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Thread: Social Marketing / Word of Mouth

  1. #1
    Email problem RKS Computer Solutions's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Social Marketing / Word of Mouth

    In my endeavors with Facebook so far, I've met some great people, found some old friends, started doing business with some and am currently in talks with others...

    Social marketing today is as important as any other marketing avenue... According to Alexa, Facebook is the 2nd most visited site in South Africa at the moment, and is a good way to explore people in either your neighborhood or meet up with new people for business or pleasure, the choices are endless...

    Social Media Slideshow

    One of the people I've met on Facebook is Tyler Reed, a bright young mind that just started up his own company, younique, to help people and businesses out there understand and get involved in social marketing...

    Younique is an interactive marketing company. We are youngsters just like yourself and are tired of the old way that companies try to market and communicate with us.

    I truly believe that social media can be an excellent asset to any company or person looking for more exposure... Facebook is only the latest fad in social media, but when it's time is up, a new social startup will take over and the driving forces be moved to the new company... Have you started making plans to introduce social marketing into your business plan or marketing strategy?

    Regular guests to my shop will notice that just today a social application got added onto the shop. When you view any product, and want to bookmark it, the link takes you to a page from where you can social bookmark that product on over 40 different social sites, including digg and technorati to name a few...

    I'm still new to the social media thing, word of mouth has done me good so far in my life but the social thing being online 24/7 and being available for wanting eyes to peruse at 3am when all your "word-of-mouth" friends are passed out on the couch, seems to be the next big thing in terms of marketing...

    So, will you be getting social?

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  3. #3
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    My business relies heavily on referrals. But being a bit old-fashioned sometimes, the term "social networking" has me somewhat ambivalent.

    To some extent, it is the "24 hour anywhere in the world" part that every now and then has me nervous about privacy and private time issues when it comes to putting up contact information on the internet.

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    New Member TylerReed's Avatar
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    Thanks for the kind words RKS.

    A referral or recommendation is the most powerful form of marketing. Social media which encompasses blogs, podcasts, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking, photo and video sharing are all playing a huge roll in recommendation.

    An online community has trust and trust = influence.

  5. #5
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    That's all fine and well. But in somethig like Facebook, we're kinda dealing with a friend of a friend of a friend. With just how much interaction that truly establishes the really criticial element - credibility?

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    New Member TylerReed's Avatar
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    You make a valid point and credibility plays a huge role in how we process information. However let me present you with this example:

    1) I mention cellphone Company X on my blog. I say Company X's products don't last long and have bad service. You come along and read this.

    2) I mention cellphone Company Y on my blog. I say their products are amazing and the service is excellent.

    Either of those cases would affect how you perceive that brand. The next time you go to purchase a cellphone you will instinctively think twice about case 1.

    Unless however you have been using that brand for a long time and have no issues with it. So it doesn't have a complete 100% affect, but it still has an affect never the less.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    This is where it gets really interesting, because my first question is "Can I trust this blog?" The value I place on that opinion is based on my perception of the author's credibility with me.

    Whether it is a person, a blog, a website or a company, simply because something is said doesn't mean we can blindly trust it. This is where social interaction plays a vital role, because in that interaction we can judge the person (or blog, or website)'s credibility.

    I think the rules of credibility haven't changed, but the medium of our interaction is shifting - towards the online environment as opposed to person to person. This comes with its own challenges because it is easier to hide clues to our integrity (or lack of it) in this online environment.

    In a physical meeting, it's quite easy to sense that the body language is not in alignment with the words - on the internet you don't get that quick clue. It takes lots more interaction to get a real read. Over time if you're a phony, the inconsistencies are inevitably going to show. Even over the net.

    Moving to the concept of social marketing over the net - what is being used here is the transfer of credibility. A trusts B. B says that C is trustworthy. Therefor A trusts C. This is natural and perfectly healthy. Not a problem so far.

    The problems in my mind start when the purpose of the networking program is to transfer credibility. When the goal is to use B's credibility with A to benefit C.

    Connectivity is one of the wonderful aspects of the online communication revolution. But I'm still tending to be a little cautious about sites established with the primary purpose of using that connectivity to transfer credibility. Transfer of credibility has been a secondary activity since the dawn of time. But manipulated in a primary activity environment.... Can I really trust that?

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    Email problem RKS Computer Solutions's Avatar
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    I've just invited Albert Brendanhann from Jump Shopping as well as Matthew Bucland from matthewbuckland.com over to the forums... Great minds...

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    Email problem RKS Computer Solutions's Avatar
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    Trust

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    Moving to the concept of social marketing over the net - what is being used here is the transfer of credibility. A trusts B. B says that C is trustworthy. Therefor A trusts C. This is natural and perfectly healthy. Not a problem so far.

    The problems in my mind start when the purpose of the networking program is to transfer credibility. When the goal is to use B's credibility with A to benefit C.
    I agree with you Dave, it can be an issue of misuse sometimes, but then again, like has been said before, trust is only a handshake away, and always do your own research into something that's been flaunted... Whether I'm trusting of a person/company or not, the first thing I'd do is research them if business is on the cards and then make up my own mind...

    An example of this is Albert contacting me to join Jump Shopping for comparison of prices for those products I stock... I nicely declined stating the issues I had with Jump and why I didn't think I'd join them until those issues were resolved...

    Next morning phone call (thanx for waking me Albert), and me and Albert worked through a few issues and concerns I had and my mind was set at ease... I signed up with Jump purely because Albert made the effort to set my mind at ease and get my concerns sorted, giving me a helping hand and offering to look at issues...

    In this case you can clearly see that I knew of Jump, but because of what I've seen/heard, wasn't too keen on doing business. But, Albert coming forth and resolving my issues and getting stuff sorted gave me the trust I needed to sign up...

    Moral of the story: Listen to what other people are flaunting, hear them out. But do raise your concerns, listen to what can be done to accommodate you and your needs and then decide for yourself whether or not you have enough trust in that person/company to go ahead with the deal.

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