Between 2006 and 2009, there have been so many changes in how advertisers, media planners and clients view their marketing efforts!
Social media, viral marketing, customer experience, two-way communication about products and services, more transparency in how products and services are reviewed, mobile advertising, portable intelligent devices, games and gaming consoles as advertising platforms… the list goes on and on – and the target is constantly moving.
So where does someone who’s new to the game, or someone who’s completely confused about what to do and how much to spend, go?
The Razorfish Digital Outlook Report 2009 is easily the most insightful articulation of the changes we see in the online world today.
Razorfish Digital Outlook Report 2009
Not only are organizations modifying their budgets for a more digital skew, they’re changing the mix to less SEM and more social and interactive online media. As most marketers have predicted, top-down branding is losing significance and social media messages are resulting in increased influence in purchase decisions. Advertising on social networks isn’t doing very well, and while that will improve over the next 3 quarters, going after “influencers” is still paramount.
The one biggest take-away some marketers in India still haven’t completely got their hands around: If you want your brand to be well known, it should be visible and movable across media: TV, newsprint, magazines, niche publications, mobile, portals, discussion boards, social media, intranets and even down to your recruitment consultants. It’s not too late to start listening to conversations and participate in engaging customers across all these channels.
Seth Godin, in one of his brilliant “condensed wisdom” blog posts, says:
“Who should you listen to? The critics? The fans?
You should listen to the people who tell the most people about you. Listen to the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow.”
The best way to engage these hives is to take a huge dive into the social media space. Will it bring you more sales? Probably not directly – but if you take Dell as an example, that works too.
Unlike print and TV, social media needs a brand property that would come up naturally in social conversations. Vodafone’s zoozoos are an obvious example, but not a whole lot of other brands have a property with talk-value. Especially B2B brands. Companies that wish to do well with social media need to find a virable idea first. It’s amazing how many brands go to Facebook with a screaming “Here’s my USP. Look at me!” message.
Agreed! B2B organizations have inherent challenges when dealing with new channels, usually due to the proprietary and confidential data involved. Plus, some of the campaigns that end up trying to “get” social media turn out to be either too artificial or uninteresting when placed in a many-to-many conversation.
Here’s an interesting post on why a company should not tweet – and can be translated into “why a company should not use social media”… Love the last point.
http://www.whatsnextblog.com/archives/2009/04/top_10_reasons_your_company_should_not_tweet.asp