Media Playground 2010: Social media advertising – “avoid wastage, think targeting”

Brands need to understand what their objectives are and what motivates their audience to utilise social media platforms, according to the Social Media and Gaming panel at this year’s Media Playground event.

“Brands can create compelling and engaging solutions if they overcome traditional media disciplines and understand their objectives,” said James Cornish from MySpace.  “Advertisers need to use brands to drive online experiences – that’s where they will see the greatest success.”

Adam Yates, director of advertising sales EMEA at WildTangent, added: “The key is to de-mystify the angst around social media.  Consumer behaviour and instincts are still the same –  it is just amplified on social media platforms, especially with things like fan bases.

“Do brands need to go away from what they’ve done before? No, not necessarily… they just need to invite themselves into the party.  Advertisers don’t have to build new campaigns from the ground up – they just need to enhance the experience.”

Fellow panellist Gilles Storme, head of sales EMEA at RockYou, added: “The challenge is to keep it simple for advertisers – define simple objectives, then translate them in to actions.”

However, Cornish warned advertisers to avoid repetitive messaging without having something interesting and creative to say.  “Avoid wastage, think targeting”, added Storme.