Social networking and business

As promised – Number 8 takes on something of a hot topic. Let’s be clear here, what I’m presenting is my current opinion.  At time of going to press you can call me a sceptic but I’ll be attending another of Business Link’s seminars on the subject this week and I have a stack of reading to get through. I’ll certainly be better informed by this time next week, but will it change my mind?

As I see it, the fundamentals of marketing don’t change. The customer is the priority and the brand is precious. What has changed is the way customers communicate with each other. But customers are still people Version 1.0 and Maslow is still in his heaven.

Here’s the problem. That first fundamental rule seems to sit comfortably enough. The customer is the priority and you’re only going to succeed if you place your offering in a position where your customers are going to see it – could be a market stall, could be a website. Up to this point, the prospect of finding groups of your customers on a social networking platform seems to be ticking all the boxes.

Sorry, there’s a ‘but’.

But, how do you protect your brand? Using social networking for marketing means losing control of the message. Rather than broadcasting your message (under control), you’re starting a dialogue (without control). But surely, dialogue isn’t a bad thing, is it? Nope, not at all. But do you have the time? And what’s to be gained? Do you have the tone right – to suit both the media and your brand?

Yes, I’m a sceptic. To me, it seems like a lot of effort for little return. Maybe all that will change in the week to come. I guess if it does, you’ll be amongst the first to know.

More soon.