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With Facebook, Twitter, and more, an individuals network of connections has grown exponentially. Marketers, and sales pros alike all understand that these are huge potential markets, but transitioning from online to reality has proven difficult.
The social networking scene is the contemporary version of the Wild West; replete with cowboys and natives, bandits and heroes. It is such a new frontier, there are almost no rules. Some codes or guidelines, but nothing that works all the time, every time.
This is a serious issue for any business with an online presence. Which is every business. Whether you have a webpage, Facebook profile, Twitter account or not: they have customers who do, and some have of them have included those businesses in their various posts.
That’s the first thing to remember about the online social world: Whether a company is active on it or not, they have a presence.
Secondly, the internet is democratizing agent. It gives equal voice to everyone, for good or ill. There are experts (and those who think they are) across the board. This is excellent in one sense, because it allows greatness and excellence to rise to the top. It’s negative, because the opinions of many can be swayed by a few individuals or experiences. More often than not, this is negatively. The videos of iPods being destroyed in protest against Apples’ customer service serves as example to that.
If a company truly wants to transition online world interest to real world sales: The first rule is simple.
There are no rules, save one. Abandon traditional advertising and marketing strategies.
Pop-ups, the bane of everyone’s internet existence, are one of many traditional ideas about marketing (that is the idea of mailers or advertising posters) that have failed miserably on the internet.
Creativity, common sense, intelligence, passion, and boldness reign on the internet. As Thomas Freidman has stated “if you can do something, then do it. If you don’t someone else will.” With the relatively low investment, and the potential for worldwide returns and buzz: the ROI on smart internet moves is tremendous.
Smart internet moves are going to look different for each company. But they all should have some measurable point of success. Of course, everyone wants to develop the next “numa numa” or “Leave Brittany Alone” video with millions of hits and hundreds of features on different news and television shows.
Stop thinking that way.
Viral videos are unplanned and unpredictable, and might take years before it reaches that critical mass.
Start small. Work to get one new member to a group, or one new email signup a week. Then go for two. Then five. Keep coming up with fresh ideas (which shouldn’t be to difficult since an individual is allowed to do anything) and embracing new technology.
Embracing new technology does have a warning: Adopt marketing strategies to the new technology. Not vice versa. Secondly it behooves a company to wait and see how a technology develops and move forward with it. Of course this is going to look different for different companies. A design firm is going to be more comfortable with brand new technology, whereas a plumbing and fixtures supply store might want something more established.
Again, whatever can be done will be done. There is no idea to ridiculous to not try. Imagine the internet as one large sandbox where failures are quickly forgotten and successes are as well. It’s the joy and pain of the internet.
Mr. Black