from Grant Criddle • Interactive Marketing Now!
Many marketers get nervous around social networks and other new media because participation and engagement with consumers via the social web often can’t be directly tied to a specific outcome or a CPM. Some of the small business owners and professionals that I talk to have the same concerns.
My consistent response is that new media is not simply a new advertising medium to push your message with – it is an opportunity to genuinely engage your prospects and customers in a 2-way dialogue, to provide value and then reap the rewards of that effort over the course of time. It involves thinking in completely new ways, because the game has completely changed!
I just a read a post from Seth Godin (author of Tribes, Purple Cow and others) that nails this idea. He frames it in terms of “building platforms vs renting eyeballs,” and makes a strong argument that the work and potential costs involved in creating your own platform is far superior to attempting to leverage the platforms of others. I encourage you to read the entire post – Seth is always so insightful.
New Media changes the game, but it doesn’t change your business goals. That’s why it’s so important to assess where you are in terms of a web 2.0 world. Who your customers and prospects are, where they are, and how they behave are still important questions to ask. The new challenges involve finding creative means to engage them in this new connected landscape. Social networks and other new media tools can help you do that, you just need to first determine how to best utilize them for your particular business. Think outside the box.
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Filed under: Brand, Customer Service, Marketing Strategy, New Media, online marketing, Social Networks, advertising, cpm, grant criddle, marketing, New Media, platforms, social marketing, Social Networks, web 2.0
