Oh, and BTW, my customers want under 50 year olds, so I beg to differ with you. My post is based on my experiences and my clientele. If yours are older, God bless you. Keep going 1.0.

More people prefer Social Networks than email for personal communication. This doesn’t make it a commercial media channel.

35% may have a profile but what percent of this group is actively engaged in the channel? Not nearly as many, which means it’s a narrow communication channel.

People have always preferred customer reviews. How exactly is this new and how does this justify investment in Social Media?

Newspapers are clearly struggling, which means some will evolve and some will go away but it doesn’t mean the traditional media should be abandoned for Social Media.

Social media in particular and online media in general deserve a larger role in the communication mix. I agree with this completely but I just don’t think you arguments for it are very strong.

When a consumer enters the market they don’t differentiate where they get the information from that they need to make a purchase decision. For consumers it’s the right content made available through the most convenient channel. This means all channels have to be considered.

And BTW, 77% of wealth in the US is controlled by people over 50.

I say let’s quit trying to publicly quantify it all, allow those that BELIEVE in social (on pure faith) to make strides past traditional thinkers. Let’s have those that find the merits of social self-evident, those that believe this is how business should be done, leapfrog the naysayers and rock on… into the sunset, with their fans. Thus, seizing the days until the non-believers get a clue.

Seriously, would you rather work in an industry where a social media mindset prevails, or some mechanized Chaplin’esque existence that no longer belongs anywhere but the Twighlight Zone. Let the good guys gain some ground!

(see you at SxSW !)

Let’s evolve and try new things!

Thanks Geoff.

I especially think this is valid for niche type business or, as illustrated by Forrester, B2B business.
http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2009/02/b2b-social-tech.html

Laurent

I understand that…but the issue that online media faces (which target and best buy have tested), is that people are more responsive to print ads (like the inserts we get in the Sunday Paper) than a virtual insert. As long as that remains, then the big guys will focus a lot of their efforts on old, traditional media.

And while banners are so yesterday, I am not sure what other alternative the companies have to create the same experience that consumers get with print.

That is the conundrum….how to create a similar or better experience….

Contextual marketing is key: who are you marketing to, what is their response profile, where is best to reach them and what message will appeal?

Reallocate or, simply, die. An analogy to 70’s Japanese car makers and Detroit would be entirely off-base.

Twitter: TheBetsy

Not being visible on page 1 or 2 of those searches will not be a good thing for businesses going forward. Getting in those searches inevitably requires social media use of some form. In particular, rich media like podcasts or vidcasts does help raise visibility in Google and other searches.

More importantly, by not giving control of the message to an intermediary, businesses can begin to engage with their clients directly. Creating your own videos or audio programs allows you to begin the dialogue from your own starting point, not one created by a green reporter who parachutes into your business long enough to write 6 inches of copy or shoot 30 seconds of b-roll.

Right now the demos are skewing to 25-35 year olds who dont read print papers, who get most of their info online, and who prefer video to reading. So what’s the hold-up on reallocating some of those resources?