Advertising in social media, what does the future hold?

Ever since Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow said "the app is the new ad unit" (paraphrase) during a panel at OMMA Social, I've been intrigued with the notion of how advertising and social media successfully converge, or whether they will at all.

Conventional wisdom says advertising and social media make for strange bedfellows. Nobody goes to their favorite social networking site to see ads after all. At the same time, advertising is not going away, no matter how badly we wish it would.

What seems to be happening is, rather than social media adopting to traditional ad models, advertising is adapting to social media in the form or "app-vertisements."

Two companies leading the charge toward a more engaging, shall we say "creative" form of advertising, is the aforementioned Buddy Media, based in NYC, and PopularMedia, based in the Bay area.

Buddy Media creates interactive Facebook applications for large brands and PopularMedia offers what it calls Influencer Ads, which are standard ad units with a social element.

A report released today by research firm InsightExpress says, "According to the social networkers themselves, opt-in advertising works best, while behavior-based campaigns and randomly generated ads are far less successful." It goes on to state that 40% of social networkers condone the practice of opt-in advertising.

"Recognizing the rapid growth of social networks and social networking audiences, advertisers have focused on creative engagement and how to apply their brands within a new environment," said Drew Lipner, vice president and group director of the Digital Media Measurement team at InsightExpress. 

Is this the future of advertising in social media? Is it a matter of creating a better mousetrap? It the app the new ad unit as Lazerow suggests? At this point, all I have are questions, but am watching this space to see if oil and water can indeed mix to generate profitable ROI.

Comments

[John Flynn]

I think advertising will be come more like content. Becoming a trust agent (Chris Brogan) and adding great content to social media networks will become the new advertising. Not just pounding a simple message to the masses but to educate like minded people in an area that they are interested in (like buying a HD-TV).

[Paul Chaney]

What is the revenue model relative to that approach? Are Chris' recommendations tantamount to pure word of mouth, or is he being recompensed by a sponsoring organization?

[Matt Johnson]

Paul,

I think you are 100% correct. Advertising is adapting to social media. It is very clear that traditional online advertising strategies won't work in this space.

We've created a short video titled, "The Social Network Advertising Problem Made Simple". You can view it at http://www.uVizz.com

Best Regards,

Matt Johnson
uVizz

[Paul Chaney]

OK, Matt. You have my attention. I checked out your video and you explain the problem clearly and succinctly. I'll be watching. You better deliver! :)