled power of face to face meeting as the way to get to know whether someone is a person with whom you'd like to work.
And now we hear Hill Holiday is dumping their website for a blog. I love the general idea of a daily blog, RSS connects, ongoing Twitter, etc., but what small agency can dedicate someone to keeping it alive and valuable?
Finally, I wonder, as a small business owner, how the lure of Facebook and Twitter are affecting productivity. Aren't my employees supposed to be working?
www.stevenstark.net
The promise of social networking is the opportunity to create a conversation between customers and brands. Yes, Facebook enables that opportunity in the form of Pages, Applications, Events and Social Ads. While you scoff at the prospect of a Lysol fan page, check out the passion of the 100,000 Tim Hortons Coffee fans. Look at progressive retailers like Sears offering $10 gift cards to become Fans of their page. When you stop looking through social networking as a blunt customer acquisition/advertising tool and start to think of it as another way to engage your best customers, then you will be joining the modern marketing world Peter.
Welcome to 2009 my friend!
Jamie Tedford- Founder/CEO
www.brandnetworksinc.com
I sit on the board of a small arts organization that just exceeded its annual campaign goal by 25%, while other arts non-profits are closing their doors in the face of the grim realities of a down market. Facebook was but one of the tools that we used to evangelize for our cause. It's not as newsworthy as using Facebook to mobilize and protest as was done in Colombia (http://tinyurl.com/2mz2xv), but it worked for us.
Ridiculing the weird (and time-wasting widgets) on social networks is low-hanging fruit. Getting down to tactics that create value is the real challenge.
As for using Facebook as a marketing tool, I'm having a tough time finding a way. Some entertainment acts and venues have succeeded in building a fan base on Facebook. And products with character pages (Jack Link's "Don't mess with BigFoot" page on MySpace)can take off for their own entertainment value. But my business is marketing a community bank. I'm at a loss to find a way to drive folks to us on a social network.
Now I'm probably one of the oldest people responding - 62 years young.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE to network and I use the Net to do it. But I don't talk about how I'm heading out to Starbucks because I have only been there 3-4 times EVER! Instead I talk about how I'm working on my Social Enterprise 7th Haven where we are building 7,000,000 dome homes for the homeless over the next 7 years trying to get others interested which it does seem to accomplish - more on Twitter than Facebook.
Facebook reminds me some times of what we use to call "a lonely hearts club." I have a friend who actually thinks that the photos of some of those hot babes on Facebook belong to who he is corresponding with. If they put their real photo there they would probably never get any interest. Many of these people need to get a life and do something besides primp before the Net instead of the mirror!
I do believe that Facebook and other Social Networking apps can be used for marketing when you follow the old axiom of Direct Marketing - first they have got to KNOW you and surely they get to know you on Facebook even if superficially. Second they have got to LIKE you and like you mentioned Peter, I don't want hear to much from the bully that was kicking my ass though now I'm a personal fitness trainer and could return the favor! Finally they have to TRUST you and believe me that is the HARDEST to do on the Net with all the scams and con artists out there like the person that uses their best friend's photo instead of their's!
Hugh Simpson - WOW!Presentation
A community bank, believe it or not, is a prime candidate for leveraging the power of Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media outlets to create new value for clients.
The possibilities are only limited by the amount of time you or your staff can invest.
Rather than suggest specific tactics for you - I suggest taking a good look at your customer base, who they are, and where they live online. With that knowledge you can choose social media tactics that make sense to your customers and to your business model.
@ADMAVEN
http://admaven.blogspot.com
I use facebook and myspace for work - I am an event marketer and although I do not "promote" events, I often am in need of relevant talent that is readily available to me on FB and Myspsace.
I am also a blogger and my blog gets tons of hits from places like FB and Yelp, another online community that is very interactive.
http://www.sundaymorningsoliloquy.com - Leyla Arsan
P.S. I'm requesting you as a friend as we speak...
If I'm wearing my thirty something, lover of most things digital, mobile mama hat - I would simply say Facebook and probably any other community-fueled tool is just not for you. And that's ok.
Either way, I'm thinking that your sister should have left well enough alone.
Advertisers who will do well in these digital communities will figure out what these tools are intended to be used for, they'll respect how they are being used by the masses and then they will put the user guide down and break a mold or two. They'll create something that is unique, that is useful for the audience and that is easily shared.
Advertisers who interrupt should realize that just like in an offline conversation - that's just rude.
Ellie Johnson - Media Two Interactive
mediatwo.net
So I found her on Facebook. Wrote her about my unrequited teenage love/lust and she never responded. Unrequited love part deux. So I fully agree with the frozen in time concept you mentioned. There are so people who want to stay just where they were. A perfect 10 at 16! Hurrmph!
