Gord Hotchkiss at the Search Insider blog has a great post today on why social media is harder to build workable ad models in than other types of online publishing. He reasons that it has to do with the expectations someone brings to a social interaction and gives this example: “You’re at a party and you’ve asked two friends about their opinions on the best car for you to buy. Another person at the party overhears this — someone who just happen to be a salesperson at the local Ford dealership. Sensing opportunity, the salesperson whips around and immediately starts telling you why the Ford Mustang is the perfect car for you. How would you feel?”
This sense of commercial intrusion into an essentially social interaction seems very different than other types of advertising, including contextual advertising, around Web content – because those type of ads allow us to retain control over the moment when we move from a social interaction to a commercial one. Show me an ad that relates to content I’m interested in, awesome. Pretend that your my friend to show me an ad that is disguised as part of the conversation, not so much.
Hopeless technology nerds
He’s got another interesting point in the column as well, regarding trend spotting. Sometimes, those charged with trand spotting for Web apps that will go mainstream may not be in the best position to do this. “We (and yes, I include myself) are exactly the wrong people to prognosticate about what may be the next killer app for the average Joe. We are all technology nerds. Everyone I know in this industry is a technology nerd. The ones who actually blog and emerge as thought leaders are the most hopeless of the lot.”
Tags: advertising, Facebook, marketing, social media, trends, twitter
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