Editorial Articles

The boom in popularity of social networks means that they now form a fundamental part of the online experience for many internet users. As consumers spend an increasing amount of time online, the web has become a significant revenue providing stream for brands looking to tap into new audiences and to compliment their offering offline.

To make the most of this opportunity, brands need to understand how their target audience uses the internet and also the best ways to advertise and promote goods and services to them. To find out which types of adverts appeal most to people online, we conducted a survey of 2000 consumers earlier this year* which looked at a range of advertising formats and the different ways that consumers interact with them. Considering the growth in the use of social networking, our results were perhaps somewhat surprising. According to the research, only 4% of those surveyed had ever clicked through on a banner advert displayed on a social networking site. In addition we found that just 5% of respondents considered adverts placed on personal social networking sites such as Facebook as helpful in assisting their decisions on the web and this was even less for professional social networks such as LinkedIn at 5%.

The results indicate that adverts on social networks do not currently stand out enough or are not sufficiently engaging to encourage consumers to click through on them. However, we also found that less that one in five respondents thought that adverts on these sites interfered with their activity online. This suggests that while users of social networks are not against adverts in principal, they feel the content of adverts needs to provide them with the information which directly appeals to them.

To encourage audience interaction with adverts it is clear that brands need to improve the performance of the content they display online. Hot on the heels of our research was an announcement that Facebook is partnering with Nielson Online to help the companies that place adverts on the site measure their success. Alongside this, a recent report by Interpret LLC suggested that users of Twitter would be open to engaging with adverts if they were placed on the site. The report also found that Twitter users would be twice as likely as members of Facebook or MySpace to click on adverts, visit company websites and review products offered to them through Twitter promotions.

* Research conducted in August 2009 with 2,000 respondents through Toluna, the online research panel provider

Given that there are clear revenue generating opportunities being missed by brands on social networks, companies need to ensure their campaigns are targeted at the audience they intend to influence and that their adverts stand out sufficiently to capture their attention. It is also important that brands consider that users of social networks may not necessarily be in the right frame of mind to start shopping. With this noted, companies need to work harder on the web to make sure they convey information that not only secures interest from consumers but also goes some way to improve their overall online shopping experience.

One of the most effective ways for brands to connect with their audience online is to team up with an affiliate partner who can help them access consumers who are normally beyond their reach. Through affiliate marketing, brands can run multiple and measureable campaigns across a range of channels and also view where the traffic generated to their website originates from. Advertisers can also use affiliate programs to tactically position online deals and offers on sites where the consumers will be most likely to click through and make a purchase.

As social networks continue to draw in new members, the opportunities for brands to boost their market share and online revenue also increases. The rise in popularity of social networks indicates that they are going to be around for some time and this combined with the increase in online shopping presents a potentially lucrative revenue stream for brands. Nevertheless, it is still early days for retailers investing in social networks and rather than being discouraged by low click through rates, brands should use this opportunity to perfect their current strategy and to make their adverts stand out from the crowd. By joining up with an affiliate partner, brands can make sure their adverts appear on the right sites and reach the consumers they want to influence in a cost effective and measurable way.

Author: Liane Dietrich, MD, LinkShare UK