Why aren’t social media ads effective?

The exploit of social media has grown rapidly over the past five years, with almost three-quarters of adult internet users now using it. some social media network. Leading social media platform Facebook claims that over a billion people exploit his website.

Based on these numbers, advertisers and marketers have used an aphorism by communications philosopher Marshall McLuhan “The medium is the message” as the occasion approached. McLuhan spoke of television, but social networking sites had far outpaced television in terms of access to buyers.

Advertisers and marketers exploit social media because it has a huge reach and placing ads there is relatively budget-friendly.

In addition to these benefits, 2014 study commissioned by Facebook found that there is “experimental evidence of mass emotional contagion via social networks” – meaning that users can transmit positive or negative emotions to others via the web.

The study also indicates that not only can these reactions be manipulated, but they can also be subconsciously transferred to a friend.

So it makes sense that advertisers would want to exploit these networks to sell their products. But the best ads are persuasive and engaging; do those used on sites like Twitter and Facebook connect with users?

The compact answer is: no. In the second of two studies conducted at the University of Florida, we found that most Facebook ads are perceived as unappealing and unengaging.

Withering attractiveness

In our study, we measured reactions to the idea of ​​advertising and marketing communications on Facebook, but did not measure reactions to specific ads.

Exploit AdSAM® – a self-assessment attitude dummy – we were able to measure responses to five major marketing tools on Facebook: banner ads, suggested posts (sometimes referred to as “promoted posts”), two types of newsfeed reposts – referred to as “liked” or “my friends liked” – and business pages.

Respondents were then asked to rate their impressions of these ads, which regularly appear – in the forms described above – in their news feeds.

In addition to collecting key indicators of emotional response (attractiveness, engagement, and amplification) to ads, the study also measured credibility, personal relevance, and intrusiveness to determine what triggered emotions in respondents.

Two hundred and twenty-eight undergraduate students – a prime target of advertisers – participated in the online survey.

Although there are significant differences in the scores for appeal, engagement, and reinforcement, none of the responses were high or promising. Overall, on a nine-point scale, the average appeal was 4.5. Engagement was 4.2 and reinforcement was 5.1. Previous AdSAM studies have shown that television advertising often has significantly higher scores on these dimensions emotion..

However, Facebook users experience significantly more positive emotional responses when they see ads and marketing messages re-shared by users (“Liked,” “My friends liked,” and “Business Pages”) than ads that come directly from marketers (“Banner ads” and “Suggested posts”).

The more positive reactions to user-posted ads (compared to those posted directly by advertisers) seem to be related to a third dimension of emotion: empowerment. When users feel in control, they respond more positively to the idea of ​​these ads. In addition, ads posted directly by advertisers are perceived as less credible, less personally relevant, and more intrusive than those posted by Facebook users.

Overall, the emotional response to Facebook ads is below the midpoint in terms of appeal and engagement. The only ad format that is slightly more positive is the business page. This may be because this medium is more directly beneficial to users, since it reaches users through reposts and promotions, and seems to be less overtly trying to “sell” products to users.

As mentioned earlier, this study is a continuation study conducted in 2011Unfortunately for advertisers, the attractiveness, engagement, and amplification of these ads have actually declined since the first study.

Why is this happening?

Social media marketing messages have a distinctly different effect on user response than more customary advertising. In some cases, social media users view sites like Facebook and Twitter as their personal space. Advertising in that space can therefore be seen as an intrusion. This does not seem to be true of television, newspapers, magazines, or radio.

One recommendation from our study is that marketers and advertisers should focus more on ads designed for this medium—ads that actively promote reposting. Another recommendation is to make marketing communications more entertaining and interactive. In other words, advertisers should put more effort into developing engaging content.

Selling products using a content marketing approach is nothing modern. Infomercials, native ads, special ad sections in news magazines, and product-based TV shows all existed before the middle of the last century. John Deere even published an ad/content-based magazine in 1895. Food products have been creating and distributing cookbooks for their products for years. And of course, there is Ronco Vegamatic.

For this purpose, General Electric recently announced that the company has hired film director Ron Howard, who will be tasked with developing modern marketing content for the National Geographic Channel.

And this approach is now making its way into social media. Some companies are Giving directions how to enrich your social media ads with engaging content.

But in the social media space, content marketing is a risky business. Audiences are more resistant to sponsored content; if efforts fail, users may transfer those negative reactions to the products themselves. On the other hand, if advertisers can make the content seem more relevant to the person, feelings of intrusion can be diminished and the emotional response to the brand becomes more compelling, engaging, and empowering.

Businesses considering advertising on Facebook and other social media sites will be most effective if they direct their efforts toward building an emotional connection with their audience. Building brands is more than presenting facts about a product or running a giveaway. It means bringing the benefits to life for the consumer.

Using inventive strategies that are more entertaining or genuinely informative can be one way to make these ads seem less intrusive. Ron Howard and other well-known directors can be part of the solution, but they should remember that in the world of social media, they don’t have the luxury of a 90-minute presentation.