Social Media Marketing

MarketingProfs has some good food for thought in their Q&A with Josh Hallett:



Q: We keep hearing about the growth of Facebook. For most companies, does it make more sense to use its blog, or social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as tools to stay in touch with its customers?


A: If we look at many of the “tools” of social media and social networks, the foundation is conversation and relationships. The majority of users are on the services to interact with friends. But can a corporation be a friend? Does a corporation really have anything of value to offer a customer in terms of conversation or relationships?


This is where the human element comes in (has DOW trademarked that yet?). I’m not going to “friend” a company, but I will friend somebody who works for the company. However, is that person able to speak on behalf of the company?


Ooohhh, that’s good stuff.  I see a lot of companies–large and small–thinking they need to get into Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.  Why?  People are loyal to brands, but don’t really relate to companies.  Now, the owner of a small business can build a cult of personality around themselves, but that makes separating oneself from the business especially tricky.


Read the full story at http://www.marketingprofs.com/7/social-media-qa-with-josh-hallett-collier.asp.