Larry Weber kicked off the conversation by remarking that social media is the future of media, a logical evolution in Web technology and marketing. To illustrate the point, he noted that globally, there is no newspaper today that exceeds 2 million in circulation, while there are over 50 blogs with over 2 million readers (I've heard these numbers before, but it remains a hotly contested topic). The point is, social media is no longer a fringe activity, and sites in this category should be considered as part of your overall marketing communications arsenal.

The microsegmenting opportunity that social networks provide is huge: participants provide all kinds of detailed information in their profiles, from marital status, to income, location, job title, books/movie/food preferences and beyond. That's why MySpace has had success with hypertargeting messages to its 72 million users leveraging over one thousand segments that are based on their passions & interests. When describing the niche opportunities new media offers, Jeff Taylor from Eons noted that traditional media is typically "an inch deep and a mile-wide, whereas the Web is an inch wide and a mile deep." Regardless of the audience you seek, you can likely find them online and create a highly engaged community.

The trick is in figuring out how to leverage that information to provide relevant marketing messages within the bounds of commonly-accepted privacy principles. The advertising models for many of these sites are not as mature as you may find with other publishers who have been selling online inventory for some time. I think it's safe to say that's because most of these sites were created first and foremost to connect like-minded individuals - the idea of monetizing the huge audiences that formed around them came later.

B2B marketers like IBM have had luck in using social networks as collaboration tools, more so than promotional vehicles. Pauline Ores pointed to IBM's highly successful developer network, developerWorks, a technical resource for software developers, providing a wide range of tools, code, and education on IBM products as well as open source technologies. By tapping into the developers who work with these products on a daily basis, IBM is able to leverage the wisdom of the crowd to fine tune its product offering and technical support. She noted that the difference between B2B and B2C programs in this space is huge - while the latter may only require involvement from customers/prospects, the former is more likely to require regular involvement from the marketer's employee base, due to the technical nature of the conversations.

All panelists agreed that the key is for brands to enable these conversations, and social computing technologies as simply another way to build upon relationships with your clients and prospects.

I'd add the following considerations when developing a social media strategy:

1. Context. Think about the promotional vehicles you adopt in this space. Consider that social network participants are typically in an active mindset: they are uploading, downloading, chatting, commenting,  mashing-up, and forwarding interesting tidbits to friends. "Traditional" online advertising units like display ads can often get overlooked in this environment. Instead, think about ways to  educate, inform, and entertain through branded content. Also, not every social media program requires a free-standing community; in many cases, it could simply involve engaging your audience in the information delivery process by making social computing tools like bookmarking, commenting, and forward-to-a-friend readily available.

2. Transparency. The social media realm demands honesty and transparency. We've all seen the headlines about Walmart's blogging gone bad and the Facebook Beacon fiasco. Two very different scenarios but both point to the need to be open and straightforward with your community. Anything less and you will be found out. Be prepared to address difficult subjects, acknowledge when you don't have all the answers, and always maintain a sense of humor. As in face-to-face relationships, the best social media relationships grow from open, honest and sincere exchanges.

3. Success metrics.Social media is not about CPM, CPL, or CPC. It's about understanding your audience's engagement with your brand, no matter how small that audience is. Look at metrics like comments per post, subscriptions, downloads, forwards, and other indications that people are interacting with your content, message, and brand. As a recent Marketing Evolution study illustrated, the value of social nets comes primarily from the momentum (pass-along) effect. Lastly, don't forget that these communities can be a rich source of customer insights and the research alone could prove highly valuable.

4. Commitment and Patience. Like customer relationship management (or any relationship management), social media takes a certain amount of care and feeding. When entering the space, be prepared to address community comments/questions/issues in [near] real time. Even negative ones. Recognize that you are forging new paths, and issues may arise that you didn't plan for. As in public relations, have a crisis communications plan in place should you need it. And it's always a good idea to have a publicly available Terms of Use/Code of Conduct on your site that clearly establishes the goals and suggested guidelines for interacting with the community.

If there are any readers who would care to share their own insights and tips on social media, please share them in the comments field below. 

Related Posts:

The Social Marketing Challenge 

Transparency in Business