Social Marketing Topic Center
Written by Jaren Green | 13 February 2010
This is an exciting field. We have many resources listed below. Your feedback is welcome.
Social Marketing is...
The activity of building person-to-person relationships to grease the wheels of business. Social Marketing includes: (1) Networking and community participation to influence awareness and recommendations. (2) Personal interatcions to build awareness, interest, trust, and transactions.
Here is another Definition of Social Marketing. Please comment with your definition at the bottom.
Notes:
• I think social media fills our need to get recommendations. If one Web search produces hundreds of "experts" - who do you trust? It is hard to know who to trust, so we ask around. If the Web had not been successful at destroying geography (bringing too many experts to our door), we might not have needed Social Media.
• Social Media is the New Marketing because people trust people they know. Very few people trust the old Marketing messages. Marketers need to learn to provide valuable content, not commercials.
• Trust comes from the timeliness of the message, our relationship to the speaker or message, and the context of the speaker
• If Social Marketing can replace Direct Mail, it will be a less expensive alternative. Do you agree?
Featured Chart:
Top Blogs on Social Marketing:
• B2B Lead Generation Blog by Brian Carroll of InTouch
• Groundswell by Josh Bernoff of Forrester
• The Proactive Report by Sally Falkow of Expansion Plus
• Social Media Posts from Social Gastronomy
The Social Marketing Business Case:
If a recommendation can get you the sale, you should be interested in Social Media Marketing. For a cagey guy like me, being social with a business purpose is both new and difficult. Maybe you feel the same, but don't miss the point: Social Marketing gets the recommendation. Buyers now check with their online communities before they buy. They read the blogs and comments.
The basic Business Case (which will be developed more later) looks like this:
• Social Media is real (for your market) and here to stay
• Your customers are using it now - they are talking about you, or not
• It can be less expensive than other Marketing Methods, a low-cost replacement
• Social Marketing (1) saves money, (2) increases sales, (3) produces positive ROI
Videos That Don't Waste Your Time:
• B2B Social Media Marketing by Huddle Productions
• How B2B Marketers Can Get Started With Social Media by HubSpot
• The 8 Social Media Commandments by Cisco
• Social Media in 3 Minutes (see below)
How does SolutionPipe get involved?
We are learning and developing this new Marketing method just others. The key to Social Media Marketing is content and we produce a lot of it. The SolutionPipe Workforce includes numerous writers - from low-cost providers to thought leaders with existing networks. Our core competencies are in corporate messaging, research, project management, and reporting. We haven't used all of the new tools yet, but we know how to calculate ROI. We can assemble a team that fits your business. (Assembling expert teams is the core of our core competency.) Please contact us.
Social Marketing Experts To Watch:
Here are to external sources of interest. The first is Marc Meyer's list of 30 Top Social Media Experts. And, here is a list of 24 Social Media Experts from Graham Charlton at E-consultancy.com
What To Do Next:
Add me to your LinkedIn network: Jaren Green
Last Updated: Feb. 12, 2010