Currently, the number of people registering on Facebook or already having an account to communicate with friends is growing. Facebook buys other messengers and apps to share photos and other resources as a rich and large-scale corporation. Thus, Facebook covers a large part of the world’s population and almost all people who use the Internet, including daily (for entertainment, communication, work, or to obtain helpful information). Marketing mechanisms, already implanted in Facebook, allow the company to earn vast sums of advertising for brands, be it cosmetics, clothing, alcohol, pet products, etc. These mechanisms connect ordinary Internet users of any age, gender, and social status and the seller that contains the brand. There is a serious and complex problem of finding a balance between marketing technologies, as well as adjusting advertising to constantly changing consumer preferences.
This investigation uses theoretical materials in the form of analysis of interviews, statistical analyses, and theoretical substantiation of the Internet phenomena. Thus, the study contributes to a sizeable theoretical base of marketing in general, mainly Internet marketing in the case of Facebook. The study explores the topic of the degree of participation and involvement of Facebook users, as direct participation and awareness are required to complete a purchase.
Analyzed studies and statistics show that one of the central and successful strategies is the strategy of involved marketing. It allows a wide variety of people to enjoy viewing ads and to feel interested in the product (Kang, 2018). It is a strong strategy that is recommended to be used discreetly in posts, comments below posts. Contextual advertising also has a strong influence, which should not be too bright not to annoy a person. A valuable mechanism in internet marketing is to create the illusion of friendship by drawing “friendship practices of endorsing each other” (Niland et al., 2017, p. 276). It is especially true for alcohol and fast food advertisements. Most of the audience for such advertising is young people, for whom it is essential to belong to a social group or have strong social connections with friends. A classic marketing move is the designation of identity in advertising. This method still works for young people and adolescents; for the latter, it is vital to find their place and determine their identity in a difficult period of life.
For companies like Facebook, it is vital to keep the level and value the reputation, avoiding lawsuits, proceedings. While brands, given their audience size, will still be financially interested in buying Facebook ads, reputation issues can prevent them from increasing their marketing revenue. To maintain engaging Facebook marketing, developers should continue to use inconspicuous PPC advertising over the coming years and never make it aggressive. Often, online store marketing faces the problem of passive participation, expressed in passive approval (likes), but at the same time, it does not reach sales growth (Kawaf, & Istanbulluoglu, 2019). A detailed user survey strategy needs to be developed over the next two years to avoid low participation. It will allow developers to analyze information from the very users who passively approve of specific projects or products. It will help to find out why this is happening, and, perhaps, it turns out that users, for example, have a low level of trust in a product, brand, or seller.
To assess the implementation of contextual, invisible ads and surveys, you should automatically check their click-through rate to determine how many people view ads. It is crucial to understand how many people will watch the ad to the end, because then the likelihood of buying a product increases. To evaluate the survey and its adequacy for the audience, you should also check how many users complete the survey. An excellent way would be to test on 100 users and then 1000 people. If people in the test group complete the survey quickly and easily, it can be incorporated into Facebook marketing technology.
The proposed solution to the problem of finding a balance between marketing technologies on Facebook is based on user opinion and its constant fixation so that it will be flexible and dynamic. Users’ opinions and preferences frequently change, which is why it is crucial to follow trends. This study focuses on passive endorsement, becoming an essential issue in Facebook marketing and preventing salespeople from increasing advertisement revenue. In addition, there is the recommendation to give preference to contextual and invisible ads, which would not be flashy and would not irritate users.
References
Kang, J. (2018). Effective marketing outcomes of hotel Facebook pages: The role of active participation and satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 1(2), 106-120.
Kawaf, F., & Istanbulluoglu, D. (2019). Online fashion shopping paradox: The role of customer reviews and facebook marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 48, 144-153.
Niland, P., McCreanor, T., Lyons, A. C., & Griffin, C. (2017). Alcohol marketing on social media: young adults engage with alcohol marketing on facebook. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(4), 273-284.