Ads may work a little but content is still king! A wisely worded phrase, well-targeted offer, or engaging survey all beat out social ads.

David Nies
www.BallyhooMobilecom

We are a sign and custom printed apparel and we do all of our marketing with social media. That and a few signs of course!
We also have a number of blogs that are related to the various niches we are in.
I belong to a business networking group and it still amazes that there are people who do not have a website of their own.
Join the 21st Century!!

Interesting post. I think as advertisers continue to need to compete for eyeballs, the whole process is going to become more scientific.

Regards

Sean
www.createyourfirstsite.com

I agree with Kiki. Although I use social media (and I'm still learning all of the tools and trends so this was helpful), I coach more traditional bricks and mortar/service entrepreneurs and SBO's and they can be resistant. I will have to continue to stress that their existing customer base may not be using social media, their FUTURE customer base (i.e. younger consumers) will be found there is important.

Steve
www.my-small-business-mentor.com
@stevenschlagel

Social networking and social media is great way to promote your products, services etc.

If done right, they can be extremly powerful.

Cheers,
http://www.goldendrum.com/drummers/

Our website is based on social media, eLearning and eCommerce. We feel that it is the perfect place for advertisers. Please check it out when you get a chance. Richard Branson selelcted it as one of the 5 he will feature on PitchTv this August.
http://www.theCampusCenter.com

I agree with the author. Social networking sites are a great platform for marketing especially since they can track from your profile what hobbies and interests you have to then gear the ads to your tastes.

This was exactly the information I was looking for on this topic!! We are in the midst of deciding about advertising to specific demographics on FaceBook. We probably won't do Twitter or LinkedIn.

I totally agree with the author. The future is in social media. With that said, I do not think all social media are equal. For example, sites like facebook, twitter and LinkedIn have more credibility than site like MySpace.

I see a lot of shift in social media marketing because that is where the young audience go.

Kiki

www.PRNewsExpress.com

I agree with you both Elisa and Chris. Most of the ads on the social networking sites are irrelevant and I have had to clean up my twitter followers with those trying to recruit me for their MLM or diet pills.

As a business owner and a consumer the most effective ads for me have been games and customer reviews. I like to know what I'm purchasing before I actually purchase it and a real live person will tell me the truth.

-Sherrell
http://www.ladypr.com
http://www.informher.com
@ladyprnews and @informher

"Helping Your Business Reach Women One Press Release at a Time"

In my opinion social networking websites provides a best platform for marketing your product. It is found that most of the people clicks ad. displayed on websites.
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William Brown
Sapience

I'm really hoping that over the next few years the ads on social networking sites will become more relevant and less like something in the back of a free newspaper. Scams seem to ruin the viability of this as a advertising choice for a start-up or rebranding opportunity. The study seems to have some good information that companies can use to refine this style of advertising over the next five years.

Kindest Thanks,

Ellisa Brenneman
www.ethosmentor.com
www.ethosadvisor.com