Marketing Ingenuity or Social Desperation?
Regardless of whether or not you are familiar with marketing schemes mediated by social media, you must have undoubtedly encountered unnerving advertisements during your online browsing experience that made you wonder “how did they know?” Consumer targeted ads are now more and more popular with companies who wish to spend little and get a lot. This kind of marketing strategy of using social networks to pin-point consumer interest and focus the money being spent on ads has statistically shown to improve the ratio between the variable costs and the total revenue.
As shown by comScore’s online report conducted earlier in June, companies that use Facebook’s viral advertising tactics have increased their return rates significantly. Through fans, friends, and friends of friends, brand such as Starbucks and Target have made at least a 1.8% nominal lift in consumer group buyership.
A national tutoring company situated in Chicago, namely, WyzAnt is now jumping on the bandwagon and adopting these new social media marketing techniques. After its launch in 2005 with just $10,000, WyzAnt cofounders Drew Geant and Mike Weishuhn have enlisted nearly 60,000 tutors to promote their service via social media. The WyzAnt uses a very interactive website that links their pictures, logos, and videos to those that would appear on Facebook. And despite cutting tutors’ hourly rates, the company has seen growth at about 100% each year.
The questions remains, is targeted marketing truly the future for product resonance? Or does it pose too much of a threat to personal privacy and security? Are there any alternatives to Facebook advertisements that will provide companies with what they need?
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