How Social Media will Change Marketing
Right now all of Marketing is hip-deep in the assimilation of Social Media principles.
While there will be laggards, companies of all sizes are thinking about blogging and microblogging … They are reconsidering budgets to emphasize content production … They are at the very least starting to listen intently to the voices that discuss their brand; they are investing in monitoring tools and discussing techniques for engagement.
With all this hubbub, many marketers are wondering about what the “loss of control” will mean to their company, and even to their own employment. How heavily should they invest in this Social Media stuff?
Meanwhile, some have argued, pretty convincingly, that the volume of chatter about Social Media has risen a li’l too quickly. The carpetbaggers are coming to town.
So on the one hand: huge pressure to conform to the Wisdom of Crowds. On the other hand: maybe all this new-agey stuff about the loss-of-control is getting out of control?
When this storm has finished wreaking its havoc, what will be left? Will there still be a PR industry? Will we still produce professional thirty-second tv commercials? Will we still have telemarketers and direct mail and email marketing campaigns?
Yes, Virginia, there will be a job in Marketing.
Humanization – customization – adaptation. These are the watchwords for the future.
The faceless corporation will be “humanized” – that’s what blogging, tweeting, etc., are engendering. Consumers will become as loyal to a brand’s employees as they had been to its excellent products.
Tomorrow’s marketers will embrace human2human interactions as a means to communicate the good/bad about their brand. This humanization process will create goodwill that attracts new buyers and will comfort the loyalists when stuff goes awry. In fact, those loyalists will become the brand’s staunchest defenders.
“Customization” – it’s all about giving the people EXACTLY what they want: each one of ‘em. In a globalized commercial society, plain folks have an earnest desire to be respected for their individuality.
So you’ll still send an email blast, but rather than being mass-produced, it will be mass-customized, to meet the predetermined, opt-in preferences of the consumer targets. Some folks will only want to hear from the brand if the communique comes with a coupon; some will want to hear about latest products, etc.
“Adaptation” – Social Media and other technology innovations are going to force those traditional marketing tools and techniques to change; ironically, more and more marketing activities will migrate online, to support more effective humanization and customization.
This is happening already. For example, advertisers are seriously researching ways to ensure that their 30–second commercials still have impact when viewed in fast-forward mode (i.e., on digital video recorder like Tivo).
I’m no futurist, but I play one in the blogosphere. And while we’re engaged in the current upheaval, I see nothing but opportunity for tomorrow’s marketers.
Continue reading here: Beauty of the Brainstorm
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