Whether it’s a narrator’s quick suggestion to “find us on Facebook” or the Twitter logo in the bottom right corner at the magazine ad, it’s not all that uncommon for TV and print ads to mention, or at least hint at, the brand’s social outlets. That brings up an important question: Do consumers notice, or better yet act on these mentions? Or are traditional ads becoming so saturated with social callouts that we simply filter them out?
A study from Burst Media of 2,577 U.S. online adults provides some data to answer these questions.
The first conclusion is that about a quarter of online adults notice these social callouts in online banner ads, on TV commercials and in print ads. This question focused strictly on cognizance, not on any action such as actually visiting the social platforms. Social callouts seem to be significantly less effective in radio and outdoor media ads, and only about one in ten noticed the mentions.
- 27.2% notice brand-related social media assets in online banner ads
- 24.1% notice brand-related social media assets that appear in television
- 21.2% notice brand-related social media assets that appear in print
- 11.4% notice brand-related social media assets that appear in radio ads
- 9.5% brand-related social media assets that appear in outdoor media such as bus stop ads and billboards
Certainly in the advertiser’s eyes, these social media mentions are intended not just to drive awareness (“FYI, we have facebook”) but to drive some sort of online engagement. Fortunately in the audience’s eyes, social callouts from various media seem to be fairly effective in driving action. 60.9% of respondents who recall brands promoting their social media presence in advertisements say digital ads are either very effective or somewhat effective in encouraging brand interaction on social media. 58.7% say social cues in TV ads are very or somewhat effective prompts for social interaction with brands, and just over half (52.4%) say social cues in print ads are effective.
We may be past the point of slapping a Facebook-linked QR code on every advertisement (at least we hope), but bridging traditional and social media can still be a valuable strategy for brands.
