Social networking sites may be popular, but that doesn’t mean they are as profitable. In fact, social networking sites are seriously struggling to bring in any substantial amount of money. And, according to the Parks Associates’ Digital Media Habits II report, 72% of social network users said they would stop using the site if they were required to pay a monthly fee of only $2.The alternative is quite obviously advertising, but research shows that almost 40% of users would stop visiting the site if it contained too many ads.
John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates says, “To really succeed, social networking sites must consistently deliver to advertisers a desirable consumer demographic, preferably when they are about to make a purchase decision.”
I think the best option is to simply pick the right advertisers. Advertising is only an annoyance when people are not interested in the product or service being promoted. Therefore, advertising products that the heaviest users of social networking sites may have an interest in or are may be looking to buy won’t be as aggravating. For example, if research finds that the most frequent social networking users are college-aged people, advertising iPods, laptops, or sports related products would probably prove to be the best advertisements.
This post is in response to the article found at http://cga.ct.gov/2005/rpt/2005-R-0246.htm
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