Future of Media Research: Is Facebook on the decline?
Social media is the flavour of the month for advertisers, according to Starcom MediaVest Group’s Jim Kite.
The panel at MediaTel Group’s Future of Media Research event last week discussed clients’ enthusiasm for Facebook and Twitter – and the big numbers they reach – though they wonder whether clients actually understand social media.
“Social is about influencing people, not buying and selling,” Kite said. “Social is certainly relevant and necessary but the measurement issue is holding Facebook back. Brands can get ‘likes’ but it is not necessarily representative, which makes the value of Facebook questionable.”
Kite said advertisers need more data to understand what consumers are doing, what brands they are looking at and sharing, and what impact that has on purchasing from social. Although he admitted that “social is not going to go away”.
James Smythe, owner of Culture of Insight, compared Facebook to sponsorship. “It is a bit like football sponsorship, advertisers only know how many people are watching – they don’t know who actually sees or engages with the brand, or what impact it has,” he said. Smythe believes more in-depth data would give the industry “more faith in the social environment”.
“This year, social really has to grow up and prove itself,” Chris Worrell (pictured), European research director at Specific Media, agreed. “It has got away with not having to prove much so far (in terms of measurement). But the industry needs tangible proof that it influences sales. Someone liking a brand… what does it actually mean? This will be the challenge for Facebook to move on.”
What is the value of a Facebook like? “The judge is still thinking through that one,” John Carroll, senior director at Ipsos MediaCT, responded. He wonders whether Facebook is actually on the decline – that it has become so big that people are rebelling. Carroll also discussed the “problem” for researchers to gain permission to see consumers’ Facebook space. Although, Google+ and other ‘closed’ groups could pose even more of a problem. “It is important to get in with them and understand consumers’ lives because they spend so much time on social networks – but they are typically a hard group to get to do research,” he said.
Kite, meanwhile, referred to Facebook’s new Timeline feature as a “disaster”. He thinks Google+ looks “very interesting”.
Sarah Messer, head of commercial research & insight at ITV, changed to focus to TV. Social media and TV have an interesting relationship, according to Messer, who said “it is fascinating but we don’t know enough yet”. Messer said there are so many numbers around social media and TV that it is hard to know whether they are big or small. She talked about how much attention and conversation programmes such as TOWIE and The X Factor generate on social networks during transmission.
“It is the hot topic of the year – dual screen and social TV,” she said. “It is a huge challenge for ITV to measure it and understand this space”.
Speaking from the audience, Harris Interactive’s Andrew Freeman said it will be interesting to see what TV does as consumers move beyond the main set in the house. “It is an enormous change and challenge for industry and advertisers,” he pointed out. He also agreed with an earlier point that “social media has a lot of growing up to do”, adding that targeting on social media is “appalling”. Advertising on social networks should be more relevant so our expectations are higher, he concluded.