ADVERTISING AGE -- Mar 17 -- Marketers have yet to completely figure out social networks. Social networking is all about relationship building, and while that may be in the DNA of the public-relations industry, it has done a poor job of claiming that birthright. "I don't think it's discipline-specific," said Rick Murray, president Edelman digital. "Any agency that understands it's all based on conversation and not on messaging is going to be more than entitled to and welcome in the environment." Any marketer worth its salt is going to spend a good deal of time studying the dynamics, rules and language of any social network before attempting to establish a presence there. To think you can just waltz in and begin spouting off about your product is totally wrong. Edelman's Mr. Murray likens it to a cocktail party. "If you walk in with the loudest clothes, you're going to get kicked out, and no one is going to pay attention to you," he said. "Blend in, and once you do, make sure you add value. Frequency of message is not the idea here. Frequency of contact is. Charlene Li, VP & analyst at Forrester Research, also said marketers haven't seemed to figure out that this is a channel where consumers actually want to be spoken to. "[Consumers] are asking questions on these sites that go unanswered," she said. "You can't ask for a better environment. And what do marketers do? They say nothing and put up another ad." FULL ARTICLE @ ADVERTISING AGE
Mark Brooks: Consumers are sick and tried of being advertised at. Traditional advertising is dead. If you can't afford the time to have ambassadors and evangelists for your brand converse with your users directly through social networks, your brand will die. Case in point, Craig of Craigslist talks to users all day. He is a customer service manager for a reason. And there marketing budget to build Craigslist a top 100 web property... Nada, $0.
