I recently read an article about how Kantar Media Complete found in their quarterly Online Shopper Intelligence Study, that consumers say that Twitter influences their buying decisions more than Facebook does. This is something that absolutely does not surprise me. However, this articles seems to attribute this to Twitter's promoted tweets, which I don't, in fact, agree with. I mean, while I do not go on Twitter on a regular basis, I don't just follow my friends and favorite celebrities, I also follow my favorite clothing brands and magazines. And while I do see the promoted tweets on my homepage, I tend to ignore them, recognizing them as promotions. However, when I see one of my favorite clothing brands tweeting about a huge blowout sale or a recent discount on a cute skirt with a picture and link, I might find myself making an impulse buy. Same thing goes for magazines. Magazines are great at promoting their advertised products, stating their benefits and how much that particular magazine loves it. This would make me more likely to click their included link and check it out.
I mean, maybe I'm alone on this whole promoted tweet business, but personally if I see something I know is advertisement, I tend to tune it out.
article link: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-influences-more-consumer-purchases-than-facebook_b13718
I was just thinking about this after discussing ethics in sponsored blogs during my blogging presentation. I, personally, acknowledge ads on Facebook more than Twitter, but since I don't use Twitter as much as others, I can see how Twitter ads are more actively responded to. I think as long as the ads are not promoting false information or ruining the page's experience for the consumers, then there is no problem with having paid positions on the pages. Ads are what drives these pages to work the way they do and are not new to social media, ads have been extras to television, movies and radio, so this obviously is not a new phenomenon that people should worry about.
ReplyDeleteI also agree on ignoring whatever I perceive as an ad. Or better said, ignoring it on a conscious level. At the same time, I understand how Twitter might be more influential when making purchase decisions. You tend to discover new products because you generally follow or are already interested in certain brand. It is not a complete surprise. Twitter’s interaction is fast and light, which makes it easier to accept, deny, or be influenced by certain tweet, whereas Facebook entails many other angles that might clutter the consumer’s mind and distract him from a selling proposition.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think that says about the future of social media as a tool for advertising? marketing? and/or public relations? Perhaps, the greater purchase response from Twitter can be seen in the engagement with promoted Tweets, as opposed to the traditional one-way communication of ads on Facebook. With a clever hashtag on a promoted tweet, consumers are more likely to retweet with their own personal twist, i.e. engage with the brand...thus, we see more purchases derived from Twitter. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. Simply because a tweet is 'promoted' doesn't necessarily mean I will click on it or be influenced by it. If anything, I follow a company like H&M and if they have a sale I take notice because I follow them. However I'm probably a more insular Tweeter in that I don't follow many more people or companies than when I first opened my Twitter account.
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