• by Karl Greenberg , December 10, 2012

If advertising on social media is like going to a party uninvited, or even as a friend of a guest, marketers really need to see a good tailor. For their digital strategy, that is. Because while advertising on social media is more annoying than on other digital areas, Nielsen and NM Incite, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey, find that a lot of people actually don't mind the ads if they are at least relevant to them.  

While about a third of social media users find ads on social networks more annoying than ads elsewhere online, the firms report that more than a quarter of users say they don’t mind seeing ads that are tailored based on their individual profile information or shared by a social connection. Furthermore, 26% don't mind ads that are ID'd based on profile information and 17% feel more connected to brands seen on social networking sites. 

And there are cultural differences. The firm notes that, arguably, the most engaged with social advertising are Asian-American consumers, who are most likely to share, like, or purchase a product after seeing an ad on a social network. Asian-Americans and Hispanics are both more likely to make any type of purchase after seeing a social ad, with the most popular purchase being a coupon through a daily deal or retailer site (28% and 19%, respectively).

White consumers are the least likely to take any action after seeing these ads. They are slightly more likely to share an ad (13%) than to make a purchase (12%), and African-Americans are equally likely to share an ad or make a purchase (18%).

The Social Media Report 2012 also found that nearly half of social media users engage with global brands for customer care via social. A third of social media users prefer that channel to the phone for customer care, or "social care."  

The use of apps accounts for a third of social networking time, and consumers have increased that channel usage by 76% this year versus last. On PC's Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, Wordpress, LinkedIn and Pinterest are the top social channels. For mobile apps, it's Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google+ and Pinterest.

"Asian Woman Using Cellphone from Shutterstock"