Social media marketers are eavesdropping on your conversations …
following you on Facebook, twitter or anywhere else you post or click an “opinion” button. Social media is the new mass medium for selling us stars, soap and ideology. Thanks to mathematical algorithms and electronics, your every online action is tracked and analyzed so rapidly, that once you’ve visited a site for new recipe, for example, you may notice the pop-up ads that appear beside content are full of cooking-related offers.
“Cookies” & Milk
Cookies are electronic tagalongs which follow your internet activity. They gobble up information about you, which actually makes your online experience more streamlined. If you do online banking or visit any other interactive sites regularly, to avoid the 3-5 step login, you get cookies.
Cookies are a tracking device, which milks your every digital move for clues to enable marketing messages to be customized just for you. Won’t you feel special? And you’ll surely want to share with your friends (which you do) so they can feel special too!
Social marketing is electronic word-of-mouth marketing – and it is immediate.
Social Marketing Works
It’s sophisticated and expensive because it works. A Sunday New York Times article heralds theAudience for using social media over traditional media (entertainment television, magazines, etc) to promote celebrities and build fan bases. The medium provides a direct link to audiences which comes across as more personalized.
Notice the new “sponsored” posts on Facebook (look on the bottom right corner)? These are paid advertisements dressed to appear as friendly peer-level content. They’re not. Share it, like it, interact with it and you’ll get more where those came from appearing on your feed, while someone else gets paid.
But …
What drives social marketing effectiveness is fresh, appealing content. A compelling message which is targeted, well-crafted and produced to generate the desired effect goes a long way toward getting liked and shared. Businesses offering consumer-direct products and services can make the most of social media marketing.
Local advertisers can enjoy social media marketing benefits at a fraction of the cost A-Listers pay. However, it’s best to use a professional to implement a campaign. Social media is a tool, best used by those who know its capabilities and limitations.
