Online advertising is all about increasing relevance and decreasing resistance.
In the beginning Facebook launched an ad program to grow revenues. As any publisher will tell you, there is a certain inherent resistance to interacting with online advertising, usually expressed through complex conversion formulas.
A major barrier to interacting with online ads is that you leave the site. So Facebook unveiled Fan Pages. Now brands could create an interactive portal to engage consumers within the safe space of the Facebook platform. “Become a Fan” replaced traditional calls to action on ads, an invitation for permission marketing.
But “Become a Fan” was very committal. How do I decide which companies I’m really a fan of? What constitutes a fan in the first place? How long do I have to remain a fan? It’s a very loaded concept, and I think Facebook realized this because they recently decided to change the semantics. Fan Pages became Community Pages, and Become a Fan was replaced with the “Like” button.
The adjustment was subtle, which made many analysts scratch their head, but it was an absolutely brilliant move. “Like” is timely, fleeting, non-committal. “Like” lowers resistance, removes barriers. You can “Like” many things, it’s non-exclusive.
There it is – “Click on my ad,” “Become a Fan,” “Like.” Each step removes resistance and builds interest, the foundation of a powerful permission marketing asset.
MANY have suggested Facebook go a step further and requested a “Dislike” button. Speculated rebuttals include concern for advertisers or creating an atmosphere of negativity. But from a purely targeted advertising standpoint, it’s just as important to know what a consumer dislikes as what he likes. Not only would that lead to more relevant offerings, it would lead to more overall quality impressions. I can’t count the number of times the ad server suggests the same products, services, companies, and activities I’m absolutely not interested in, but I have no way to express that disinterest except by ignoring them, which is a completely useless data point.
If Facebook truly wants a complete in-depth social graph, they need to flip the coin. They’ve mastered decreasing resistance, let’s see if they can continue to increase relevancy.
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Tags: advertising, interaction
Sometimes increasing relevancy means increasing resistance. When resistance is decreased below a certain limit, everything becomes disposable and therefore worthless and irrelevant.
Just because everything is on the same playing field with Facebook’s “Like” button doesn’t mean everything I “Like” has the same importance to me. There is a challenge in measuring relevancy when upvoting a clever comment carries the same weight as supporting a brand I love.