As for the advertising thing on social media. I think Seth Godin, has it right. It is all about building relationships over time. Giving a little and expecting something in return to create trust and in turn creat sales.
What will be more interesting in the future is how no one will ever really lose touch with anyone, forcing the conundrum of how to handle re-meeting grade and high school friends again in adulthood. I know parents who allow their children to have Myspace accounts rather than e-mail, because it is a closed system. As they collect friends through life who are on that or some other site as well, will they keep ever expanding collections of friends?
It won't be hard for them to keep track of who they know or don't - it's just hard for us, because, IMHO, we're old.
Frankly I'm more interested in the people who have little interest or understanding of social media, and then give themselves heart attacks trying to "monetize" it.
It's rather like creating a compelling PowerPoint presentation showing a woman why she should sleep with you: A lot of effort, but it's never going to work.
Mostly, I'm surprised by the "Peter, you just don't get it" comments. I think Peter gets it perfectly.
Yes, Facebook has proven to be a mobilizing force for good causes. And, holy cow, consumers are out there providing all sorts of information about themselves that may *someday* be useful for marketing purposes. (As an aside, I find the current advertising on Facebook amusing. I am listed as having an MBA degree, yet one-third of the advertising presented to me seems predicated on the notion that I might want to get a second one... I click on them to ensure that stupidity is penalized. Another ad that appears incessantly is an invitation to buy a Spinal Tap-themed tee shirt since that is listed among my favorite movies. Note to 6dollarshirts.com: Thanks, but I have plenty of tee shirts already.)
Facebook, like any form or social discourse, faces the risk that the overall tone of the conversation is dominated by the lowest form of discourse. A steady news feed from your 600 closest "friends" is pretty random and (I imagine) quickly becomes tiresome. An endless stream of requests to join various noble causes is about as welcome as a telephone solicitor at dinner-time. And a conversation consisting of "Peter is getting on a plane in Las Vegas... Brittany is having french toast for breakfast... Gary has the sniffles" is a bore in ANY medium.
We need a neologism for this latter phenomenon. I submit "blackberrhea" but I'm sure the creatives who read AdAge can do better.
-rhh
Looking at Facebook & MySpace it has become clear that connection is valued, but for what reason? Even Twitter allows you to instantly accumulate 'Followers" As you said, the problem is that very few of these people are really present in your life. How many 'old friends' do you even contact when your in the same town?
We just launched www.mylifelist.org http://www.mylifelist.org/emarketing/0109/02.html. Our goal is to bring together people you want in your life that can help you achieve your goals!
As for advertisers, we have a very clear understanding of what our members want (Its on their Life List). We don't need a sexy algorithm that reads mail to see what ads to attach. We asked our members what they value in life. The clarity of someone having a top of list goal to Travel to New Zealand, Live a Healthy Life by stopping smoking or to find a Life Partner, creates an incredible opportunity for our advertising partners to reach inspired people.
My Life List™ uses a proven methodology and the power of social networking to help people achieve their goals!! We are an enabler that brings people and service providers together to support each other on what is important to them. We are the deep end of the social networking pool!
CREATE. ACT. CELEBRATE.™
Bill Starr
CEO, My Life List™
http://twitter.com/mylifelist
Then there's the almighty Twitter. It's a broadcast medium that is wonderful for interacting with customers and non-customers alike, sharing ideas and interacting with the collective conscious of your choosing.
Putting it in practice; I would ignore you as friend on facebook (nothing personal) and gladly follow you on Twitter.
David Baeza | Solvang, CA
http://twitter.com/DavidBaeza
If it's the lowest form of social discourse then look to your friend list and feed preferences for the cause, not the tool itself.
Peter, if your news feed is filled with the banal, is that really a negative reflection of Facebook's potential, or is it evidence that perhaps you should have declined to accept some requests?
That's like sending Christmas cards to a long list of people that you otherwise don't talk to or see. If they aren't *worthy* of keeping in touch with in any real terms (on the phone, in person), why do it on Facebook?
Your approach to advertising is what users (me included) hate most about advertising, and why we are avoiding your ads.
Complaining about What Is, is futile. Welcome & wake up. Give up trying to manipulate, and try offering potential customers something useful or something of value, or heck, even something entertaining. Or how about all 3?
And p.s. personally, I like reconnecting with the guy who wanted to beat me up in 1976. If I keep him "frozen in time" that means I'm frozen there too. When we reconnect, I get to see his struggles, and perhaps I find he's actually a nice guy. Wow, we've both grown since 1976.
That's healing for me.
While I appreciate some of Madden's observations, they're more humorous than substantive. The world is getting smaller, something that Facebook both evidences and facilitates. To the extent that tens of millions of people (like Madden) use Facebook, it's a viable way to communicate messages, some of which can be monetized by private individuals or corporations or various sizes. With people watching less and less television, this should be good news to advertisers, shouldn't it?
