Colin McKenzie Clark Griffin

ENGL7780
Kirk St. Amant
Intercom Article
Submitted on 26 Sept. 2013

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Introduction
Over the course of the last decade, we as a society have experienced first-hand the development
of social networking as an everyday medium. From celebrities to the proletarian, you would be
hard pressed to find someone who hasnt become virtually connected to the world through online
services such as Facebook and Twitter. With such sizeable growth, it is only to be expected that
the corporate world would take heed. A multitude of businesses across the globe have spent a
substantial amount of money on marketing campaigns designed to appeal to social networking
users. Thusly it has become important, now more than ever, that corporations thoroughly
understand the demographic they are trying to reach with their advertisements.
Understanding the Demographic
According to the Pew Research Centre, 67 percent of all internet users have active Facebook
accounts. 16 percent of internet users also use Twitter. Both services tend to appeal equally
across both sexes; there is a ten percent difference in Facebook users between males and females
and a mere two percent difference in those who use Twitter. In terms of age, the majority group
falls between the ages of 18 and 29. Research also shows that user rates for both Facebook and
Twitter are noticeably larger in more urban areas than in rural settings. While a large number of
Facebook and Twitter users are white, studies indicate that there are even higher percentages of
users across African American and Hispanic ethnicities. Analysis also suggests that most social
media subscribers have a household income of $30,000 a year and some amount of college
education (Brenner n.d.). It is important for businesses to consider all of these different aspects
when developing and implementing advertising strategies so as to effectively reach the largest
percentage of the demographic as possible.
Perspectives from a Member of the Target Demographic
As someone who meets the criteria for multiple aspects of the demographic aforementioned (as
well as someone who is an avid user of both Facebook and Twitter) it becomes apparent that
what appeals to me personally in terms of social network marketing would adequately reflect the
interests of the demographic as a collective. It can be somewhat difficult to distinguish what
facets of a given add will make it better received by the social network audience. Many people
openly admit to paying little to no attention to any advertisements when using Facebook, Twitter,
or similar services. The question subsequently becomes how do we create advertisements that
will regain the attention of our audience?. In an attempt to best provide an answer, I believe that
it is best to break down the advertisement into individual components and examine each of them
separately; aspects like placement, appearance, and content are all important to consider when
designing and implementing an advertisement that will appeal to users of social networking.

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Personal and Theoretical Perspectives on Add Placement
When I log on to my Facebook page or my Twitter account, my immediate focus is on the center
of my screen. This is where all of my desired content is locatedmy status bar, my news feed,
recent tweets from friends are all there for my perusing. I very seldom find my eyes deviating to
the top and side portions of the screen, as I know there is typically nothing essential to my social
networking experience located there; all the content I wish to view is in the middle of my screen.
It becomes befuddling to me then that most companies tend to locate the majority of their
advertisements in these low eye-traffic areas. Most times I can log in, do what I need to do, and
log out without ever noticing the advertisements being displayed on my page. In fact, at the time
of writing, I cannot even recall what products or services were marketed to me when I updated
my status two hours ago. If I do not even notice the existence of advertisements on my page, then
they are obviously failing in their objective of appealing to me as a target user. This notion is
supported by a new and developing theory called banner blindness. This theory purports that
social network users intrinsically ignore content displayed in these areas regardless of what it is
expecting that it will be an advertisement (Barreto, 2013). If users like me have trained their eyes
to avoid these areas, then businesses need to take note and alter the locations in which they place
their ads. If you want to catch my attention, then place your advertisement in an area more
central to my experience so that I have no choice but to notice that it is there. I am far more
likely to take note of an add if it is amidst items in my news feed or near my apps and site
options than if it is off to the side or up top where I typically have no need to look. Getting the
user to notice that the add is there in the first place is the first step in making them aware of the
product or service that you wish them to purchase.
The Importance of Appearance
As someone who uses a variety of social networking services multiple times throughout the day,
I have developed certain expectations as to how things should typically appear. Subsequently,
more often than not, I can distinguish whether or not I should be paying attention to a given thing
solely by how it looks. If it looks like an advertisement, then I tend to pay little attention to it and
move on quickly. This is the common consensus amongst the majority of social network users;
things that appear to be ads are often ignored even if they are in fact not advertisements at all.
This parallels many of the tenets of banner blindness and is supported by much of the data
collected through eye-tracking research (Barreto, 2013). The trick here then becomes effectively
disguising advertisements to look like core components of the social network experience so as to
manipulate users into noticing them by default. Usability research conducted by Jakob Nielson
points to the U.S. Census Bureaus homepage as a prime example of why this is necessary. On
said page, they elected to place the current world population in large red font in the top right
corner of the screen undoubtedly thinking it would quickly get the attention of site viewers. To
the converse, many people (over 86 percent of site visitors) could not locate this information due
to the fact that they were subconsciously ignoring it based on its appearance. At first glance, it
looked similar to a traditional promotion or advertisement one would commonly find on a
multitude of sites. As a result, users did not see it as an important site component and quickly

