The Social Marketing Challenge
What's with all of these social networking sites? They're growing at an unprecedented rate. In fact, if you don't yet have a profile on MySpace or Facebook – or some other social networking site – well, then you are still stuck in Web 1.0. That is, unless, you blog, use wikis, Flickr, subscribe to RSS feeds, or post your own videos to YouTube. It’s Web 2.0 pandemonium out there!
Recently, I decided to get in on the action and set up a Facebook profile. It did not take long to realize that Facebook is not just a community of college students, but a rapidly growing favorite for millions of post-college professionals. The user numbers are staggering. According to ComScore, Facebook was the 16th most trafficked web site in September, garnering over 30 million unique visitors. Back in July 2006, it was the 48th most trafficked site with only 14 million uniques. Not only is Facebook highly visited, it is highly sticky. In fact, it's addictive. So, how do I, as a marketer, leverage it for my clients as a marketing tool?
This is a challenging proposition. Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites out there are run by their members. These members control the content and do not want to be marketed to. Members choose who and what they interact with. They are highly viral and extremely influential, but they are the ones who decide if your brand and product is worth a darn. If you try to tell them you're "cool" they will tell you that you are very "uncool." So, what's a marketer to do?
You can not put any controls on the masses who live in the Web 2.0 world. What you as a marketer can control is the interactions customers have with your brand. You can look at your marketing efforts and ask: Does our advertising resonate with our prospects and customers? Is our messaging being delivered to the right users, in the right place, at the right time? Are all user experiences with our brand positive - on our Website, in store and on the phone? Does our product or service live up to its billing? Are our customer service folks treating our customers and prospects how they should be treated? Are we giving existing customers a reason to stay loyal?
If you are doing all of these things well, your customers will want to champion your brand for you. Users will talk about you in communities, chats, videos, on their profiles (maybe they'll even put up your branded widget!), and in blogs. They will drive better organic search results for your brand and increase your click and conversion rates. They will be the reason your banner and video ads generate higher response rates – click and view-based. Most importantly, they will increase your overall marketing efficiency and improve your bottom line.
You see, it's simple. Successful social network marketing is not much different than how we marketed in the Web 1.0 world or pre-WWW days. You still have to focus on the fundamentals and consistently do them well.
Still, there has to be an innovative way to slyly infiltrate the networks and influence their users. If you think you have a solution, please visit my new Facebook page and write on my Wall!
