The Perks of Digital Advertising and the Battle of the Social Networks
Technological innovations and strides have granted anybody and everybody the ability to access any piece of information in the blink of an eye.
The world has revolved around this concept, and society has changed completely over the course of the last decade because of it.
Consumers are not only more intuitive but expect nothing less than knowing everything surrounding the product that they are about to consume.
Producers recognize this and deliver by utilizing the newest technologies to their fullest extents.
As a result, advertising has to be more intuitive and effective as well.
Utilizing the boundless capabilities of the Digital World as its consumers do and keeping up with this technology is the only way that the advertising/marketing industry will thrive and survive.
According to Time: Techland
Online adveritsing has generated a total of $26 billion in 2010, a 15% raise in revenue from 2009 (1).
This is a remarkable statistic for an aspiring digital marketer/advertiser like myself, but even more of a remarkable statistic for those who have or will invest anything into the Digital World.
An important question to address in this scenario is why, and how did this become?
As stated in the article, IAB Chief Executive Randall Rothenberg said that “helping to boost online sales is most likely the growing amount of time people are spending on heavily trafficked sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Netflix.
Thus, digital ads and marketing are one of the most effective tools that businesses can have to draw and keep customers.”
This is true, as placing digital advertisements in these social environments are proving to be more and more effective each and every day because of society’s new expectations.
As mentioned before, the society of the Information Age now demands that all information can be received at the most rapid of paces.
Those who provide this information in the fastest, most innovative and most creative ways will triumph.
However, those who effectively allocate all of this information into one source where others can share it will triumph over all.
The ability for information to spread itself is key and is why social networks are so lucrative.
That is exactly what Facebook and Twitter have done in the age of information, and why they dominate.
So Who Does it Better?
The answer is not too obvious, and certainly was not obvious to me at all.
However, after careful deliberation, this writer believes that Twitter has done it better since its inception, and will always be dominate is this field over Facebook.
The reason that this is so is because of how each website’s life force is structured and designed to function.
Sean Parker could not have explained it any better via this quote from The Social Network. “We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we’re going to live on the internet!” (2)
This quote, speaking about the effect of Facebook, is incredibly valid.
Facebook is not only a social experience but has expanded into a way of life. We live and breathe through our Facebooks, as people’s interpretations of our social profiles are congruent to their interpretations of our selves outside of the computer.
Digital Advertising cannot be as effective on Facebook as it is on Twitter because advertising on Facebook would be a direct interference into our online lives.
This is exactly why users do not see posts of advertisers newest products on their own Facebook News Feeds.
This scenario of post bombardment would be exactly the same as a representative from the Gap walking right to us in the middle of the sidewalk telling us about their newest deals four different times.
While the information may benefit us, hearing it more than once turns into annoyance, interferes with where we are going, and is thus not welcome.
Is Facebook Advertising Effective?
It very much IS effective for digital advertising.
It is one of the more effective strategies and the more efficient ways of reaching a large audience with minimal cost and effort.
However, what I explained before serves as the principle difference between Facebook and Twitter.
In the Facebook world, those who seek information can access it by searching within Facebook’s database to find it.
In the Twitter world, information is directly delivered to the consumer, by choice of the consumer.
The true distinction is that the Twitter user always purposefully seeks this information, as opposed to the Facebook user.
With Twitter, any user can follow a corporation or business, who can post specials at their own disclosure. These corporations are encouraged to post as many times as possible, and those who are hungry are one click away to all of the content in one place.
Twitter is the greatest form of window shopping of the internet has ever created and has to offer. It is also the embodiment of the success of simple ideas expanding beyond the wildest realms.
Social Networking: Not The Only Reason for Digital Advertising Success
The entire scope of digital advertising is one of the main reasons it is so lucrative.
New concepts of integration for advertising have been implemented, and are effectively drawing users into the content.
The advertising experience is more than just the advertisements now.
For instance, a digital ad for a movie no longer encompasses a poster, but a trailer, a link to the Facebook, Twitter and Youtube profiles for the movie, a behind the scenes look at the movie, and a direct link to the movie’s website with even more features.
You could even customize characters and share them on your Facebook or Twitters, or spread the word of the coolest advertising experiences you ever had by encouraging users to spread this information.
If you were to watch an advertisement on television, you could not access this information all at once.
Digital advertising itself is an incredibly interesting field to work in and experience.
Newer “Rich Media” technologies are providing more intuitive ways to advertise.
For instance, be on the lookout for strides in Location Based Service Advertising and Integrative Advertising within Video Games to be the next biggest thing.
For now, if there was anything to take from this piece, it is that Digital Advertising/Marketing is evolving, and has massive potential for success.
Stay ahead of the game and you will dominate the game.
Sources:
Matthew Ian Preven is a current Penn State University student and Digital and Social Media Marketing/Advertising Enthusiast.
He has worked on multiple campaigns and marketing packages in his time at Comedy Central under MTV Networks/Viacom.
To connect with him, please feel free to visit www.about.me/mpreven
What’s your opinion? Let’s continue the dialogue below, in the comments section.
It is becoming increasingly obvious in the B2B arena that inbound marketing works well for businesses, even the smaller ones. 
