| Are you harnessing the power of gossip, communities, | | | | individuals to leverage a combination of tools available |
| and social networking to promote your brand? | | | | today. Create and maintain a web site as a means to |
| Whether your brand is a product, a service, or yourself, | | | | communicate and share information. Sharing |
| this is the era of connectivity and belonging. The | | | | meaningful information is a good way to give |
| Internet has become a powerful medium for | | | | something to your audience. Quoting endorsements, |
| connecting people with more than information access. | | | | testimonials, and comments on your web site is a |
| It is creating communities and relationships by making it | | | | great way to demonstrate your awareness, |
| easier to find individuals with similar interests and | | | | acceptance, and appreciation for the community |
| preferences. Tapping into this communication is the | | | | feedback. Your web site does not enable social |
| new face of marketing, and it has a new set of rules | | | | interaction, but you can contribute to it, and |
| to go along with it. | | | | demonstrate your support of it, by the information and |
| The benefits of word-of-mouth endorsements have | | | | feedback that you post. |
| always been difficult to calculate. However, a study by | | | | In addition, leverage existing tools that enable users to |
| Koen Pauwels of the Tuck School of Business at | | | | post comments and interact with one another. You |
| Dartmouth College quantified social networking as 20 | | | | can keep these utilities completely separate from your |
| times more effective than traditional marketing efforts | | | | web site. Blogs are a forum for users to communicate |
| like print and television. The study concluded that social | | | | with direct and exposed feedback. Rather than avoid |
| networking and communities are at least 30 times | | | | such unencumbered communication, you should |
| more effective than media events. | | | | cultivate it, even if at a distance. Monitoring the |
| LinkedIn, Face-book, and MySpace provide powerful | | | | feedback on blogs may help you to determine the |
| opportunities for social media and groups of online | | | | effectiveness of the communication on your hosted |
| communities to share opinions and meet users with | | | | web site. You can measure the positive or negative |
| similar interests. "You can track how many invitations | | | | unsolicited feedback, and use this insight to modify |
| are being sent out, how many users responded, and | | | | your messaging and strategy accordingly. This is much |
| when," said Pauwels. "Quantifying word-of-mouth like | | | | more effective than paying for expensive print |
| this couldn't be done before." | | | | advertising, and finding the results long after the |
| Can word-of-mouth create a contagious appetite? In | | | | investment is spent. Blogs can create some risk by the |
| 2007, the estimated number of legal online music | | | | very nature of the open forum, so keeping a relatively |
| downloads exceeded 1,700,000,000. That is up 53% | | | | safe distance may be appropriate to avoid some |
| from the year before, 2006. The online music industry | | | | inappropriate or controversial topics or conversations. |
| reached the $3 Billion mark. Artists are finding new | | | | LinkedIn, Face-book, and MySpace offer opportunities |
| ways to release songs, by marketing ringtones, video | | | | for controlled messaging, groups, communities, and |
| downloads that can be shared and forwarded to | | | | communications for businesses and individuals. These |
| friends, or mobile tracks on the web. Of the 115 | | | | utilities offer independent controls to mitigate the risk of |
| products that sold for 19 million units worldwide for | | | | inappropriate or controversial communications |
| Justin Timberlake, less than 20% was sold on CD. | | | | interfering with the user community experience. The |
| Social Networking enables individuals to communicate | | | | reduced risk also reduces some of the flexibility for |
| and connect with one another. Community marketing | | | | open communications, but that may be a small |
| engages audiences in non-intrusive conversations, | | | | sacrifice in exchange for the structured environment, |
| activities, and benefits. Community marketing turns | | | | ease of use, and wide spread acceptance. |
| customers into advocates. Blogs, Wikis, Forums, and | | | | You may be promoting a brand, a product, a company, |
| other online tools empower communication within the | | | | a service, or promoting yourself for another career. |
| community of socially networked users. | | | | Whatever the purpose of your promotion, you will be |
| One of the fundamental commandments of marketing | | | | more effective if you promote your advocates, and |
| in communities and social networking is to avoid | | | | allow them to be the ones to promote you. Quote |
| marketing. Yes, that's right, you must avoid marketing | | | | your advocates, build the credibility and awareness for |
| slogans, ploys, or tricks to market effectively to your | | | | your advocates, and support their success. It is by |
| advocates. Customers trust and respect other | | | | promoting, sustaining, and empowering your advocates |
| customers of similar opinions and tastes. Therefore, to | | | | as experts, that their opinions and support for you |
| market effectively, you must provide your advocates | | | | becomes even more credible and valuable. You will be |
| with information, facts, and a forum to exchange useful | | | | 20 - 30 times more effective and successful by |
| tips with one another. Mavens and Gurus will rise from | | | | promoting your advocates, than you would be |
| among the ranks to espouse your products, your | | | | promoting yourself. Let your advocates do the |
| services, or yourself, if the facts are accurate and | | | | communicating for you. |
| worthy of the support. The target market is always | | | | Remember to thank your advocates and let them |
| better at communicating your message and benefits | | | | know that they are appreciated. After all, they are the |
| than you are, so empower them and enable them to | | | | keepers of your reputation, your relationships, and your |
| do so, then get out of the way. | | | | community. |
| It is estimated that by 2010, more than 60% of Fortune | | | | Words of Wisdom |
| 1000 companies will have some form of online | | | | "Relationships of trust depend on our willingness to look |
| community for relationship marketing. Unfortunately, | | | | not only to our own interests, but also the interests of |
| many of these companies may miss the mark by | | | | others." |
| merely building and monitoring a forum for remarks. | | | | - Peter Farquharson |
| Many companies are wary of blogs, and the | | | | "I'm not afraid of facts, I welcome facts but a |
| connotations of uncontrolled ranting and raving that has | | | | congeries of facts is not equivalent to an idea. This is |
| become synonymous with disgruntled employees | | | | the essential fallacy of the so-called "scientific" mind. |
| creating blogs on the Internet. As the awareness of | | | | People who mistake facts for ideas are incomplete |
| relationship marketing in social media and communities | | | | thinkers; they are gossips." |
| continues to increase, so the tools for connecting users | | | | - Cynthia Ozick |
| must also evolve. | | | | "Gossip needs no carriage." |
| In the meantime, while we wait for online communities | | | | - Russian Proverb. |
| to evolve, there are opportunities for businesses and | | | | |
