Social Media: The Game Changer

Viral. SMO. SEO. Web 2.0. Social Networking. Stickiness. Online marketing strategies are aflutter with buzzwords these days. Of course, this is nothing new. Marketing strategist have always touted the latest buzzwords. Ten years ago we heard a lot of “ROIs” and “globalizations.”

For those of us who've been caught up in the buzzword whirlwind, let's get back to basics for a moment. Social media is simply consumer generated content on the Internet. It's usually highly accessible and provides a platform for people to share and connect with others.

It's easy to get caught up in all the hype, and to some extent we should be. This is a really exciting time in the marketing/communications field because the onset of social media is a game changer. Gone are the days of one-way, asymmetrical marketing, where companies spew advertising at people who have no choice but to be exposed to it. Today control is in the hands of the audience. That's right. If they don't like your commercial, they'll fast-forward their TiVo through it. If they don't like your Web site, they'll click off of in a heartbeat.

Daunting as this may seem, traditional research has always told us that having a dialogue with consumers is vastly more persuasive than one-way communication. This means that social media is what marketers have been dreaming of for years. We just had to wait patiently until it caught on with the masses because it had to be driven by them to be successful. The ultimate message is that social media is great from a marketing standpoint. Embrace the times and embrace consumers. Engage them by their terms and on their chosen platforms, and this will truly be your most effective era in marketing.