Web2.0 Wonders

A Social Media interpretation of the 4 P's

A colleague of mine is studying for his upcoming marketing exams and while sharing his notes with me, it got me creatively thinking of a social media interpretation to the 4 P's of marketing.

The fundamentals of marketing typically identify the four Ps of a marketing mix as referring to: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. So I'd like to have fun with this and try to adapt the 4 P's and view them with my social media hat on…! I mean, if we consider social media as the marketplace, what would the 4 P's of the marketing mix represent now?

Product: the product sold in the social media marketplace would be the content we create or promote on various social media sites. The product mass produced in the social media landscape is content in the form of posts, articles, stories, videos or images. Like snack media or snack marketing, social media content needs to be packaged well, short and appealing, to magnetically engage readers with a fairly short attention span.

Price: the basic marketing definition describes the price as "the amount a customer pays for the product", so putting this in social media marketing terms, the price for content consumption should be absolutely free. In other words, social media users should have a free pass to the content you provide; without registration blocks or forms to fill before entering, but rather directly accessible, easy, short and only one click away from reaching your product.

Place: the place represents the locations where the product can be purchased, or rather where the content can be viewed – social media sites, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Mixx, YouTube… Choosing the right location to pitch your product is an essential component in social media marketing, because as Matt McGee put it, "you can create the most amazing content, but if you present it to the wrong crowd, it'll fail miserably".

Promotion: the promotion manner in the social media landscape is essentially communicative. For your content to be read, your product sold, communicating with the community is a key factor for success. Submitting to social sites or writing posts in your blog, without friends to back you up, comment, trackback, link, and relate to you, merely deems your content worthless. In the social media world, putting your product out on display is not enough for passing spectators to stop and pay attention to it. Don't expect users to invest their time, if you don't do the same. Remember, personally joining social media activities is necessary, your contribution to the community counts, and reciprocating gestures matter.

What is your take on this? How would you define the 4 P's of social media marketing?

What not to do in social media

Trevor Cook reported one shameful PR disaster: a PR agency allegedly left dubious comments and commercial messages disguised as blog posts in the name of their client (National Australia Bank), under false pretenses.

Wow, unbelievable! They obviously don’t get social media at all… Unfortunately, these actions demoralize the honest reputation of business to consumer interactions; it deepens the friction between marketers and consumers and basically gives social media marketing a bad name.

Social media is grounded on the transparency and authenticity of the real people involved.  The diverse connections people make through social media opens the door for businesses and consumers to talk, correspond as users or partners do, most often reaching mutual benefits, because valuable feedback brings better services and more…

As my previous post appraised a positive social media practice, today’s example is a lousy negative one. So on a Do’s and Don’t list, this is a definite Don’t do in social media!

A great example of Reputation Management in Social Media

I was recently in minor car accident and so had to deal with the intimidating sometimes too bureaucratic insurance companies. Yet to my pleasant surprise, it felt as though I was the only one on the planet they were servicing to… calling me twice a day and sending emails to make sure the process was complete!

The great post by Off Madison Ave exemplifies the importance of customer service or rather reputation management in the social media realm just the same. I mean, Swurl’s proactive approach to the blogosphere’s references about their brand or service is exactly what social media for brands is all about, joining in on the conversation especially when it is about you!  In almost all cases it brings about a positive reaction in the initially unsatisfied or critical user/customer and expresses the dedication you have to your business and clients.

I suppose receiving an unexpected comment on your blog from a business management team, out of the many hundreds of millions of blog posts out there, may make you feel as I did when the insurance agent surprisingly returned a call an hour later…pleasantly heard and responded to! Very cool :)

Bridging the socio-economic gap

I heard today the latest 60-second science podcast talking about a research finding that "Even Poor Kids Are Social Network Savvy" class="snap_shots". This seems to me like another wonder of social media worth mentioning; it looks like the social media revolution has also the power to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

I would be glad to see social media endeavors included in school curriculums in the future too, because "Slipping a little MySpace between reading and 'rithmetic could be really rewarding." As times are changing, and kids are becoming web masters really earlier on, school teachers would benefit if they leverage the social media medium to capture interest and encourage learning habits in general. Let's wait and see...

A StumbleUpon and Fotolog adventure

Yesterday StumbleUpon and Fotolog announced a content agreement in which StumbleUpon users will now have access to photos posted by Fotolog's over 18 million members in over 200 countries. As a StumbleUpon lover myself, I am excited about the idea of stumbling upon more unique content.

Imagine discovering an exotic island for your next vacation, you wouldn't of even known existed before if not for another user sharing this picture with the world, or imagine coincidentally finding a long lost friend in a joint picture with a business partner in Japan or something??

Stumbling across photos of other users can be a fun and interesting adventure, bringing us closer and opening up endless opportunities to meet and share on the web. 

Social media is a two way street

As social media moves into the focal point of most marketing strategies, many companies tend to jump right in without really understanding the essence of it all. The power of social media is in the dialogues, the reciprocity, and in the relations nurtured; it's not just entering, submitting a bulk of content and watching from the side lines. 

I agree with Sean Moffitt, social media is an art form, you must participate in it to really know it. For social media efforts to show its gain, companies need to really start participating more. Invest in learning and interacting, rather than in simply the analytics and figures. Remember, social media is not a one way street.