The Economist (10 Nov 2007, pp. 93-94) comments on "conversational marketing". Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook says that "advertisers will be able to piggyback on the 'social actions' of Facebook users, since 'people influence people'".
This style of marketing, while not new, could be pushed forward by the sheer size of Facebook and MySpace (who have a similar system). This constitutes what the Economist describes as a fourth phase of internet marketing. The first three advertising categories are: display (32% of online ad revenue), classified ads (17%), and search (41%). The Economist article doesn't specify where the other 10% of revenue is allocated.
Brands can now create Facebook pages, and Facebook users can treat these pages as they would any other friend "by adding reviews, photos or comments, say. Each of these actions might again be communicated instantly to the news feeds of their cliques. Obviously this is a double-edged sword, since they can just as easily criticise a brand as praise it".
User's associations and purchasing behaviour act as implicit recommendations. "Some people may find all this creepy, so Facebook will allow people to opt out of sharing their information. Another potential worry is that the analytical information passed on to advertisers may be of poor quality, because so much of what people put on their profiles is made up or out of date. Chris DeWolfe, the boss of MySpace, counters that his research shows that 98% of American MySpace users correctly report where they live. And they tend to report important changes in their lives—such as getting engaged—promptly. This presents great marketing opportunities."
Another problem: "Because few people dare to dump former friends or to reject unwanted friend requests from casual acquaintances, 'social graphs degenerate to noise in all cases,' [Paul Martino of Tride] says. If he is right, social-marketing campaigns will descend into visual clutter about the banal doings of increasingly random people, rather than being the next big thing in advertising."
This style of marketing, while not new, could be pushed forward by the sheer size of Facebook and MySpace (who have a similar system). This constitutes what the Economist describes as a fourth phase of internet marketing. The first three advertising categories are: display (32% of online ad revenue), classified ads (17%), and search (41%). The Economist article doesn't specify where the other 10% of revenue is allocated.
Brands can now create Facebook pages, and Facebook users can treat these pages as they would any other friend "by adding reviews, photos or comments, say. Each of these actions might again be communicated instantly to the news feeds of their cliques. Obviously this is a double-edged sword, since they can just as easily criticise a brand as praise it".
User's associations and purchasing behaviour act as implicit recommendations. "Some people may find all this creepy, so Facebook will allow people to opt out of sharing their information. Another potential worry is that the analytical information passed on to advertisers may be of poor quality, because so much of what people put on their profiles is made up or out of date. Chris DeWolfe, the boss of MySpace, counters that his research shows that 98% of American MySpace users correctly report where they live. And they tend to report important changes in their lives—such as getting engaged—promptly. This presents great marketing opportunities."
Another problem: "Because few people dare to dump former friends or to reject unwanted friend requests from casual acquaintances, 'social graphs degenerate to noise in all cases,' [Paul Martino of Tride] says. If he is right, social-marketing campaigns will descend into visual clutter about the banal doings of increasingly random people, rather than being the next big thing in advertising."
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