Is Social Media Advertising?

AD building
Image by Straws pulled at ran­dom via Flickr

Not so long ago adver­tis­ing was TV, news­pa­pers, mag­a­zine, out­door and news­pa­per ads. Even with the Web in the mix, most “dig­i­tal stuff” was left to dig­i­tal specialist.

As the dig­i­tal space has become more impor­tant to con­sumers and clients and more money is invested, it’s become a no brainier for ad agen­cies to want to be more involved. As they have, they’ve tried to apply old brand­ing mod­els to a new and more com­plex net­work of com­mu­ni­ca­tion. They’re find­ing that things like micro sites aren’t always the best vehi­cle for pro­mo­tions that might work bet­ter on Facebook.

Which brings us to social media. If adver­tis­ers run an ad on Face­book, does Face­book become adver­tis­ing? I could argue that any media that paid com­mu­ni­ca­tion inform about a prod­uct or ser­vice is adver­tis­ing. That’s what ad agen­cies do with other media.

But social media isn’t cre­ated for read­ers, it’s cre­ated by and with them. Which is why an ad can appear so intru­sive in this media. This means that adver­tis­ers have to think dif­fer­ently about the mes­sag­ing that’s used in the social space and pos­si­bly, maybe even start from an a dif­fer­ent cre­ative brief.

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August 3, 2009 – 4:23 pm | By jimmygilmore | Posted in advertising, social media | Tagged , , , | View Comments
  • flashrelations
    Short and sweet post. I am a social media freelancer and your topic of discussion is a common one. Are social media networks advertising? Absolutely. Indiscreet sometimes, but they all have a motivation behind them. We are all selling something. Ideas, products, opinions and stories. No one is better than the next.

    Advertising can be intrusive in the social media world because the simple fact is: No one cares about you or your product. People forget that the person who cares most about what they have to say or sell is THEM! Therefore, it is very important to find an angle, a passionate route or an innovative way to express an idea. Help people. Give advice. Advertise in off-beat ways. Use polls. Support other people (using applications such as Digg).

    The funny thing is, what used to be simple social networking has now become an entirely different ball game. Advertisers should most certainly use skillful tactics in the "social space" of choice.
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