Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Social Media vs Marketing

                                                Image by davefleet

Joe sat in the meeting, dreaming wistfully of the days when he job as marketing director consisted entirely of identifying a market segment with unmet needs and organizing his company's marketing mix (products, distribution, pricing, and promotion) to satisfy those unmet needs better than his competitors. In other words, the good-old-days. Now this
twenty-something social media marketing consultant was telling him how his company's reputation and carefully crafted brand image were being threatened by something called the blogosphere. 

With each additional word from her, the last wisps of Joe's illusion of control over medium and message evaporated, leaving him only with the cold reality of the new order--the social Web. However, all is not lost for the Joe's of the world--if they realize and capitalize on the fundamental differences between traditional marketing and social media marketing. The very definition of conventional marketing screams the word control. In the past, the marketer control everything from the decisions of who to target and how to distribute to which mediums and messages to push out. But social media is like the Wild West, where the will of the crowd rules, with mob deciding what to discuss, where to discuss it, what to say, and when to say it. 

Nonetheless, by understanding the shift from control to influence, marketers like Joe can gain a foothold in a new dream--one where he can defend and possibly even enhance his company's reputation and brand image by contributing to the social Web with transparency, honesty, and a willingness to listen to the negative comments and address them in a timely manner. By relying on participation instead of interruption (i.e., advertising), Joe might be able to gain a far deeper respect for his company and its products that through conventional promotional methods.

But first, Joe must come to grips with the differences between traditional marketing and social media marketing. To help Joe (and other marketers), I have gathered together a collection of resources that explain in detail these differences. I look forward to hearing your comments about these differences and your own views of how social media and traditional marketing differ.

8 comments:

  1. I have been in marketing for over 10 years and recently lost my job. I am so exited to have found your blog - what a great resource, keep up the good work!

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  2. Jennifer--gosh, blush, thanks. Good luck with your job hunt!

    Melissa

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  3. Social media requires advertisers and marketers to completely shift the previous way of thinking. Traditional media is typically delivered through campaigns that have a definitive start and stop state. Social media doesn’t have an end date. It is an ongoing conversation between the advertiser and the customer.

    Why use social media? question can be answered in a myriad of ways. Put simply, social media is an easy and effective way to share, listen and gather valuable information with customers that are interested in your company.
    The major difference between the social media and traditional media is how messages are delivered and consumed.

    Traditional media delivers a single message through one way communication to the largest audience possible. It can deliver that message through any number of media, but that one message goes out while the advertiser waits and “hopes it sticks”.

    Social media delivers several messages through two way communication to an audience that is interested in the brand. Those messages may be delivered through blogs, twitter feeds or FB posts, but the goal of each message is to generate a response from the user

    ReplyDelete
  4. Social media requires advertisers and marketers to completely shift the previous way of thinking. Traditional media is typically delivered through campaigns that have a definitive start and stop state. Social media doesn’t have an end date. It is an ongoing conversation between the advertiser and the customer.

    Why use social media? question can be answered in a myriad of ways. Put simply, social media is an easy and effective way to share, listen and gather valuable information with customers that are interested in your company.
    The major difference between the social media and traditional media is how messages are delivered and consumed.

    Traditional media delivers a single message through one way communication to the largest audience possible. It can deliver that message through any number of media, but that one message goes out while the advertiser waits and “hopes it sticks”.

    Social media delivers several messages through two way communication to an audience that is interested in the brand. Those messages may be delivered through blogs, twitter feeds or FB posts, but the goal of each message is to generate a response from the user

    Filiz Yuce

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  5. There is no doubt that the social media offer the possibility of a two way communication between customers and companies. But companies cannot satisfy everybody’s requests. They have to sell a product with benefits and cannot increase costs in an excessive way in order to respond to the requests of different customers.

    Therefore, the traditional media still do a big service for companies. They offer a continuous message, forming opinion, and even causing people to realise of needs that they didn´t think they had. Then, the product that the company offers satisfies the needs of the most part of the customers.

    The social media are a good complement to this process, but in the hands of companies offering products they cannot have the full flexibility that the simple social use has. Of course, these companies will be closer to the people, but the real approach will depend of factors as the companies´ purpose and ability to satisfy new requests.

    Tathiane Locatelli

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  6. Tathiane--I totally agree, if a company fails to deliver on its promises, all the social media marketing in the world will not help it!

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  7. Social Media is such a huge improvement today in advertising that if a business doesn’t catch on they’ll be missing out. These articles brought up a lot of information on how businesses could save money and become more successful with customers through social marketing. Running a blog and speaking directly to customers is so much quicker than through advertisements and surveys. Even with negative comments it can be solved quickly and even gain more customer respect with quick and helpful responses.
    Marketing has evolved throughout the years with technology along with everything else. So it makes sense that a business is now going to have to change the way they market to customers now. It’s cool to see how businesses are changing their ways to advertise and make them into social networking.
    Norman Hansen

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  8. I really like the way you put things, it is kind of a hard concept to think that SMM is something that is going to be necessary in any business, that wants to make a name for itself and prosper.I think you put it in really simple words that any average person can understand.
    Not only do I think you put it very simply but I also agree with it, once its mastered it is going to be a useful tool
    Christian Phillips-Jimmy

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