Ads in social networks have such poor response because they target users when they’re not in the right frame of mind. While tagging photos and making wall posts in facebook they’re in the socializing frame of mind, not in a browsing/shopping mindset.
Today’s smart marketers should be focusing on who saw their ad and how they engaged with it instead of simply the number of people that saw it. I believe this change in attitude represents a huge challenge for social networks. Instead of falling back on the same (old) standard advertising model, how can social networks better capitalize on their huge base of user data and interactions to deliver greater value to their advertisers? That is, if you think social networks can be monetized.
So what funny or just plain dumb ad combinations have you come across on social networks?
