Social media is primarily filled with user-generated content, interactions between individual people, and now, branding. The amount of sponsored content (posts that are paid for in order to reach more people) and other forms of social media advertising are on the rise. And guess what? Users are losing enjoyment. An American Customer Satisfaction Index reported that social media sites dropped 1 point to a score of 73 (based on a 100 point scale). A small drop like this may seem unimportant, but social media platforms rest on the lower tier of satisfaction in comparison to other industries. Of 43 industries measured, a score of 73 put them as the 9th lowest of the group. This pushback seems to stem from the inundation of advertisements.
Personally, I notice tons of sponsored content, especially on Twitter. These ads are littered within the timeline as well as at the bottom of the page when a specific tweet is selected. Interacting with posts and clicking a link usually takes you to a website, where you are almost guaranteed to be hit with at least one pop-up advertisement. While social media platforms cannot control what advertisements certain sites are allowing, it can be frustrating for users, especially on mobile devices. Consumers are still enjoying the experiences they have on social media, but have major concerns in two areas: privacy of their information and the number of advertisements they see. The number of ads was the lowest rated in customer satisfaction, with a 5 point drop year-after-year. A study done by MarketingCharts revealed that young adults feel they are exposed to ads on social media sites more often than any other medium, even TV. I think this comes back to how consumers have been historically trained by TV to expect advertisements- there’s always been commercial breaks.
Social media is seen more like a conversation than a media channel in the way that it truly is social. The best way I have ever heard the awkwardness of advertising on social media was by comparing it to a real life situation. Imagine you are sitting at a bar with your five best friends having a conversation. You could be reminiscing about the past, discussing current events, or sharing insight into what is going on in your lives currently (all facets of social media). Right in the middle of this, a random person walks up to your table and jumps into a sales pitch for their product. At the end, he asks, “Now who’s ready to buy this?” Imagine how uncomfortable and cringeworthy this situation would be. When you are out being social, you don’t expect or want to be sold to. The same concept applies to social media marketing- it needs to be natural and as unintrusive as possible. Engaging and entertaining content is crucial, but it’s not an easy task. This is why it’s so important to let a professional manage your social presence. For more information about our social media packages at Transformation, contact us here!
Source:
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/ad-volume-hurting-the-social-media-customer-experience-69345/