In MediaPost this week, David Berkowitz calls out the fallacies of “retweetable” ads. David’s point – and it’s a good one – is that slapping a “share this” button in a banner ad isn’t new. It isn’t game changing. And it’s far from proven as helping anyone move product or increase market share.

But while sticking a button on a banner doesn’t make it social, I do like the direction we’re headed. As the lines between content and advertising continue to blur, “advertising” is no longer defined by an ad format or simple creative – it can take the form informative content, entertaining videos, polls, giveaways, promotions or contests. As enablers, it’s largely on us to help figure out the magic formula for brands to tap into an audience’s desires, then offer them the means to share that experience if they so choose.

Which gets me to another point: this is not about making display advertising social—it’s all about facilitating Web-users actions to produce real-world behavior. Putting this in context: 75% of online users are engaged with some form of social activity online. However, only 8% of the online population do 80% of the clicking on ads. So it seems to me we should figure out ways to build ads that speak to people who are sharing, not clicking.

The broader issue at play here is how to quantify the value of any branding effort online in an environment where the performance status-quo (the click) is inherently flawed. Yes, it may be difficult to sell a marketer on the value proposition that a .07% sharing rate is worth a dip in CTR, but what bottom line impact was the CTR making in the first place? It can also go the opposite direction: shareable ads can positively impact tried and true metrics. For example, a significant number of free incremental impressions generated via a “share this button” might reach more people and lower an advertiser’s overall eCPM in the process.

Great discussion, and one we’re thinking about a lot at BuzzLogic. All digital media has or is becoming social in nature. Ad formats must follow suit…