by samRecently, LinkedIn responded to criticism incurred by their recent changes to their 3rd party PPC ads. The changes featured members of users’ networks alongside brand ads if those members were following that brand or service. The ‘world’s largest professional network’ announced the changes in June and provided an opt-out option for users if they didn’t wish to be featured. What angered users, though, was that the ads were opt-in by default and potentially threatened their privacy. Taking user criticism into account, the changes were soon modified again so that instead of users’ names and photos being featured, ads were accompanied by a clickable link that informed users of how many people in the network were following the brand.
Although LinkedIn reduced the overtness of their new Internet marketing feature, the attempt to harness the ‘social’ side of selling marks another example of a growing trend in social media PPC—a reliance on ‘ social swing’. The idea is that by exposing users to the activities of their various connections in regards to brands and services, the interest or trust of that user may be sparked as well. Reports of Facebook making changes to their filter to allow friend activity updates were perceived by some as pandering to Internet marketers who did not feel their ads were performing as well as they could be. While a Twitter activity stream is not expressly for marketing purposes, it isn’t hard to see brands gaining more exposure due to followers’s interactions with different brands and services.
In terms of brands on social platforms, social updates are positive recommendations. The recommendations are not personal, but they come associated with people we like or trust, with actions speaking louder than words. The recommendations have the potential to increase the exposure of the advertisers and, more than likely, the level of confidence in brands when users see that they have been ‘endorsed’ by their friends. As these social updates could prove complementary to the social location and deal services that are on the rise, we could see more of a blending between advertising agencies’ SMO efforts and their social media PPC.