Interactive advertising is unquestionably a huge marketing channel for direct response businesses – In the online channel one has the ability to buy impressions, which generate click throughs, that convert to orders. This parallels nicely the classic business model of buying TV and Radio media intersections, airing spots, causing the phones to ring and converting people to customers. Does social media change this? Is social media just a subset of online media opportunities? Is social media, specifically facebook, at such a scale now that it has to be considered separately from the overall internet?

In my opinion, social media should only be used to accelerate the momentum of your direct response campaign – it can’t be the driver of it. Really, social media should be viewed as a media channel opportunity combined with a customer service channel. I am not proposing you stick your head in the sand and ignore the existence of social media or facebook, but be realistic about what you can expect to achieve by engaging in it – it’s just the Web stuck inside a branded iFrame.

Facebook provides you a highly targetable advertising platform with (currently) relatively good economics. It should be used to supplement traditional advertising buys to ensure that the growing population of facebookers are exposed to your campaigns.

Facebook is growing in popularity as a mechanism for customers to connect with brands – don’t ignore this. Add facebook to your customer service models just as most firms have added email as a customer service channel.

Your chances of a viral video transforming the performance of your brand or social commentary causing a spike in sales is an un-scalable, unpredictable pipe dream for the vast majority of brands – don’t waste your time focusing on it. Instead use your expertise in marketing, conversion and customer service to leverage the social media platforms as a integral part of you conversion funnel and post-sale customer experience.