The “Socialization” of Online Advertising

By Yosef Solomon on Mar 5, 2010

In the past year, we’ve seen a handful of companies embrace Social Media with their online advertising efforts and integrate new strategies into their campaigns. For instance, Coca-cola decided to input their twitter feed. The ad displays up to the second tweets about the brand/event.

Another company I’ve found that incorporates this strategy well is American Express. In their “Open Forum” online ads, they interview influential captains of industry that utilize American Express in their companies. This is a great way to show future or potential customers that this product is actually being used by iconic companies and is available to them. The inspirational aspect of these talks are also effective because it lets them know that by associating with this product, they are one step closer to the implied success.

By incorporating social media into their ads, these companies are tapping into their established network of users, fans and potential consumers. Instead of throwing a celebrity on TV and having them use their product in a random situation, companies are now shifting focus to their more targeted demographic. This has proven effective for larger companies such as Dell and Cisco because the integration of Social Media allows them to easily connect with their users.

Before the inclusion of Social Media, online advertising simply took the traditional model and applied it to the web. Basic banner and sidebar ads were among the original strategies of online advertising, but these aren’t driving the same traffic they once did. Users have become more intelligent in blocking these ads out and clicking on only the content links. With the new socialized ads, I notice myself paying more attention to the dynamic sidebar ads. Granted, some of them are automatic playing videos, the content is still able to grab my attention, especially when shown on related sites.

So what does the future hold for socialized advertising? Will we start seeing related twitter updates on Hulu commercials? Or real-time virtual ads on Google Maps? Whatever may evolve, will likely include social media and the I think that the sky’s the limit with online advertising and as long as the user stays in control, it will only get better.