Social Marketing - Don't Get Left Behind

Once upon a time, shortly after dinosaurs stopped walking the earth, the hard sell was invented, used, and probably all that was needed.  Without a lot of competition, Fred Flintstone could just stand on his doorstep screaming, “Buy from me.”Cavemen are out.  Social marketers are in.

Web 2.0

There’s a new web in town…and it’s making the “first generation” of the Internet more outdated by the minute.  It’s a phenomenon referred to as Web 2.0, but what exactly does it mean?

Web 2.0 is a phrase that was coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004.  It refers to a second generation of Web-based services that put the emphasis on online collaboration and sharing among user.  The heart and soul of Web 2.0 are:

• Social networking sites ─Places on the Internet where people meet in cyberspace to chat, socialize, debate, and network
• Wikis ─ Server programs that allow multiple users to contribute to a Website
• Social software ─ Web-enabled communications programs that allow users to interact, share, and meet other users
• Folksonomies ─ De-centralized, social approach to creating classification data

With the explosion of web 2.0, the use of social networking to traffic and improve sales is the order of the day.  BUT…the change of playing field requires a change of tactics.  In social networking, you must sell yourself, not your stuff.

Social Marketing Sells YOU, Not Products

Social networking websites were created for social purposes:  getting to know other people, chatting, exchanging ideas, and networking. They were created to help birds of a feather flock together…and give Internet surfers a way to connect with like-minded users. They are great for that purpose, and marketers, if they are smart, recognize it for its mind-blowing potential to deliver an almost limitless connections and opportunities to establish one-to-one relationships.

But again, what savvy marketers know that plain-vanilla marketers don’t is that you have to go into social networking websites as a person, not a business. People are there to meet and connect with other people, not be targeted by advertising.  As a matter of fact, one of the reasons people flock to social marketing sites is that they’re so sick and tired of being sold, sold, sold 24-hours-a-day.