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dismissed it as irrelevant. If it looks like an ad or promotion, it is highly likely that it will be
ignored (Nielson, 2007). Hence, if you want your ad to appeal to users like myself, it needs to be
masked so that it bears the guise of something related to my social networking experience. The
less out of place and more centralized it appears, the more likely I am to be drawn to it even if I
did not intend to be. Again, an ad must firstly be noticed if it is to be successful in selling a
product or service.
Effective Use of Content
Once I have been made aware of an advertisements existence, its effectiveness in doing what it
is designed to comes down to the way content is presented. If it doesnt meet a certain set of
appeals, then I am quick to divert my attention elsewhere. When evaluating the content of an
advertisement and how much I want or need what it is marketing, there are three main points that
I always consider:
1) What benefit or advantage can your product or service offer me that I cannot get elsewhere?
2) Does what you are trying to sell me fit seamlessly into my lifestyle? Is it something I can see
my peers doing or using in a way that makes me feel as though I need it as well?
3) Is it something that I am going to be able to utilize easily, or is it going to be difficult to learn
and incorporate? If it is difficult, is the payout worth the investment?
If I cannot see any advantage to buying your product or service, then I am more likely not to. If it
bears no relevance to who I am or my interests, I am equally less likely to purchase it. If you can
show me that my peer group is using what you are selling, then I will inherently want to fit in. I
also need to know that it will take little effort to learn, as being a student (like most users in the
target demographic) gives me priorities from which I cannot afford to be diverted. If it is difficult
but will yield high reward, then I need to be shown this before I write the product or service off
as too time-consuming or unwarranted. These notions of relative advantage, compatibility,
observability, and complexity are all supported by the diffusion of innovation theory, and are
established guidelines for how given innovations become adopted (Diffusion of Innovation,
2013). Other things to consider concerning content are selecting what information is emphasized.
I want to know the basics first, and if I deem necessary I can click and learn more. I also want to
have information presented using vocabulary that I am comfortable withsimple methods can
often be the most effective. If something is marketed using elevated words and speech code I
dont understand, then I will lose interest even if the product or service is something that I would
otherwise genuinely want or need. Also, the use of exorbitant fonts should be limited. This helps
to make it seem more like needed information and less like an advertisement struggling to catch
my attention with flashy gimmicks. Most all of these ideas are reflected through Nielsons
usability research (Nielson, 2007).
Summation
Understanding the demographic and its collective wants and needs is only the first step in
creating and utilizing marketing campaigns that will effectively appeal to social network users; it

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must be observed that the placement and appearance of advertisements is just as important as
their content. Also, understanding how social networkers use the medium through observation
and theory will not only help advertisers get the attention of their market, but also keep it. If
corporations understand both the demographic most prone to using social networking as well as
the manner in which it is used, then they will be that much closer to creating ads that reach their
audience.

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Resources
Barreto, A. M. (2013). Do users look at banner ads on facebook?. Journal of Research in
Interactive Marketing, 7(2), Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/3614876/
Do_Users_Look_at_Banner_Ads_on_Facebook
Brenner, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/March/Pew-InternetSocial-Networking-full-detail.aspx
Diffusion of Innovation Theory. (2013). Retrieved from http://sph.bu.edu/otlt/MPHModules/SB/SB721-Models/SB721-Models4.html
Neilsen, J. (2007). Banner blindness: Old and new findings [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/banner-blindness-old-and-new-findings/
Nielsen, J. (2007). Fancy Words + Fancy Fonts = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored. Retrieved
from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/fancy-formatting-looks-like- an-ad/