Historically marketers have focused on delivering aparticular message, to a predefined target audience,with the aim of eliciting a specific response. Con-sumers were sometimes consulted in the process, ofcourse – through market research, consumer surveys,focus groups and the like – but by and large themarketing tended to be ‘show and tell’ in nature, theconsumer’s role that of a passive recipient of informationpeddled by the marketer.Now, thanks to the increasingly interactive nature ofthe internet and a shift in the way people are consum-ing media, all of that is changing.Consumers are talking, just as they always have, onlynow they’re talking online to more extensive groupsof their peers. The conversations they’re havingseamlessly transcend geographical, temporal andcultural boundaries.Marketing too is evolving rapidly to become more ofa conversation than a lecture. Progressive marketersrealize that, to be heard in today’s interactive world,they need to participate in that conversation – and, ofcourse, if you want to get the most out of any conver-sation, you have to spend part of your timelistening.Through blogs, wikis, social bookmarking,online discussions, social networks, peer review sitesand other online media, we have the potential to fos-ter a much more productive and meaningful relation-ship with our customers, to gain powerful insight intotheir perceptions of our products, services and brand,and allow them to contribute and collaborate in ourbusinesses in ways that were never possible before.Understanding social media demands a paradigmshift for the marketer. PR and marketing people haveto realize that their target audience is, in fact, nolonger an audience at all. They are now active partic-ipants in a constantly evolving debate; it’s a debate inwhich online marketers can’t afford to sit on the side-lines.Social media is the umbrella term for web-based soft-ware and services that allow users to come togetheronline and exchange, discuss, communicate and par-ticipate in any form of social interaction. That interac-tion can encompass text, audio, images, video andother media, individually or in any combination. It caninvolve the generation of new content; the recommen-dation of and sharing of existing content; reviewingand rating products, services and brands; discussingthe hot topics of the day; pursuing hobbies, interests

and passions; sharing experience and expertise andso on.A huge range of websites now leverage elements of so-cial media to engage with their audience, and somebase their entire business model around the burgeoningpopularity of online social media, user participationand user-generated content (UGC).One of the biggest misconceptions about social mediais that it is a new phenomenon. Online social interac-tion has been around from the beginning. Pre-datingthe web by some two decades, bulletin board services(BBSs) and online services like CompuServe andProdigy allowed users to post messages online forother members to read and respond to, Usenet news-groups (early internet discussion groups) allowed like-minded participants to exchange views about all sortsof topics, e-mail discussion lists did the same, InternetRelay Chat (IRC) introduced real-time chat into themix, and browser-based forums and chat roomsbrought the discussion on to the web. All of these areSocial media.What has changed over recent years is the reach andpenetration of these social media technologies, theiradoption into the everyday lives of a mainstreamaudience, and the proliferation of user-generated con-tent and peer-to-peer interaction that’s resulting fromit. In the past online discussion was generally restric-ted to early adopters: technologists who felt comfor-table interacting over the net and who had thetechnical skills to understand clumsy, often dull userinterfaces to accomplish their goals. Today though,anyone can participate through slick, well-designed, browser-based user interfaces that adopt conventionsthat everyone is comfortable with. The proliferation of social media is a natural extensionof increasing levels of internet usage and the pene-tration of always-on broadband access. As more peo-ple head online and start weaving the internetseamlessly into the fabric of their daily lives, it’s onlynatural that they bring the very human need to interactand belong with them. For many marketers the thought of venturing into thisopenly interactive, consumer-championed world canbe daunting. The rules here aren’t dictated by mar-keters, but by consumers – media-savvy consumerswho can spot marketing hype a mile away. It’s adynamic, unpredictable world, and extremely risky forthe online marketers.

