Social Media: Latest Fad or Strategic Marketing Tool?

While not entirely mainstream, terms like blogging, RSS and wikis are increasingly being discussed in marketing blogs and ezines. For example, a Google search on “blogging” returned over 68 million hits. A search for “wikis” returned over 11 million hits. Whether it’s publishing a blog, advertising on MySpace or hanging a virtual shingle on Second Life, brands are dabbling in Social Media.

So what is Social Media? And how does it fit into the current marketing mix of direct mail, advertising, public relations and online marketing?

According to Wikipedia, it “describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other.” These include blogging applications like WordPress and TypePad, and sites that use wiki technology like Wikipedia. It also spans social networking platforms like MySpace, YouTube and FaceBook. Through these technologies, consumers are sharing experiences through the written word, photos and video.

The evolution of the Internet–Web 2.0–is elevating users’ expectations of web sites. Consumers want a steady supply of fresh content, as well as the ability to participate in content creation–even if it’s limited to rating articles a la Digg. They also want to be able to subscribe to RSS feeds so information comes to them, instead of having to search for it.

These capabilities are changing media consumption patterns. As a result, wise marketers are taking advantage of them to deepen their relationships with consumers.

Powerful advertising channel

At the most basic level, marketers are placing ads where online crowds converge, including sites like MySpace, FaceBook and YouTube. According to Hitwise research, U.S. Internet traffic to social networking sites rose 11.5 percent from January 2007 through February 2007. It also accounted for 6.5 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic in February 2007.

Harnessing the crowd

Some marketers also practice “crowdsourcing,” an approach that engages the audience with the brand at a more personal level. A common application of crowdsourcing is the sponsorship and promotion of video contests on popular video-sharing sites. Southwest Airlines recently launched a contest inviting audiences to upload their own videos with the “Wanna Get Away” theme to YouTube. Winners were decided by a panel of judges and the public. The top prize–a vacation on Southwest Airlines and an opportunity for the winning submission to air on national television–provided a huge incentive for aspiring videographers to participate.

On a broader scale, crowdsourcing is serving as a new business model. Getty Images’ iStockphoto.com lets consumers purchase member-generated stock images for $1. And Eli Lilly’s Innocentive.com allows companies to enlist the site’s membership to solve research and development issues for a fraction of the cost of in-house resources.

Branded Online Communities

Some enterprises are immersing audiences in a branded online Social Media experience. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution uses Web 2.0 technologies to increase traffic and stickiness on its web site. Its myajc.com community offers “MySpace-like” features such as the ability to create personal profiles, share photos, search for other members and invite them to become friends. A news aggregation feature lets members create their own personal electronic “newspaper” using news and information feeds from the ajc.com site and any third-party content provider.

As consumers continue to frequent social networking sites and consume or contribute to blogs, Social Media is here to stay. Marketers ignoring this trend are missing out on an important new communications medium.

Bob Cramer is co-founder, CEO and Chairman of ThePort Network, Inc., an Atlanta-based social media solutions provider. He is also co-founder and Chairman of A.D.A.M., Inc. For more information, go to www.theport.com.