By Michael Massey
A recent article in SFgate.com brought up an interesting point. It bore the question: What is the best way to advertise; organically or by advocate? Student Adnan Ebrahim was blogging about the car business alongside his collegiate studies when he caught the attention of luxury automakers. According to Ebrahim, “If you can demonstrate to Lamborghini or Ferrari that you can drive a million views to a video, they’re more than happy to lend you a car.” Bloggers and other social media mavens continue to build influence to drive traffic to websites, increasing potential purchases; and they tend to be rewarded with some fancy perks usually reserved for big players. In the past month Ebrahim has flown to Portugal to test drive the Toyota GT86 sports car, Austria for the Lexus GS and Germany to see the Mitsubishi Outlander. He never picked up a tab. And on the Portugal leg of the trip, they stopped for an olive oil tasting experience.
It’s a great gig if you can get it, but it does beg the question: how unbiased will the content be when the reviewer is whisked off in a private jet to drive vehicles through the mountains of Germany and Portugal? Melissa Ward of NewWard Development LLC notes the analogy to TV news reporting. “When it was just the news, it was reported. Now that it is sponsored, it sometimes gives the appearance that it isn't always presented free of any bias.”
If Porsche lent me a 911 Turbo S to test drive, then picked me up at the airport and asked me to spend a week driving the Autobahn, you can be sure I wouldn’t say no. The review would be ripe with all the details. I’m sure I would extoll the feel of the supple leather against my pants, the torque speed and the fluidity of the shifting experience to the way the top of the line entertainment system sounded bouncing off the mountains. I would have become an advocate.
Organic content provides a truly unbiased opinion, free of outside influence. With it you you'll be assured of getting a broad overview with likes and dislikes highlighted which is an important part of any buying process.
Advocates would mine much deeper and deliver content that speaks like a true fan.
As marketers struggle to have their message heard within the new media outlets, it’s definitely important to reach out to both sets of influencers. Using organic and advocate content will give your delivery balance.
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