Social media speaks volumes but are you listening?
Dec 13, 2007 Michael BritoI recently discovered the below image from Deborah Schultz’s blog where she wrote about the importance of relationships and its impact on branding. I agree with her position that it’s not necessarily about marketing but how you relate to your customers.
To me, this is a clear representation of how social media differs from that of traditional media; direct marketing, advertising, public relations and its overall impact on branding.
As I mentioned many times before, consumers are tired of being marketed to. They are fed up with the millions and millions of marketing messages that are thrown in their faces and computer monitors everyday. And, even when these messages are coming from a third party (Cnet, Techrunch, NYTimes), there is still no guarantee as to the authenticity of the message.
And…as I continue to repeat myself again and again, consumers are talking.They are having conversations online and offline about brands. They are sharing their experiences with each other; and they are either praising your brand or tearing it a apart like a pit bull. And, it’s almost a guarantee that if it’s the latter, they are telling more than one person about it. This is the kind of viral marketing that you don’t really want to be viral.
We all know that social media is new and changing everyday; but one thing is for certain. There are conversations going on right now about your product, service, brand, your CEO or whoever. Are you listening? Are you going to join the conversation? Because if you do, it’s quite possible that great things may lie ahead!
Image Disclosure: The first image was recreated from here; which originated from here. I created the second one.
Technorati Tags: social media, conversational marketing
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December 13th, 2007 at 7:04 am
haha..love the image man! You never cease to amaze me with your creativity!
It seems to me that you think marketing and advertising are going away...kind of hard to agree with you when I am managing a search (and display) campaign with a VERY strong ROI.
Have you been reading Al Ries again?
Jason
December 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Awesome post Brito
I don't read it that way Jason, I liken it more to a strong point to be made to the Big Brands that refuse to support SMO, viral, and other online opportunities such as reviews. Get involved and take advantage of ignore them at your peril because like it or not, people talk about you and you don't control your brand, they do.
December 14th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Paul!!! Whoa, this is your first time here? jk.
Yo Jason...c'mon man. Search and display are definitely here to stay...but you will never be able to create “brand loyalists” from a search ad or banner. There is a time and place for everything, including social media and how you as the marketer participate with it.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Hey Michael - thanks for the link love - and great blog --yet another one to add to the feed!
Cheers,
D
December 17th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Good idea that's kind of why I responded to your last post to me. Michael Dell did something similar by responding to a popular angry blogger - which eventually gave them some good publicity.
On a slightly different note - business networking on Myspace is not really panning out for me traffic wise. I'll prob keep trying it for a while yet since it's seems like the place to be.
Mike, question. What is a good way for us to build an affiliate network for our site ? We are trying to use the "Ultimate Affiliate" software to find new partners. Let me know what tips you may have. Hope the comment is ok. Thanks.
DemosSoft.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:46 am
A lot of talking... But how's buying?
January 18th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Dear sir,
I am brazilian, my mother language is portuguese, my second, english, i have a site about marketing in english, and would like to have your opinion as you are a specialist. all your readers are also wellcome. the url is: http://mktportal.blogspot.com
Thanks in advance
best regards
Daniel
February 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Great added photo! Social media is definitely on the rise as it can make or break a business more than their own advertising.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Love the photo! seen it on digg before bus still great.