“What do you know about New Media / Social Marketing?”

“What do you know about New Media / Social Marketing?” This is the question Deb Mourey asked at the beginning of her presentation last Thursday on New Media and Social Marketing. What a humbling question this turned out to be, especially considering I sat among a class of aspiring marketers at the tail end of their degree program. She presented marketing from a position that shuck the foundation of traditional marketing – Social Media Marketing is not even in the same ball park with traditional marketing efforts.

Mourey dissected the 4 P’s of marketing, as they relate to today: Promotion must be where the customer is; Product must be relevant to consumer needs all the time; Price is transparent now; Place is going away. It’s true... the old relationship between consumer and advertiser is over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3qltEtl7H8. As marketers we can no longer use the one-way communications methods with consumers…we need to listen! Traditional messaging (push messaging) results in low consumer engagement, but New Media Messaging offers the consumer a high engagement relationship with your brand and a two-way conversation. Social Media is all about the conversation and the relationship, with the consumer in control (taking the lead). The traditional marketing strategy was to control the message, but that works against consumer satisfaction and building trusting relationship in the long run. As a result, brands need to develop consumer trust in every fiber of their corporate being and communications. As Mourey stated, the 4 P’s need to be replaced by: anyplace, community (Brand), discover, engage, experience, tribe, with authenticity and trust baked into every brand experience. The P’s, in Mourey’s opinion, have been replaced by “the 10 B’s,” which are:

1. Be interested – listen to consumers
2. Be human – listen, date, share, generate buzz, create a tribe and repeat…
3. Be open
4. Be helpful – add value to your conversation
5. Be focused – remember that one word-of-mouth = 20 television ads
6. Be systematic
7. Be local
8. Be careful – no spamming your consumers with unwanted messages
9. Be able to give-up control, but monitor the feedback
10. Be irresistible – market to the Millennial’s using the tools they use…they do not watch TV ads!

Fellow Marketers, there is a serious paradigm shift in the marketing world and the strength of your message depends on your resourcefulness and ability to use the expansive New Media Tool Kit. The tools are out there you, but you need to know what they are and how to use them!

Mourey concluded with a challenging question… What does your digital footprint look like? What digital assets do you bring to your company in this changing marketing landscape?