Is it time to rethink online advertising ? Maybe yes, especially when it comes to social media. Data in hand, let’s see what is happening and how to carry out effective campaigns.
Social media advertising is n’t doing very well. Do not misunderstand, sponsor pages, events, contents or in general give a boost to branding and awareness remain activities that go well with social ads . The problem lies in buying directly from social platforms . Here, that’s a nice knot to unravel for publishers all over the world.
But let’s take a step back, in order to first of all give statistical support to this analysis .
Online advertising: one in two users never buy?
In August 2017, CivicScience took a photo of the online shopping habits of US users (traditionally more inclined to innovation in this sense). A decidedly merciless photo for those who for years have been waving forecasts of high purchase conversion rates via social media. Apart from a shocking 35% of non-social media users (the sample includes 2,000 internet users over 13), the most sobering figure is
45% of social users who have never purchased any of the products advertised on the platforms.
Only 16% bought sponsored products on Facebook, 4% on Instagram and even 1% on Snapchat.
Another research, also from the US but presented by CPC Strategy , speaks of 25% of users who have closed a purchase started via sponsorship on Facebook .
e-Commerce and Social more alive than ever
If the 2017 data from WeAreSocial + Hootsuite said that “more than one in five of the world’s population has made at least one online purchase in the last 30 days”, it is clear that we are still facing a rather large gap between browsing habits. E -Commerce is more alive than ever (+ 20% in Italy in 2017, Netcomm data ), as is the use of social media (52% of the Italian population accesses social platforms on a monthly basis, compared to a global average 37%). Here now you just need to understand how to combine these two worlds.
But perhaps the question that needs to be asked is: do we really need to unite these two worlds?
Who buys online wants to buy “time”!
Those who buy online first of all want to buy time, while optimizing costs, logistics and stress . Those who frequent social media often do not have a real navigation goal and as we know you can’t buy time there, at most you lose track of it. [“Let me quickly find a recipe for dinner on YouTube […] Toh it’s 4 in the morning three days later, maybe it’s better to go to bed”].
The times on social media are mainly for leisure , not for financial commitment. Entering a user’s timeline with hard-selling advertising proposals does not make the publisher very different from a street vendor who insists on selling you a toilet-shaped lighter while you are discussing your most unspeakable secrets at dinner with your partner.
It is different if the street vendor cunningly waits for you outside the porch on a rainy day with an umbrella sold on his terms. Here is the conjunction of time + necessary good + I am an idiot that I have not looked at the weather + real time marketing makes the winning offer.
Advertising: pay attention to social retargeting
So what to learn from those who sell us umbrellas while it’s raining outside? That understanding the needs and formulating a compatible offer in ways and times is the key to converting into advertising .
Think for example of the Facebook Custom Audience tool to target users in detail, the Dynamic ads and the tracking pixels up to the most recent Facebook Ads Collections : they do not start from the above-the-line assumption of “I shoot the heap, let’s hope in a return of 20% “. But they listen, track, follow and then deliver the right message to the right target . That’s where the purchase conversion rates hit the right spike. It’s social retargeting baby, and it can no longer be ignored.
Social ads, how to do it right
To return to the question from which we started, whether or not it is right to combine these worlds, the answer is: yes, but by structuring a more complex offer of “I sponsor my product to all users of a certain area and demographic. “. Creating the right conversion funnel fuels brand loyalty and makes the user more satisfied with their browsing and shopping experience . With all due respect to the old indices such as the television GRP. And your grandmother who cuts out 10% discount coupons from general newspapers.
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