subject: "John have you ever made money with social networks"? [print this page] "John have you ever made money with social networks"?
I hear that a lot from people. Ironically, this question usually comes from marketing people, who you would think have a better understanding of how social media works. It also tells me how much the person understands SM, or uses it.
The whole SM explosion is red hot with media buzz. I am sure if you took a survey of all different forms of media, from print to broadcast. It would be almost impossible not find at least one article or news feature, about a person or company that didn't involve SM in some way.
I thought it was BS.
Honestly, a few years ago I thought it was all BS, like many of my colleagues. But now I am a believer in its power as a marketing tool. What caused this personal transformation for me? A little personal experimentation and some serious reading made me a convert.
The world is becoming a one to one universe for commerce and discourse. Mass merchandising has been dying a slow death for some time. The customer is now in charge. SM is the ideal way to keep in touch with your current or prospective new customers.
Customers went berserk.
A great example of the awesome clout of SM is recently when the GAP stores decided to update its logo. (Why I don't know? I thought it was a classic.) Their SM fans, or customers went berserk and violently complained in the SM. That alone was enough to have the Gap back off and keep their "old" logo just the way it is.
You can bet this will become a classic business story, about the power of SM. Extend this logic further and maybe it's not about making more sales and money, but keeping your current customers (fans) happy. Now that's a bankable idea.
A very potent tool.
For all those people who still don't believe in SM. Get over it and get with it. As a marketing tool it has unique and distinct features. You need to learn how to use it, and understand where it fits into the marketing plan. SM can be a very potent tool, but you need to read the instruction manual first.
