Understanding Social Media a Bit More

I'm using Social Marketing to get better tasting dog food on the market.

Is social media a mystery to you? What is all the big fuss over Social media? Isn't it just a bunch of teenagers using multiple internet tools to communicate with each other?

If you've been trying (like me) to figure out the ROI for all these new tools and are still scratching your head then this list should help.

I come from 30 years in this industry, and the last five have been a challenge even for me. It's hard to figure out strategy in these days of tremendous change. The way people can now communicate and develop communities is staggering and it's just going to get more interesting as this new approach to marketing matures.

Follows is a great list from Larry Brauner blog.
Thanks Larry for all you generous insights.

1. Social marketing is a logical extension of the multichannel marketing strategy of diversification. Social media sites can extend a company’s web presence far beyond the limits of its e-commerce, lead generation or information sites.
2. Social media builds awareness of products and brands by attraction rather than interruption, and by pulling rather than pushing. Consumers enjoy the discovery process and don’t feel annoyed by it.
3. Social media employs a community and list building paradigm that’s much more comprehensive, natural and intimate than conventional databases and autoresponders.
4. Social media marketers engage customers in dialog. They talk with the customer rather than at the customer as is generally the case with conventional media. Social media can also facilitate post-sale support and dissemination of valuable product tips to customers.
5. Social media used properly can build frequency less expensively than conventional media educating and informing the consumer over time.
6. Social media can help reach target markets that are too difficult or expensive to reach using conventional means.
7. Reach doesn’t determine cost, so social media can target a narrow vertical market while at the same time casting a wide net. Efficiency doesn’t really matter much in the context of social media reach.
8. Search engines like social media, and social marketing leverages free high-quality search exposure which is preferable to paying for low-quality pay-per-click or banner advertising.
9. Social media sites and your e commerce websites are available 24/7 more or less indefinitely. It’s much like having an ad run in every issue of a publication or like having a catalog or sales letter retained until the customer is ready to make a buying decision.
10. Using social networking sites it is often possible to connect directly with B2B decision makers without interference from protective gatekeepers.

Remember that social media is a brand new way of communicating and in a lot of cases is diametrically opposite to the way people have done marketing in the past.

My advice is to get into it now... just jump into this river of opportunities, learn how to swim in it and start swimming with the current and stop fighting against a current that goes faster and deeper each day. (that's a bit of poetic license from the bobster)