Day 2: What Am I Doing?

As I start my own Social Marketing consultancy, I'll be blogging the journey. For those interested in voyeuristically or vicariously taking the adventure with me, I welcome your company. #onward

Two questions I am being constantly asked (and am asking myself) lately:

1. What does your business do?
2. What exactly is "Social Marketing"?

Though I am very sure that the answers will evolve over time, some parts expanding and others tightening up, I'm going to spend the next few blog posts discussing these questions. I'm going to designate this blog as a working draft, so grab a grain of salt and put away the red pens; I know it's the internet, but there's no point in claiming any permanence this early in the game.

So what exactly is "Social Marketing"? I'm resisting the temptation to run to Google to find out how others have defined the term, partly because I don't want to be influenced by other talking heads and partly because I probably won't agree with many of them. It's the nature of mapping an evolving land...we don't often agree on the geography or boundaries. And that's ok. Just consider me another early cartographer adding to the collective conscious, perhaps getting things a little less right than the next guy but a little more right than the last guy.

In my worldview, Social Marketing has two very important characteristics:

1. a recognition of the power and importance of your customers, their voice, and their interactions (we'll call this "Social");
2. a strategic effort to listen and interact with your customers, harness the power of "Social" to better meet the needs of your customers, and encourage social interactions that focus primarily on your customers ("Marketing").

In short, Social Marketing is putting your current and potential customers (be they consumers, community members, employees, or other) at the very center of your online and offline marketing efforts.

(Offline? Absolutely. But that's a topic for another post.)

It continues to be fascinating to watch the evolution (and I mean rapid, rapid evolution) of this new marketing world. Evolution in this space is an absolute which means that being ahead of the curve (rather than on the sidelines) is paramount to future success. The rules have already changed (and might change again tonight or tomorrow night), so right now is a great time to start thinking toward a social marketing plan (mapping out objectives, strategies, and tactics) for your organization.

Instead of a brand message --> consumer machine-gun approach (buy up tons of ad time, push the message as much as possible, hope that our ideal customers hear/see it and that it sinks in), we are racing toward a flow that is much too complicated for me to represent here (note to self: graphic that up). 

But you can imagine it: consumers talking with and about brands, brands seeking out and engaging with consumers, consumers talking with each other in person and online, consumers generating content for brands (some incented, some not), consumers providing highly-relevant, highly-public feedback (some brand-sponsored, some not)...it's the friggin Wild West. And it's awesome.

It's the rise of the consumer voice, which means it's a great time to be a consumer. (But note, there is karma involved. The consumer --> brand is not a one-way street, and you must be prepared to give as you get, and vice versa. Another future post.)

What brands need to recognize is that consumers are writing reviews, checking in, tagging, taking pictures of, discussing, loving, hating, debating, and sharing experiences about your brand (and no brand is exempt, even your personal brand) constantly via social channels. Yes, that can be completely scary and overwhelming...but it's also a rich, rich goldmine (but trespassers just might be shot on sight, so tread lightly...another post for another day).

Perhaps Social Marketing is modern-day alchemy. If you want to turn nickel into gold, traditional marketing will fail you. Social, on the other hand, is where the magic can truly happen. Your customers can (and will) help you transform dreary to dazzling, if you gain their trust; you just need to empower them to do so.

(Per usual, I have wandered off of my original blog-path and mixed several metaphors along the way. Sorry. I have a lot on my mind and a lot of opinions on this particular matter.)

So what is Social Marketing? Easy. It's a call for brands to recognize the importance of, and pay holistic attention to, the customer voice, while also empowering a conversation- and connection-culture that uplifts both parties (both consumer and brand).

Ok, ok...it's actually a bit more complicated than that. But Hello Social, LLC...we can help. (winky-face)

As of today, gold is worth $1655 an ounce. Do you know how many nickels that represents? Over 33,000. For my money, I'm betting on the customer.

shanti,

mjh