In a recent New York Times article Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Sites, writer Randall Stross expresses the challenges faced by Advertisers to attract and convert customers with social advertising. Primarily users are there to socialize with their friends not interact with brands. According to Stross, to get users to participate Crest had to offer enticements such as free movie screenings. It worked but the benefits were short lived.
So the question remains: how do you move a user away from his chosen social activity to engage with your brand? Give him something for free? Give him a game to play or a video to watch? Perhaps. But branding doesn’t necessarily require immediate engagement to work.
