Engage, Don't Market

This week we’re taking a slightly different direction in the blog and looking at the paradigm shift that is occurring in the field of marketing as a result of social media’s rise in popularity. More theoretical than usual, but equally important to grasp when starting out in Social Media Campaigns.

Traditionally, marketing and advertising were (and to a large extent still are) dominated by top-down processes. Executive decisions filter down to marketing and advertising teams who then construct campaigns meant to maintain a high degree of control, all leading toward very direct opinion shaping and stimulating consumer action (i.e., buying).

Unfortunately for traditional marketers the consumer voice has been given a platform to rival that of the marketer. Here potential customers interact, give and take, in a neutral environment where marketers are quickly sniffed out and banned.

WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

Currently marketing has the negative connotation discussed above: that of forcing opinions and decisions onto ‘consumers’. Individuals engaged in social media are increasingly wary of ‘marketese’ and blatant advertising. People want to discuss products, share opinions, and be noticed; they don’t want to be force-fed.

Further, individuals who may have been regarded as consumers in the past are taking on the role of the ‘brand advocate’. Customers listen to each other more than they listen to advertisers. A very distinct mentality has already emerged, and marketing approaches which fail to respect this fact are almost seen as archaic by those same customers.

The emergence of consumer rating sites is evidence of the shift away from force-fed marketing. Why listen to a marketing campaign about a trip to Dubai when one can go on Travelocity and get the opinions of similar individuals that have just been?

ENGAGEMENT

What we recommend and how we operate is from a bottom-up approach. The focus is on grassroots campaigns, meaningful discussions, and customer engagement. Customer Engagement, not Marketing!

So how do you get involved in an online discussion without marketing? The first and most important step is to accept the fact that you are not participating simply to get more clients. If you enter social media with that mindset, you are already taking two steps back without even taking a single step forward.

The key to Customer Engagement stems from listening to the customer’s needs and effecting change that can satisfy these needs (informational, technological or simply providing sympathy). Continual satisfaction of these needs will lead to the rise in your status within a community and ultimately establishment as an expert in the given field.

Once established you need to continue participating in open discussions, willing to learn as much as you teach. Expertise is a continuous learning experience and failure to continue participating, evolving, and collaborating will undermine the potential for further meaningful engagement in the future.

Furthermore, creating valuable experiences for users increases the likelihood of the sentiment being passed on – for example ‘re-tweeted’.

“Through Engagement your interactions become more personal and, as we know, personalization leads to a longer lasting impression.” –Nikita Logachev

ODDS AND ENDS

There are a few more issues that we want to touch on to paint the complete picture.

We are starting to see how standard (print) media is starting to act as a portal for social media. You get posters, T-shirts and signs that simply lead you to a single link or Twitter username (@SocialTrending). This is not meant to sound as a prelude to the demise of standard media. On the contrary – the possibilities for synergy between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ approaches are just starting to be explored.

Brand advocates are more likely to have a positive impact than a PPC campaign. We have seen a perfect example of this in last year’s presidential campaigns. Although a few candidates’ campaigns engaged in all the right platforms (specifically Barrack Obama and Ron Paul), it wasn’t the engagement itself that made all the difference. The social media presence and participation acted as a catalyst for the emergence of independent ‘brand activists’ which carried the campaigns forward by their own free will.

All rights, that's this weeks overview from us.

Get… engaged?

Comments

[Oliver Nassar]

Insightful post. Especially:

"Customers listen to each other more than they listen to advertisers. A very distinct mentality has already emerged, and marketing approaches which fail to respect this fact are almost seen as archaic by those same customers."

What really surprises me is how slow standard media is becoming aware of this. Some of the larger, more mainstream outlets, have come to understand the way social media can be used, but for the most part, a lot of the legacy ones are become legacy. Every week there is a news paper that goes under, largely to do with the fact that the ability to create meaningful, original content has shifted from an organization with a great deal of overhead (eg. newspaper, television network) to an individual with a create idea (eg. via twitter, friend feed, blog, facebook). I agree that there is a possibility for a synergy between 'old' and 'new' media, but I just hope that the 'old' media is willing to accept the paradigm shift in front of them. It's very difficult to change the patterns of a large, well-established, organization.

Let me know your thoughts.
Oliver Nassar