The Cluetrain Manifesto asserts that "Markets are Conversations." The
Manifesto is a document published in 1999 and 10 years later is still
considered to be an outstanding treatise on the Internet phenomenon - in
regards to the impact and opportunities of Internet and web technology on
the modern businessman. Nowhere has this assertion been borne out more than
in the complex, fascinating world of Social Media Marketing (SMM).
What is Social Media Marketing?
Any definition of SMM requires an understanding of social media networks.
These are any community-oriented networks based on user-generated content.
For example, YouTube's primary focus is the hosting of user-generated
videos, not the promotion of the parent company's products. Social media
networks include Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and many others.
SMM therefore is the use of these networks to promote and market products,
services, or information to the promoter's intended audience. This could be
a traditional product seeking a market, such as an author promoting a new
novel. Or it could be something much bigger; the US Presidential campaign of
2008 brought Twitter into the spotlight as a way for the candidates to
quickly transmit a message to their audience, keeping them updated on
happenings on the trail. In the latter case, no tangible product was being
promoted per se, but it was a means of marketing the candidates and their
messages. Twitter exploded in popularity following the election, and remains
a current topic of discussion.
The intelligent business strategy will seek to understand these
opportunities, and reach out to the social media markets available, in order
to directly reach their customers. SMM has as many pitfalls as
opportunities, however. Several politicians have had their tweets made
public, and have regretted it. Here are some easy mistakes to make and how
to avoid them.
Mistake #1 - Not Having A Blog
Everyone has a blog. While this may not be true in fact, it certainly is
true in perception. Free services such as WordPress and Blogspot allow
anyone with a connection to have a voice in an organized and attractive
form. Twitter, Facebook, and other networks are useful, but they aren't
directly under a user's control. A blog, however, is, and the savvy marketer
will take advantage of that. In a blog, a user can post their thoughts,
analysis, and arguments with very little restraint and go into greater
detail than most social networks permit. For example, Twitter only allows
posts of 140 characters, which is certainly too small for a product
description or a dissection of a major political speech. However a short
'tweet' telling book fans that their favorite author has been interviewed by
a blog will bring people flocking to the site where they will not only read
the interview, but probably the many other articles on the site as well.
This of course means that good blogging is consistent blogging. A blog can't
be neglected and only updated when big things happen - the modern attention
span of Internet users is fairly short. Bloggers need to consistently post
good content in order to keep drawing in their intended audience; not month
by month but sometimes even day by day.
Mistake #2 - Not Branding Yourself
The web is an information explosion and getting anyone to notice a product
or a company consistently is a challenge. The savvy web marketer must take
advantage of the chance to brand their name with every networking
opportunity. If a company has a blog and a product website, they must be
connected. The blog must promote the site's main goal, and the site must
refer visitors to their excellent blog content. Posts to social networking
sites should refer to this 'brand' image, and keep the message consistent
across them all. The successful SMM campaign will treat each element as a
unified whole, and approach them systematically. Every Twitter message,
every Facebook post should remind users who is posting the content, and
where they can find more.
Mistake #3 - Not Being Nice
As mentioned above, "Markets are Conversations." The users on the Internet
are not robots. They will respond with a pre-programmed action when a
certain combination of criteria is applied. They are people with ideas who
think critically, and who have become accustomed to having their say. While
a marketer must take every opportunity to promote their message, this does
not mean forcing it into every single conversation. Participants on social
networking sites will quickly identify the more ham-fisted efforts of some
marketers, and let their acquaintances know of their displeasure. A bad
reputation can spread quickly on the Internet - a certain St. Louis police
officer lost his job when a video of the officer abusing his authority was
posted to Google.
So the proper tactic is not to view these markets as simple places to
advertise, but places to converse. Simply popping onto Facebook and posting
a new product to every available group is a quick way to get noticed, and
disregarded as incompetent. On the other hand, a user could join several
groups with discussions pertaining to the subject of their personal
passions, and cultivate friendships and a reputation as a quality
commentator. Then, when they refer folks to their blog, they are more likely
to be taken seriously. Simple courtesy and respect for the groups can go a
long way to securing a few more hits per post.
In essence, SMM requires thought, persistence, and critical thinking just as
any other marketing campaign. It is not a short series of clever commercials
that can be aired for several months at a time, but a means of consistently
communicating, day in and day out, with a target audience. Good SMM must
provide constant, consistent content for its target markets and be prepared
to participate in a lot of give-and-take with an audience uniquely suited to
making their voices heard.
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Yahoo: webcraftguru@yahoo.co.za
Blog: http://webcraftws.blogspot.com/
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
I'm protected by SpamBrave
http://www.spambrave.com/
Comments