Social media and online marketing

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Lect.univ.dr. Daniel CIUREL English for Digital Media Course 7

Social media marketing (SMM) is fundamentallyabout choosing to participate in online conversationsand strive to have a positive influence on its direction. One thing is certain: your customers are alreadytalking to each other online; they’re talking about yourindustry, your competition, your company, your brandand other topics that are relevant to what you do. Theconversation is happening, regardless of whether youchoose to get involved or not. Surely it’s better to beaware of what’s being said, to listen, engage and fos-ter relationships with these communities, rather thanwondering from the periphery.Effective social media marketing is about leaving thesledgehammer approach to product promotion athome. Stop beating your prospects over the head withthe cudgel of marketing hyperbole and instead workto develop your skills in the subtler art of consumerengagement. Find out what people are interested inand what they’re talking about, and then provide use-ful information, advice and content for them. Talk tothem, not at them, and above all listen to them. If youmanage to do that effectively, then social media canhave an incredibly positive impact on your organiza-tion’s online profile.Just how deep you choose to go in the social mediamarketing game will depend a lot on your business,your customers, your goals and your overall digitalmarketing strategy. But there really is something outthere for everyone. Here are just some of the potentialbenefits of engaging with your customers through on-line social channels:

Stay informed: Find out what your customersreally think. Get invaluable insight into their perceptionof your products, services, brands, industry and moregeneral topics of interest. Knowing your customers isthe key to effective digital marketing – and engagingwith them on a social platform can be incrediblyrevealing, without being intrusive.

Raise your profile: By engaging proactivelythrough social media you appear responsive and canbuild your reputation as an authoritative and helpfulplayer in your field of expertise.

Level the playing field: Focus groups, market re-search surveys and other offline methods of gaugingconsumer sentiment are expensive and can be wellbeyond the means of smaller businesses. Now anyorganization can immerse itself in the social web todiscover what consumers are talking about and howthey feel, with little or no financial outlay.

Influence the influencers: Often the people whoare most active in social media circles will be the ele-ment of your target market who can be classified as

influencers. While small in number compared to themarket as a whole, these influential individuals havealready gained the trust and respect of their onlinepeers, and fostering their good opinion can have adisproportionate impact on your broader online repu-tation.

Nurture brand advocacy: By engaging positivelywith people who already have a positive attitude toyour brand, you can nurture passionate brand evan-gelists who will voluntarily advocate your organizationthrough online social media.

Pass it on: One of the most powerful aspects ofsocial media is its capacity for viral propagation. It’sthe online equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing,except that online the word can travel further, faster.Whether it’s a video on YouTube, a high-profile newsstory about your company or a post on your blogthat’s picked up and distributed by your readers, if ithits the right note, suddenly it’s everywhere, and yourprofile soars. If you get it right, there’s no more effec-tive way to promote your business.

The wisdom of the crowd: You know what theysay: two heads are better than one. Well, hundreds,or even thousands, of heads are better still. Smartcompanies realize that by harnessing the collectiveintelligence of online communities they can find an-swers to some of their most challenging businessproblems. Getting input from online communitiesusing social media is affordable and effective. As wellas helping to solve real business dilemmas it can alsohelp you to make more informed research, design anddevelopment decisions based on what customersactually want. The online use the collective intelligence is calledcrowdsourcing. There is another concept that movesforward the online collaboration: tribesourcing.Tribesourcing is having not everyone involved; muchless but focused set of folks doing the sourcing.Tribesourcing represents the future of crowdsourcing;the deep connection between technology infrastruc-ture and processes and a community (tribe). As wemove to a more networked world where we are allconnected in real time, the possibilities for sourcingresources (money, volunteers, ideas etc) using the In-ternet becomes increasingly more effective.Tribesourcing represents the evolution of the crowd-sourcing model; one that recognizes that your organ-ization is situated within a broader community ofrelationships that understand and align with yourorganizations.We are moving from UGC (User Generated Content)to CGC (Crowd Generated Content) and to TGC(Tribe Generated Content).

Social media, then, offers a wealth of opportunity forconsumer engagement and building brand aware-ness, but in such an open and dynamic space it’scritical to consider what you’re doing carefully. Socialmedia is consumer driven, and the very characteris-tics that makes it such an enticing proposition for mar-keters – the interconnected nature of onlineconsumers, and the staggering speed at which infor-mation traverses the network – can just as easilybackfire.The ‘rules’ of social media are really about applying abit of common sense to what are essentially humanrelationships. The key thing to remember is that thisis social media – people are going online to interactand exchange information and content with similar,like-minded people.They’re unlikely to be interested in your latest salespitch, and they’re certainly not interested in promo-tional hype. They want interesting, fun, informative,witty, addictive – whatever turns them on. When itcomes to social media, you’re not just sending out amessage; you’re inviting a response, and what youget might not be quite what you’re expecting.You need a plan to engage in social media marketing,but you also need to be flexible and respond to thecommunity.

