At Amuso we have a fantastic group of interns who work tirelessly on a variety of tasks. Here, Jenna Marie Madden reflects on her time conducting outreach for us on a variety of social media sites.
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Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube. The four names that form the hub of the online phenomenon that has taken cyber-space by storm: social networking. These interactive sites, and thousands of others, allow millions of people to exchange data, photos and experiences but most importantly they have empowered consumers to voice their opinions and forced marketers to rethink and restructure their advertising campaigns. The majority of companies are testing the waters of social network marketing by allocating a small percentage of their advertising budget to the ‘trial’ of this resource. But for small Startups, like Amuso, social media marketing is their lifeline.
Amuso tossed conventional marketing methods after a short stint in street promotion proved to be a waste of time and human resources. Now, except for advertising carried out by Amuso’s partners and investors, the company is relying on Twitter, Facebook, Bebo and MySpace to build relationships with potential consumers and lure them into the world of fun and trivia that is Amuso.com. It has been indicated that up to 63% of user’s are unaware of advertisements on networking sites, therefore it is evident that even ‘traditional’ online advertising ventures are doomed (source: Chapman, 2008). So what now? How can marketers tap into the marketing resources of social networks? The answer is simple: the company profile page.
Today’s consumers insist on ‘experience-based’ marketing, meaning they want marketers to work to gain and keep their interest. Profile pages allow companies to announce updates in real time, respond to questions and receive feedback directly from people who have willingly placed themselves in the target market. And best of all IT’S FREE! But wait, social media marketing is still unexplored territory; there is no historical data on which to base objectives nor to point out when, where and why the campaign is going wrong. Moreover, social network marketing results a shift in control from the brand to the buyers. Although this is seen to be an opportunity for feedback and word-of-mouth promotion it also limits the ability of the company to control negative comments and criticism. Some may say that the solution is simple; Delete Delete Delete!! Unfortunately in an age where potential consumers have more and more access to business information it is vital that companies remain transparent and honest in order to gain customer trust and loyalty. It seems that the only way to avoid a negative brand image is for marketers to continually monitor conversations and profiles, respond to users concerns and act on feedback.
Continually improving customer relations and your product doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, but it does require time and time requires money. So it appears that even with the emergence of social network marketing nothing in life is free. And now as the worst economic downturn of our lifetime rolls to an end and expensive traditional advertising mediums once again flourish; will those who rely solely on social media marketing survive?
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