Facebook’s triumphs in Advertising and E-Word-Of-Mouth
As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, internet users have become prey to the various technologies of targeted advertising. I have been planning a trip to Iceland over the past several weeks, and after doing some research on Iceland, I’ve noticed a shift in my targeted advertising online. When I started shopping for hiking shoes for the trip, Facebook said “Here, let me help you with that, I’ve got some suggestions!” After looking up hotels and Airbnbs: “Need a place to stay while you’re there? No problem!” And although this kind of targeted advertising is intimidating to some people, it is popular among businesses for a reason: it works. People click on these targeted ads because they are actually looking for these products and services.
A couple of years ago, Facebook removed sponsored-stories from their list of possible ad options for businesses. The sponsored story was an incredibly useful addition to the world of advertising. Not only could businesses recommend their pages and products right on your Facebook newsfeed, but it’s been very neatly wrapped up for the Facebook user in the guise of a recommendation from one of their friends. No other company, with the possible exception of YouTube, has been so successful at combining the personal influence that E-word-of-mouth (E-WOM)provides with the process of advertising and marketing. So why remove these sponsored stories?
Well, as great as this concept is for advertisers, users were not as pleased. Sponsored stories showed advertisements for pages that had been liked by other Facebook users, and it was these people doing the liking who took issue with the process. In an online world, where privacy is just a 7-letter word, this may not seem like much of an invasion, however many felt that the sponsored stories were giving personal information to other Facebook friends and users that should have been kept private. Since the dismantling of sponsored stories and the creation of a new advertising structure, Facebook’s advertising regime has been trying to get back into the game, and into the good graces of advertisers.
To this effect, a new advertising concept was just released last week, involving something that we discussed in class: the use of celebrity endorsements in advertising. Thanks to changes in their Branded Content Policy, verified celebrities and influentials can now incorporate branding in their posts and tag marketers directly, making it easier than ever for celebrities to endorse products. This kind of advertisement takes on the role of E-WOM: although you may not have a personal relationship with a celebrity, you may feel like you know them and have a connection to them because they are in the spotlight. Even if a celebrity has no expertise or qualifications to recommend a product, they are seen as more trustworthy than the companies themselves, their opinions more important than just the average Joe.
This is especially true for those celebrities who make their own Facebook and Twitter posts. To avoid being labelled as “fake”, celebrities have come to realize that interacting with their fans via social media is very important in creating an image of authenticity and honesty. We can conceptualize this by looking at the work of Erving Goffman, who “suggested that people, like actors, navigate ‘frontstage’ and ‘backstage’ areas in any given social situation. This can be understood in terms of place. For instance, a restaurant’s floor is frontstage, since employees must interact in front of an audience of bosses and customers. More candid talk between servers can take place backstage, away from the watchful eye of the employer” (Marwick, 2011, p. 143–144). If a celebrity wants the frontstage/backstage distinction to remain hidden from fans and create an authentic social media persona, they should strive to maintain intimacy and trustworthiness with their fans.
In a nutshell, this is what makes celebrity advertising so successful. By employing micro-celebrity tactics to create a sense of intimacy, such as “posting personal pictures and videos, addressing rumors, and sharing personal information” (Marwick, 2011, p. 148), celebrities are increasing the value of their word among their fans. Celebrities have even been known to engage in Twitter feuds to ensure that their fans feel like they have a backstage pass to their lives. Take One Direction, for example. They have been in the spotlight recently because of a split between former member Zayn Malik and the rest of the band. Since the split, some members of the band have exchanged feuding tweets with Zayn for leaving and pursuing his own career. The connection that One Directioners had with the band was reinforced because they gave fans the kind of inside access that tabloids and magazines just cannot provide.
In making branded content shareable by celebrities and enhancing their E-WOM functions, Facebook is making their return to the top of the advertising food chain. However, one has to wonder how well this new policy will be received among consumers. Celebrities must heed the danger of alienating their audiences by minimizing their intimate, authentic connection with fans.
Work Cited: Marwick, A. (2011). To see and be seen: Celebrity practice on Twitter. Convergence: The international journal of research into new media technologies, 17 (2), 139–158.
