Think about it: None of these cool new social media tools were developed with "us" (marketers) in mind. Blogs, social networks, YouTube, etc. were created for people to keep in touch with their family and friends. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that the majority of people who first embraced widgets, Twitter and Facebook were not "us" (marketers), but our customers and a few savvy politicians.


Slowly the business community realized that those online conversations frequently impacted the perception of the brand and in turn the ring of the cash register. So up went branded MySpace pages and marketing VIPs began to Twitter and brand managers built groups on Facebook. So much of what has been created using the toys of our customers simple adds to the Marketing Noise and not to what might be important to our customers or to building relationships.
The good news is that some marketers began to recognize that social media was more than a new channel to send old messages but a powerful way to engage with our customers. Some marketers realized that through building digital relationships with our customers we could authentically influence purchase behavior, brand loyalty and WOM. They also began to understand that playing with our customers new toys meant actively listening and involvement with them in "street" conversations.
Some marketers are going a step beyond and recognizing that social media influences more than marketing. Social media impacts how business is conducted. These are the people, that will I believe, who will walk tall and ultimately change the way marketing is conducted.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Toby Bloomberg
President of Atlanta-based Bloomberg Marketing

Toby is passionate about helping companies create strategies that harness the power of social media communications. She believes that social media marketing can go steps beyond traditional offline/online marketing to create corner grocery store relationships with customers and other stakeholders.

She works with organizations to develop traditional/new social media integrated marketing plans that result in reaching business and marketing goals/objectives. Toby also spends lot of her time on the road speaking to marketers at conferences and company sponsored workshops about the importance of businesses taking an active role in these new conversations.

She made blogs and blogging understandable. Her presentation was fun, informative rich and I'd recommend Toby to anyone interested in getting the scoop on blogging. Lorin R. Robinson, 3M

Toby’s main squeeze blog, Diva Marketing was required reading for several higher ed marketing courses: University of Delaware, Atlanta Art Institute, Bentley College and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Find Toby Blogging at:
Diva Marketing
Blogger Stories
BlogHer
Business Blog Consultant
The Medical Blog Network
Corante Marketing Network

..and of course Marketing Profs!

She services on the boards of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, American Marketing Association and is a teaching artist for the Alliance Theatre. Toby holds a degree from Emerson College and has performed post-baccalaureate studies at Emory University.

Although she now calls Atlanta home - with her Westie pup Max - Toby is a Yankee from Boston who still loves ice cones with chocolate jimmies.