All Together Now
Have you checked out the new "social purchasing" apps that have been circulating lately?
Surprise, surprise, they're actually impressive.
I'm not sure where this whole "social media" thing is headed, to be honest. Since Facebook has become more an attack of the targeted advertising than a networking site, I'm predicting that it's popularity may very well wane. The Internet crowd simply doesn't put up with the advertising the way we did in television's hay day. For one thing, there was an implicit contract there: you give me entertainment, I pay for it by watching your stupid ads.
With the Internet, the contract is a little different. We all know that at least where social media sites are concerned, we are the entertainment! We are the content. We go to Facebook to share news, events, funny things, music, and so on, with our selected peers. We're not expecting to be passively entertained, and we are not under the impression that somebody at Facebook spent months producing a really compelling piece of entertainment for us, for which we will pay with either lucre or attention.
Eye tracking tests have demonstrated that people using the Internet are really good at not seeing ads. That's one reason why some advertisers resorted to those little follow-ads that drop down the page at predicted eye level as you scroll for content. They're infuriating, of course, and if you even notice what the ad is for, you're likely to hate the advertiser rather than want to find out more.
But I digress.
Groupon is the mothership of the social purchasing apps. The creators (the app was bid on by Google, but the inventors didn't sell) use a simple technique: get a really, really, really good deal for users (geo-targeted), and then make the offer good only if a certain number of users in that area sign up. So, maybe it's a 90-minute manicure-pedicure for $25 (maybe a half-off bargain), good if 10 people buy it. So it behooves you to pass this information along, if you want the deal. You're definitely inclined to send this to friends.
And many of the deals are implicitly social - bargains offered at salons, spas, restaurants, workout clubs, and the like. So a woman may buy a facial offer, and then invite her friends to get in on the deal so they can go together, or a group of friends buys a half-price deal at a local eatery with the intention of going together.
Naturally, the creators have tied the deal in with Facebook and other social apps, so you can advertise for them by noting that you've bought a deal using a Groupon coupon.
The two that I've joined are Groupon and Living Social. And I've definitely found deals on both!
Surprise, surprise, they're actually impressive.
I'm not sure where this whole "social media" thing is headed, to be honest. Since Facebook has become more an attack of the targeted advertising than a networking site, I'm predicting that it's popularity may very well wane. The Internet crowd simply doesn't put up with the advertising the way we did in television's hay day. For one thing, there was an implicit contract there: you give me entertainment, I pay for it by watching your stupid ads.
With the Internet, the contract is a little different. We all know that at least where social media sites are concerned, we are the entertainment! We are the content. We go to Facebook to share news, events, funny things, music, and so on, with our selected peers. We're not expecting to be passively entertained, and we are not under the impression that somebody at Facebook spent months producing a really compelling piece of entertainment for us, for which we will pay with either lucre or attention.
Eye tracking tests have demonstrated that people using the Internet are really good at not seeing ads. That's one reason why some advertisers resorted to those little follow-ads that drop down the page at predicted eye level as you scroll for content. They're infuriating, of course, and if you even notice what the ad is for, you're likely to hate the advertiser rather than want to find out more.
But I digress.
Groupon is the mothership of the social purchasing apps. The creators (the app was bid on by Google, but the inventors didn't sell) use a simple technique: get a really, really, really good deal for users (geo-targeted), and then make the offer good only if a certain number of users in that area sign up. So, maybe it's a 90-minute manicure-pedicure for $25 (maybe a half-off bargain), good if 10 people buy it. So it behooves you to pass this information along, if you want the deal. You're definitely inclined to send this to friends.
And many of the deals are implicitly social - bargains offered at salons, spas, restaurants, workout clubs, and the like. So a woman may buy a facial offer, and then invite her friends to get in on the deal so they can go together, or a group of friends buys a half-price deal at a local eatery with the intention of going together.
Naturally, the creators have tied the deal in with Facebook and other social apps, so you can advertise for them by noting that you've bought a deal using a Groupon coupon.
The two that I've joined are Groupon and Living Social. And I've definitely found deals on both!
Comments