Christopher Brown IV | OwensMorris Communications | Chicago, IL
Quality over quantity will win out in the end. Any sensible business should want a dozen REAL buyers rather than 100 tire kickers.
Many active members of social media have a belief that virtually everything on the internet should be free and seriously resent any intrusion by advertisers.
Targeting a website that has visitors who are already interested in what a business may have to offer is still the most effective way to generate business.
www.proudtoliveinamerica.com
If the author is serious, then he's just one more dinosaur stuck in the tar pit that is traditional advertising - like those people that thought the internet had reached its zenith with AOL.
Advertising to youth isn't enough. Youth wants to interact with the advertiser: build a relationship, ask questions, and build trust. They want to know that there is an actual truth to the advertising, that its not just a pretty fascade that some marketer or advertiser created to sell, sell, sell! Facebook offers this, so why aren't Marketers and Advertisers tapping into it?
Here's how...
http://saraksummers.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/how-to-effectively-advertise-your-brand-on-facebook/
I hope that helps!
Sara Summers | Minneapolis, MN
Facebook is to the future of advertising as Google was for search. Maybe this isn't immediately evident to a Facebook newcomer, but the power of the consumer data available will help make advertising more relevant, meaningful, insightful and viral than anything that we have seen yet.
Facebook is definitely not somethig to overlook or take lightly as a marketer, but should be seen as an extremely important component of a marketer's arsenal in order to better understand and utilize this powerful new innovation.
Dave Williams
CEO, BLiNQ Media LLC
Social Media Intelligence SM
http://www.blinqmedia.com
Become a friend of BLiNQ on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BLINQ-Media/26337398541?ref=s
1) Maybe you should look at who you're friending. You'll meet weirdos, the freaking needy or the superficial at a neighborhood block party, at a bar, or at the office. Someone might brag about how many cars they have as much as they brag about how many online friends. When someone's acting a little needy, weird, annoying or overly curious on FB, why not treat them the same way you would in person? Don't spend any time on them. No big deal.
2) If old friends actually take time out of their day to look you up, is that not flattering? Chances are you probably may have wanted to look up an old relationship or two, of whatever kind. Now you can. Facebook is just a tool, one that gives you total control over who friends you, and what you share. If you overindulge on it, it's not the tool's fault, is it? :)
3) Finally, decide what you want to use it for. I use Facebook primarily for business networking but with a little personal mixed in as well. It works great that way because I get nearly all my business through networking: both online and in-person. The online networking merely supercharges the in-person connections. If it feels like a "dizzying mess" maybe you should avoid it.
4) Finally, as evidenced by your remarks and several of the comments here, some people are often turned off by Facebook status updates or sites like Twitter. If one don't like hearing someone is enjoying a sandwich, unfollow/unfriend them. Simple as that.
There are many, many advertising and marketing professionals using Twitter or Facebook to share items and thinking of value, to connect with others, to follow conferences they can't attend, and to have meaningful discussions on the state of our industry. In my opinion, the ad world is rapidly evolving and people in our biz just need to get over it already! Social tools give people a way to connect with people and things of interest, value and relevance, without it being pushed in one's face. If advertisers did more to bring value, be relevant, and not intrude, they might have more efficacy. Just sayin'.
http://www.snipr.com/weave_trust
Yes, people, FB is a tool; But for the love of all that is good, I'm tired of hearing about who posted what on your message board. Get back to work. One doesn't need to spend his life connected to FB to be "up on the times."
Now...I'm going to fax over an ad proof to a client.
Ciao.
So that has nothing to do with advertising; but it was only a matter of time before facebook became as cluttered as TV, so move on. As a marketer you should be entertaining new possibilities instead of complaining about the current.
I have found tremendous value in connecting with clients at a much deeper level than one can during board room meetings during a pitch. I connected with a bunch of clients last year that I particularly liked continued the conversation as it were beyond the meetings. Later that year I left the agency and went on a trip with my wife and son. I posted images and stories from my two month trip daily. The connection that I made with people by this action was amazing. It's been over six months now and I still run into people that say "Following you and your family thought Spain was amazing. I looked forward to your posts every morning" I find that it has been extremely good for business and am not sure that my consultancy would have taken off so quickly if I had not connected with past clients on Facebook. I'll admit that I did connect with them because I like them in real life to begin with.
The other power thing about Facebook is the ability for the site to reconnect families that don't live in the same geographic location. I can personally attest to this and have met many others that love the site for the very same reason.
Give it some more time and actually be open to exploring the site with un-jadded eyes and you might be surprised what develops organically over time.
JP Holecka - Vancouver Canada
Advertising - http://www.powershiftermedia.com/blog
Personal - http://www.jaypiddy.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/jaypiddy