Draw on what you already know: You already havea wealth of knowledge about your customers – whothey are, what they like to do and where they hangout offline. OK, so one of the main reasons you’re get-ting involved in social media is to get to know them alittle better – but the point is that you’re not going intothis blind. Use that knowledge: apply what youalready know about your customers, your businessand your brand to your social media strategy. As youlearn more, refine what you’re doing accordingly.

Don’t jump in unprepared: Have a clear plan beforeyou start – know who you’re trying to engage with andwhat you want to achieve. Define ways to gauge andmeasure your success, with frequent milestones tohelp keep you on track. But remember to be flexible,and modify your plan in response to community feed-back.

Look, listen and learn: Before you engage in socialmedia marketing, spend some time ‘lurking’ (hangingaround without contributing). Familiarize yourself withthe different types of social media sites that you planto target. Go and use the sites; read the blogs; im-merse yourself in the media. Look, listen and learn.Just as in real life, every online community is different.Familiarize yourself with the various nuances beforeyou dive in.

Be open, honest and authentic: Nowhere is theterm ‘full disclosure’ more appropriate than in socialmedia. Don’t go online pretending to be an indepen-dent player extolling the virtues of your brand (astro-turfing*). You will get found out, and when you do your

company will go viral for all the wrong reasons. Thereare some high-profile examples of companies gettingthis spectacularly wrong, with disastrous results.Never pretend to be someone or something you’renot.

Be relevant, interesting and entertaining: Every-thing you do should add value to the community, aswell as moving you towards your business goals. Behelpful; be constructive; be interesting and entertain-ing. Join the conversation, and offer valuable, autho-ritative and considered advice. Make a real effort toengage with the community on their terms, and you’llusually find them more than happy to engage with youin return.

Don’t push out a spammy message: Don’t join so-cial media sites just to submit a mass of links andpush information about your own products or flood thecommunity with posts on why your company is thebest thing since sliced bread. It smacks of spam andadds nothing to the conversation. At best, the com-munity will ignore you. At worst, well, we’re back tothe negative viral effect again.

Respect ‘rules’: If the site you’re frequenting haspolicies, guidelines and rules, read them and abideby them.

Respect people: Always be respectful to your fellowcommunity members. That doesn’t mean you alwayshave to agree with them; healthy debate is good inany community. When you do disagree, though, al-ways be polite and respectful of other people. Theyhave as much right to their opinion as you do to yours.Don’t get personal.

Respond to feedback: If users give you feedback,that’s invaluable. Let them know that you appreciateit and that you’re interested in what they have to say.Be responsive, and show them how you’ve used thatfeedback constructively.

* Astroturfing is a form of advocacy in support of a political,organizational, or corporate agenda, designed to give theappearance of a "grassroots" movement. The goal of suchcampaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political or com-mercial entity as an independent public reaction to anotherpolitical entity—a politician, political group, product, serviceor event. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand ofsynthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.

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Lect.univ.dr. Daniel CIUREL English for Digital Media Course 7

References (Courses 1-7):

1. Chris Anderson, The Long Tail, 2006, New York, Hyperion2. Rob Brown, Public Relations and the Social Web, 2009, London, Kogan Page3. Andrew Dewdney and Peter Ride, The New Media Handbook, 2006, New York, Routledge4. Timothy Garrand, Writing for Multimedia and the Web, 2006, London, Focal Press5. Shel Holtz, Public Relations on the Net, 2002, New York, AMACOM6. David Meerman Scott, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, 2010, Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.7. David Phillips and Philip Young, Online Public Relations, 2009, London, Kogan Page8. Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones, Understanding digital marketing, 2009, London, Kogan Page

www.mindjumpers.comwww.shiftcomm.comwww.socialbakers.com

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Lect.univ.dr. Daniel CIUREL English for Digital Media Course 7