By Sean Ashcroft
IF YOU crave company, where do you head -- the local pub or the launderette? Businesses crave company, that of customers and clients, but while traditional marketing takes them to the launderette, social media marketing whisks them off to the Red Lion, into a world of fireside chats and bonhomie. Sort of.
Using social media as a marketing tool. 1: TV ads at newspaper rates
Above the line advertising is horribly expensive, and regardless of what shape it takes, it can only ever be a broadcast -- to an audience that increasingly wishes you hadn't bothered. Check out this report from world-leading market research media group, IDC.
Traditional advertising is like trying to converse with the grumpy old matron running the launderette. She’d ogled you disapprovingly, before even clocking your moderately to heavily soiled laundry.
Using social media as a marketing tool. 2 Don’t shout, converse
Social media marketing is not a broadcast, but a conversation, one with people you are drawn to, and who are drawn to you. It’s like being in a lovely pub, with lovely people.
If as a business you are failing to engage in these conversations, you ought to explore the benefits of Web 2.0 -- now. Don't wait until your competitors are turning your customers' heads, by engaging them in conversations that you should be having.
Using social media as a marketing tool. 3. It's good to talk
Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr are becoming increasingly numerous and popular. Together with blogging, they now part of the fabric of modern living.
We have never been more connected as a race, so if your business is disconnected, where does this leave you? Not conversing is not an option in modern business.
About the author
Sean Ashcroft is MD of zyzzyva, the final word in social media journalism for businesses. Our articles about using social media as a marketing tool give you a snapshot of what we offer. Contact us for a sample social media marketing plan.
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02/02/2010
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