Professional marketers have to get in touch with their inner love, peace and light...and it's all social marketing's fault.
Social technology consultants are telling traditional marketing professionals to be transparent, authentic, trustworthy and community focused. What??? Stop the presses!!!
Yes, social marketing revolves around a level of forthrightness, openness and collaboration that has been unheard of (at least not widely embraced) in the marketing profession. For years, traditional marketers controlled the brand and have cut their teeth on knowing how to deliver it to the right audience at the right time for the right price. Marketing has been about brand management, conversion rates & conversion velocities, lead generation & close rates, paid media and surveys & focus groups. Then comes along social technology, and consultants are encouraging traditional marketers to listen AND engage with customers in public dialogue, as well as share OR relinquish control of the brand.
You mean...
You're kidding...
You want me to do what...
For some brands this is a sea change in the corporate culture, and for others, it is where they have wanted to go and didn't know how or have the capacity to do so. The key factor to keep in mind, social technology marketing and traditional marketing work together, they complement each other. As 2011 begins, it is imperative that social tools and tactics become a key component of your marketing plans, not a one-off or an add-on. It can provide marketers:
- unbiased market research: marketers should embrace customer ideas, comments and complaints; a user generated comment can be the impetus for the next great campaign;
- unique public relations opportunities: online contests are not a new idea; however, utilizing bloggers, Facebook, Twitter and niche online communities can increase awareness and participation exponentially;
- creative customer service: the ubiquitous 1-800 is still useful; listening to and monitoring online chatter about your brand is more effective as research shows most people won't congratulate or complain, consumers speak with their wallets;
- additional messaging channels: first there was the newspaper, then mail-order catalogs, radio, billboards, TV, direct mail, email and banner ads; now there are sponsored tweets, Facebook ads, Foursquare check-in specials, blog ads...and this is just paid media, imagine the possibilities for earned media;
- and out-of-the-box lead generation: all of the above efforts can lead to increased lead generation and increased sales.
Nugget of knowledge: Traditional Marketing + Social Marketing = A Successful Campaign
