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Social networks - Have the hunted become the hunters

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Why do some marketers still shy away from social networks?

Its funny how things can take such a flip turn in just a few years. I have seen how marketing concepts have transitioned along with the evolving internet. The greatest difference in the emergence of social media as a marketing medium is that 5-10 years ago marketers would be the ones with the lists. Marketing would be a one-way communication of messages from companies to consumers. They would work off a database of customers to find ways of penetrating them. TVCs, Radio Ads, Publications, Direct mail, Cold calling etc were all a core part of all marketing activities. The impact of the Ads was difficult to gauge.

Google search engines have turned the hunted into the hunters. Consumers now work off a list of merchants or providers and through a substantial supply of information to choose from. They decide who to listen to, trust and buy from. They are more empowered and in many ways less gullible. More access to information makes them wiser and better decision-makers.

This information gets to them via search engines and community based platforms. Search engines run algorithms to parse through information and show it to the consumers. On the other hand, community based platforms are enabled by elements of social interaction. Humans (not machines) filter content based on preferences and popularity. It is us who sort the information to protect our networks from poor choices.

Its the hunted who now have the power - the merchants must win over the prey if they want the prey to endorse whatever they are peddling & invite their social network to embrace it. To some naive marketers these facts represent a nightmare, which it is not. If you use social media effectively and not for spamming, a marketers cost of sales can drop considerably. Not only that, we now have the power to leverage mob-effects, community shifts, emotional linkages - all using simple social networking strategies.

If you are event marketers or promoters you can now directly interact with your audiences and get a direct feel for their thoughts and opinions. You can get early feedback. You can involve them in planning the different dynamics of the event. You can create groups and communities around your event to help build hype and excitement. You can let evangelists and fans promote your event for you. You can allow your prospective audiences to blog about your event. You can enable live twittering at the event. You can allow them to share photos of the after its over to build lasting memories and nostalgia.

Get creative.

Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)

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  • It’s the consumers who now have the power - the merchants must win over the consumer if they want them to endorse whatever they are peddling & invite their social network to embrace it. This is great news! To some naive marketers these facts represent a nightmare, which it is not. Change always has a way of opening the playing field to new and better opportunities and at the same time closing the doors on the rigid.
  • jendara
    The new way of marketing has a wonderful checks and balance that has lacked in previous decades. Just like a country that has long been abused and suppressed and then rebels and wins over a new government, the new social media creates that for all of us that have been abused and bombarded with every trickery and deception that advertisers and marketers have used. We now feel a new justice coming that we won't patronize anything but honest companies that listen to their customers voice and see them as people not just a dollar sign.
  • Marketers and sales people do have the name of being aggressive and invading space they don't belong in. In the online world that is called spamming. It is wonderful to know that that is not tolerated in the social media landscape. Unfortunately, not tolerated and not happening are two different things. It is still happening on a continuous basis. Despite the fact that the hunted have become the hunters. I am hopeful that, with the maturing of the social media sites, spamming will become less and less prevalent.
  • ThereseLeigh
    I honestly think people are still afraid of the unknown. It is our job to ensure that this level of marketing is true to it's word...which is why we have you dear Simon to learn and explain just how effective this form can be....«»
  • Your "you can" list in this post is SUCH a jack-hammer of creative juice-flow inducing inspiration! And JUST as importantly, EACH of these statement starts off with the world's most empowering words: You CAN. It's like that old sales adage: Get 'em used to saying yes before you ask 'em to buy. Here the reader gets used to "You CAN" and automatically, after hearing those words mentally while reading a FULL SEVEN times, begins adding to that list and before they know it, a list (their OWN list) of "I CANs" forces their hand to grab a pen to capture the FLOOD of ideas about WHAT and HOW they CAN give a GREAT party; HOW they can get people interested; HOW they can become successful through the proper use of Social Media Tools.

    Ah, Simon, how DEEP is your fount? You're certainly a walking, breathing, writing example of a niche marketer who's that inch wide and miles deep you've repeatedly advised each of us to become. Your thought meals are ALWAYS *so* rich! A humble Thanks seems so much LESS than enough...

    Well, I for one HAVE heard you when you say THE currency in the Social Media Marketing Sphere is INFLUENCE. That is, one's value here is strictly measured in terms of just how many committed people listen to the marketer AND act on that marketer's suggestions.

    In this way, you make the end-result WHY-Do-What in marketing crystal clear! Marvelous, Simon, just MARVELOUS the level of clarity you bring to the table! I remain amazed and grateful for being in the space with you as my Guide.

    Peace and Love and MORE Power to you, Simon
    DeeJay
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