Traditional advertising tactics fail on social networks

Forrester Research released the results of a study last month appropriately titled “Marketing on Social Networking Sites”. The results indicated that traditional advertising techniques and microsites were still being used to “push” messages to users of these networks. However, the return on investment from these type of campaigns remains low.

"We believe that marketing needs to turn itself on its head,” said Gurval Caer, president and chief executive at marketing agency Blast Radius. “The goal should not be messaging customers, but rather should be building relationships from the first moment of a delightful experience that will make people's lives easier, better and richer.”

Forrester found many Internet users were interested in viewing marketer’s profiles – one-third of Gen Y users and nearly half of adults. The best way to engage them on social networks was, the report said, to make use of branded viral elements and to form personal relationships as “friends”, much like “how bands promote themselves on sites like MySpace”.

Tags: Forrester Research, MySpace, social networking, traditional marketing