What you talkin' about? Sponsored conversations are on the rise.
Everyone knows that positive word-of-mouth can be worth a lot to a brand. Get people talking and you'll get people buying. Today, with the popularity of social media this idea rings more true than ever. Anyone can go online and tell the world exactly what they think of a product or service - good or bad. But what happens when the social media word-of-mouth spectrum includes people who are paid to spread the word? People who aren't part of an advertising or PR firm, that is.
Companies are increasingly compensating bloggers and tweeters to create content regarding their products and one can assume that the content would skew positive. There's even a new term for it - "social media sponsorship spending." According to an article in Brandweek, PQ Media reports that in 2009, $46 million was spent on sponsored conversations. That may be a small number in the grand scheme of marketing and word-of-mouth advertising but that number is expected to rise 26 percent this year.
Can I trust your tweet?
So just how much can you trust someone when they rave about a new product or gush about an experience someplace? If they're your BFFs it's probably safe to believe them but how about a celebrity you follow on Twitter? We all know that celebrities are paid to endorse products, this idea is nothing new. But in this new line of sponsored conversations E! Television personality Kim Kardashian has reportedly garnered $10,000 to tweet about certain brands. Doesn't than mean she's just writing and starring in her own mini-ad? It's one thing to star in a print ad or TV commercial, we all know they're getting paid to do that. Tweets are a little less transparent. Looks like ads aren't the only place we need to examine truth in advertising.
About the Author: Holly Ringerud
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1 comment so far
Katie Van Domelen says:
You're totally right - the amount of sponsored social media content is growing. However, the FTC has enacted new laws to govern this form of endorsement. Now when a celebrity tweets about a product, they need to disclose when they are being paid (even if that payment comes in the form of benefits or free product.) The same goes for any blogger, twitterer, etc. Transparency is very important in social media in order to maintain trust and disclosure is one way to do that.