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You look at an ad and you are thinking what your "friends" or "others" would think of the product being advertised. What if the ad could tell you exactly that?. No hocus pocus, reading @matt_yorke blog post on social media advertising at the IDG Knowledge Hub, gives me a feeling we are almost there.

The example here displays public reactions to a product being advertised. But on a social media platform this could be extended to show public messages from friends whenever available. Would this increase engagement, my vote is a yes.

At the outset the ad unit looks like any other web ad, except for an attention grabbing call to action button/blurb. Hovering on the blurb gives you options to display messages based on defined hashtag or search terms, or to visit the destination website. Think of it like a live twitter feed juxtaposed on the ad unit.

Ad units with social media integration is the closest it can get to a real world scenario wherein a salesman gives me references of customers who are people I know. Chances of I buying in increase!

The ability to engage an end user with information in context of the ad gives a new definition to interactive web advertisements. Most of the interactive ads i come across on web are event based animation, sound or in more creative cases a combination of ads on the same page that interact with one another. I hadnt found an ad unit that interacted with me at a personal level.

Using customer testimonials in advertisements is nothing new, but its always been a celebrity or someone relevant who has signed on as a brand ambassador. Showcasing someone in my social network as a brand ambassador should be a win-win for both advertiser and me, assuming our
privacy is at no larger risk than today.

The approach of creating a platform that blends social media into an ad unit is also unique unlike other crowdsourcing models. The solution is very simple and utilizes what already exists rather than expecting a crowd to build something new. As an individual id rely more on quality opinion by few who are in my network rather than a whole bunch of opinions by people who are anonymous to me.