The Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is complicated for two reasons: no one has created a structure to work from yet, and there’s so much overlap in functionality of different sites, that it can be quite confusing as to a site’s single purpose because there usually isn’t a single purpose. This said, don’t let it hold you back. Get out there. Spend time with these sites. Sign up, use them, meet your customers and talk to your customers.
From the four main types of Social Media, message boards, social networking, blogging and videos, there are various types of interaction a business can have with its customers:
1- Identity-based Interaction is your declaration of your value, who you are, and where you can be found. Your customer falls upon your online identity that you, as a provider, define and declare. Here, there is very little interaction outside of your own declaration, but this becomes critical in defining how you can benefit your marketplace or customers.
Over the past few years we have seen an outcrop of websites created purely for this function. hey act more as an expanded business card, if you will. Most also include the opportunity to link to your other forms of presence online, somewhat bringing together your presence in one place… They include: Naymz, Ziki, ClaimID and my favorite LinkedIn.
2- Association-based Interaction is your customers’ opportunity to associate themselves with you and you with your customer base. Most obviously, this is accomplished through things like becoming “Friends” on MySpace, you and your customers’ BlogRoll, or through their social bookmarking. Just like music fans wearing their favorite band’s t-shirt… A customer (fan) associating himself to the band.
The most explicit form of allowing for this ability is through social bookmarking sites. Make it easy for your customers to bookmark your site, blog posts, etc with their favorite tool such as del.icio.us, Furl, blummy, Ma.gnolia, StumbleUpon and BlinkList.
3- User-initiated Conversation is your users’ and customers’ opportunity to create their own declarations or questions, and your opportunity to respond. This is your opportunity to be there and cater to them. Here is where you serve your customers.
The best examples of this lie in messageboards, forums and “groups” sites such as Google Groups, Yahoo! Groups, community sites, etc. In order to get directly involved with your customers it is your duty as a brand, a company or a musician to find these conversations and participate. Search communities such as Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, AOL Groups, MSN Groups, Topica Email Lists, tribe.net, Ning and Facebook Groups.
4- Provider-initiated Conversation is your chance to find out what your customers think, feel, love and hate about your product. Ask them. Challenge them. Present yourself to them, but do so respectfully. As much as it’s an opportunity for them to tell you what they love and hate about your product, it’s also their choice whether to do so or not. Be kind. Be respectful. Appreciate their time. Find your customers and interact with them at: Myspace, Bebo, Friendster, Help.com, Facebook and more…
5- In-Person Interaction is the pinnacle form of interaction with your customers. You’re interacting with them online and should be in person too. This is where relationships are built and authentic conversation is had with so much more input, feedback, collaboration and communication. Nothing beats face-to-face. Get out there. Meet your customers. Let them interact with other customers. Build your community. Go to conferences…better yet, organize your own gatherings.
To help this along, coordinating, managing attendee status, etc, there have been several sites that can help in either finding local events or coordinating your own: Meetup, BarCamp, Evite, Upcoming and Eventful.
Any and all forms of Social Media Marketing tactics fall under at least one of the above five forms of action. Often the same channel will incorporate two or more of them.
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