Consumers 'failing to engage' with social media ads 

Thursday, June 09 2011 by Mark Richards

Pay per click services used across social media are failing to engage consumers, suggesting that there is something amiss with website conversion architecture.

Two-thirds of people who use Facebook, Twitter and other social networks admit that they rarely pay attention to adverts on social networking sites, according to research by Mintel.

Opportunities for secondary lead generation are not being realised either, with the survey showing that more than half of users do not buy products they see advertised on the sites.

However, there is some evidence of consumers using sites to enhance their internet shopping experience, showing that managed emarketing and social media are not entirely incompatible.

Some 15 per cent of those surveyed admitted to using social media to find cheap deals or things to do, while 13 per cent use them to improve their understanding of different brands.

Unfortunately, there are barriers to consumers integrating social media into their online shopping experience to a greater degree, which will no doubt disappoint many internet consultants.

There are significant concerns about privacy on social networking sites and the majority of consumers - both men and women - still do not like the idea of commerce taking place on these sites.

Forty four per cent of those polled actually expressed concern about ever buying goods on social networking sites, in part due to privacy concerns.

Mintel senior technology analyst Cecilia Liao suggested that users still have problems trusting brands with their private information over networks.

"Recent data breaches from big brands, where hackers have stolen personal information such as names, e-mail addresses, and even credit card details, will only further add to concerns over the safety of personal data stored on online," she explained. "This in turn could have negative implications for social network advertising that incorporate personal data of members in marketing campaigns."

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".