SOCIAL NETWORK ADVERTISING

The Effectiveness of Social Network Advertising

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The Effectiveness of Social Network Advertising

Introduction

The paper discusses the effectiveness of social network advertising that can benefit the companies in a cost effective way. The aim is to understand the benefits and working needs of advertising products and services over the social media. The content also covers a few strategies for business managers to successfully advertise over the social network.

Discussion

A social ad is an online ad that incorporates user interactions that the consumer has agreed to display and be shared (Tucker, 2011, pp. 1). While politicians continue using televised political campaign ads still, during the presidential primaries and general election of 2008, Democrat candidate Barack Obama's campaign capitalized on the escalating advertising potential of the Internet. In 2009, around 73 percent of American adults were online and social network sites have more and more adults in their 30s and older logging on to them regularly; more than half of the users on Facebook are over the age of 35. Correspondingly, ad spending and revenues generated have skyrocketed over the past several years with estimated advertisement spending on social networks worldwide being $2.2 billion and in the United States estimated at $1.3 billion for 2010 (ComScore, 2011). That figure represents a 71 percent increase from the 2009 U.S. social network ad expenditure level. Facebook, one of the largest social networks, offers several forms of advertisement options including engagement, display, search, and self-serve ads, the latter of which is utilized primarily by small and local businesses. Revenues generated are projected at $1 billion in 2010, up from $550 million in 2009. Estimates for ad spending on Facebook for 2009 amount to $435 million, with a 39 percent increase up to $605 million projected for 2010 (ComScore, 2011).

We have already mentioned that social networks are considered as new media of direct marketing, but also they are considered to be the new advertising medium on the Internet where online advertising is considered to be “a form of advertising that uses the Internet and the global network to deliver the marketing offer and to attract customers” (Jelcic, 2008, pp. 239). according to another definition, Internet advertising means “advertising that appears when consumers search the Internet, including banner ads, ticker ads, ads interval (interstitials), skyscrapers, e-mail marketing, including spam, and other formats” (Kotler, 2000, pp. 148). The most common way of Internet advertising is through banners, and the same goes for the social network advertising. Some of them are:

Floating ads: These ads move across the screen of a specific web page.

Trick banners: These are the least popular form of ads, because they resemble an error message. The banner might have a dialogue box, which tells you that your computer is not secure, and certain actions must be taken. If you take these actions, you are brought to the advertiser's website.

Pop-up ads: Pop-up ads display the advertising in a new window.

Video ads: As the name implies, a video ad is similar to a television ad, since ...