Traveling

The blog is going to remain inactive for a few weeks due to me traveling for my job. I am trying to line up guest bloggers in my place to help fill the void. If not, I will be back and posting soon!

Facebook Ads Ineffective?

General Motors (GM) has officially removed itself from Facebook advertising after claiming that the ads had “little impact on consumers’ car purchases.” This is a big deal for Facebook since the company is headed into public offerings on target to become a $100 billion company. A huge corporation such as GM leaving the Facebook advertising world has created some buzz about the effectiveness of the ads. The news of GM discontinuing advertising with Facebook did come as a shock to most, but mainly because of the timing is this drawing in media attention. Also, “According to an AP-CNBC poll this week, 57 percent of Facebook users never click ads or other paid content.” This stat is not helping Facebook at all either. Personally, I never look at Facebook ads and find them annoying. Ads on the site never influence my purchasing decisions and I actually just flat out ignore them. However, I am a PR person and understand that I am being targeted etc., so I wonder if others are influenced by the ads and just not me? It would be interesting for Facebook to conduct eye tracking studies on consumers to locate where Facebook users are looking on a screen. Eye tracking could offer insight into whether or not consumers are in fact looking at ads on Facebook, and if so, what ads they find more appealing. So what do you think? Do the ads really impact your purchasing behavior?  Do you even notice them?

Social Media Fatigue?

Recently I read an article claiming that young adults are suffering from social media fatigue and honestly, I can agree with that statement. Dont get me wrong, I love social media and everything that it does but some days it can take alot of effort to use. During finals for school, I find it a chore to check my Facebook and Twitter accounts. It is not like it takes me a long time to get done; just more that I forget or want to sleep in my spare time away from the text books! The study also suggested that social media has crept into every corner of a young adults life, claiming respondents suggested that it directly conflicts with family, friend and significant others. My favorite part of this study was, “A significant number of respondents in all three countries say they visit social media sites while on dates (13 per cent), while in bed with their partner (11 per cent) and even during intimate moments (7 per cent).” Seems like maybe young adults need to be taught some manners! Ha-ha. Understanding social media use is still a newer topic in the research field, but perhaps experts should focus more on ways to keep social media balance? If young adults are already experiencing fatigue, will the fallout be here before we know it?

To read the research study, click here.