Predictors of marketing trends this year all agree on the growth in the use of social media. Economists all agree that this year, a major global and local slowdown will be the most significant cause of business failure and that in this landscape, social media counts as one of the most viable marketing resources offering clients and brands better ROI in quantity and quality.
A lot of companies and traditional marketing agencies may be wondering first of all, what exactly constitutes social media. I apologise in advance if this is patronising, but I have experienced firsthand that many are reading articles and not really understanding the reference to social media. Most already believe that they are effectively using mobile marketing for instance, just because they ran a competition with a SMS entry mechanism.
But herein lies what I believe to be the underlying principal of social media. It’s a concept known as ‘attention economics’. The premise to this concept is that ‘people attention’ has an economic value but is a scarce commodity which in turn is desired by those selling consumer goods and services. This principal has already been extensively used and was surely the underlying driver for making the internet free, because in return for millions of users/eyeballs an entire economic system developed. In mobile things have thankfully been a little different, since it has always purported an economic value to the use and exploitation of its networks.
How ‘attention economics’ underlies social media? If one is able to satisfy the proponents of attention economics - the intangible products - then one is engaged in effective social media. Offering marketing strategy that brings the user immediacy, desired information, accessibility, personalization, authenticity, reciprocity and patronage are the keys to engaging your company, brand, product or service in the attention economic system. Those stakeholders who can do this properly are richly rewarded with rich relationships with their customers, higher return on marketing spend and loyalty, not to mention the fall outs of these rewards i.e. referrals, testimonials, viral growth etc.
2009’s economic slowdown should be making marketers think how better to use their budgets. Social media applications and services cost around the same as a small TV campaign and last long after that un-measurable TV ad has flighted. Social media products are customisable and once set up can be changed on the fly, in mid stream for little more investment.
For me though the most powerful thing about using social media is that ironically it is personalising and democratising customer relationships and interrelationships like never before. Sometimes I wonder to myself if this aspect is what terrifies marketers most? They would actually find out what their customers REALLY think of their products and services!
