The irony of the filter bubble for advertisers is bittersweet
"Algorithm" became a dirty word in 2016; few know what one is, fewer know how one actually works. Sure sounds scary though.
“Filter bubble” can be added to that list, the latter a product of the former. The notion that social media algorithms nurture confirmation bias through reflecting self-affirming views, and therefore prejudice, is rife.
For the hindsight-heroes among us, blaming sinister sounding technology for vogue grievances – Brexit and Trump, the alt-right or Corbyn’s left – provided simple answers to complex questions.
But for advertisers, the filter bubble is a Catch 22. Technology born in AdLand, after all, created the filter bubble. Facebook, for example, is primarily an advertiser, so to glean maximum returns and engagement for itself and clients, it shows us relevant content, be it news, advertising, or entertainment. Guilty as charged.
The irony is bittersweet, in that the very technology that has revolutionised precision targeting is now restricting advertisers’ ability to reach new audiences.
It’s comfortable inside the filter bubble; interacting with people who already own and savour your product. I imagine it’s what being famous is like, surrounded by Yes Men who will tell you how great you are, ad infinitum. But for advertisers it’s a trap.
Attracting and informing new audiences is literally the point of advertising. Maintaining customer loyalty and brand presence can be thrown in that basket, but generally, you want to tell people who don’t know about you… about you.
Advertisers need to change minds – to convince consumers that the gap in their shelf can be filled with their product. And while there is a case, in terms of loyalty, for preaching to the converted, conversions stagnate when you fail to target new audiences.
For decades marketers have strived for one-to-one personalisation as a solution to wastage and hitting irrelevant consumers. But, there is such a thing as being over-familiar, a false intimacy. An over-reliance on social media works to the detriment of advertisers: sure, your metrics look great, you’ve got a barrow of likes, but is it driving sales?
One-to-many mass marketing is not dead, it’s highly efficient but often disregarded for the panacea of social media. Successful brands grow through penetration and by attracting more light and infrequent buyers, rather than by deepening loyalty among a smaller number of pre-existing users.
The filter bubble is cosy. It tells you what you want to hear because you know everyone inside it. You can target consumers, and they will engage – you know they will. But if it’s not driving sales, what’s the point?