Ever long for the good old days of Marketing? Marketing before there even WAS Marketing? The days when a bunch of middle-aged white guys sat around smoky bars, slapping each other on the back, cutting deals, and making weekend golf plans—all while ogling scantily clad waitresses named Margie?
Well, times have changed, and Marketing is no longer hanging out in bars with a Cuban cigar hanging out of the corner of its mouth. Today, Marketing is happily married—to a lovely, exotic young thing called Social Media. They got together a few years back, and despite their differences, these two crazy kids are
actually making it work!
Of course, every committed relationship creates change.
And although Marketing resisted for a while, he finally came around and learned to compromise, with fantastic results.
So what tricks did our old dog Marketing learn as a result of his relationship with that sexy vixen, Social Media? Read on. . .
4 New Truths of Marketing in the Era of Social Media
- Go where your customers are – Don’t make them come to you—use social media to find your customers in their favorite online hangouts, figure out what they want, and determine how they want to receive it.
- Shut up and listen – This is hard. For decades, marketers have jumped in and simply told customers what they wanted them to know, but that doesn’t work anymore. With social media, the world is your focus group, so get in there and crack yer ears open, matey—you’ll learn amazing stuff!
- The more data, the merrier – Every “like,” “follow,” and “retweet” gives you more (and better) first-hand information about your target customer, helping you market to them more effectively–and make them happier with your offering.
- Talk with ‘em, not at ‘em – Thanks to social media, customers today are interacting directly with brands they care about, rather than simply discussing amongst themselves. After you’ve done your listening and know what they want to talk about, jump in to chat, respond, and resolve issues. You’ll be building satisfaction and loyalty with every post!
So you see, even an unlikely pairing like old-skool Marketing and that little hottie Social Media can generate some really great stuff, and even long-term looooooooooooooove. If you want to read more posts on social media, check these badboys out:
- Going on a Bad (Tweet) Trip
- The Tweet that Never Was
- Elvis is Everywhere. You Don’t Need to Be.
- Is the Bird REALLY the Word?
