Number four is a two-in-one Trend and Truism :)
I started writing this one and got a little lost, and the post began to meander. In the end I think that I was able to put together something fairly cogent.
The first part of this title was meant to be a bit evocative, as well cautionary for those who tend to latch on to buzz phrases at face value. Let me explain.
According to dictionary.com, the word medium is defined as:
- a middle state or condition; mean
- something intermediate in nature or degree
- an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced
- an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression. One of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
The common thread here is some type of duality or reaction to duality.
I think people need to think very long and hard when considering strategies they consider to be “social media”. Just because you are advertising on Facebook does not make your strategy akin to the type of marketing that has come to be known as social or conversational marketing. Remember, by nature all media is social but not necessarily conversational or effective when it comes to relationship building. I hear terms like SMO (social media optimization) thrown around and I worry that people will forget the underlying principles inherent to good marketing and CRM.
As a marketer, don’t forget your first responsibility is to market effectively, not check off boxes on the social media to do list.
“Eventness”
Originally this was going to be its own post, but I decided it was a natural progression of the “All Media Is Social” post.
This year look out for more initiatives like the YouTube presidential debates or the ABC Facebook Debates. While these events are very compelling, as broadband adoption reaches critical mass, and streaming video becomes commonplace, more people will be taking advantage of platforms like PalTalk and Usteam.tv (and many other platforms that may have not even been launched yet) for real time events. I would definitely be on the look out for more events that you can participate in online, in real time.
As these types of events become more popular, it will be important for marketers to pay attention to all of the addition conversations and interactions that occur during these events in order to be a relevant part of the conversation.
Brad Berens talks about matters related to “eventness” or what he refers to as “Sobytiinost”. I strongly recommend heading over to Mediavorous to read more about what Brad has to say on this subject. I also wrote an article for iMediaconnection entitled, “Must See PC”. In order to get the full gist of this concept, I suggest reading all of the related posts and articles.
Tags: conversational marketing, social media, CRM, SMO, Facebook, You Tube, ABC, Paltalk, UStream.tv, broadband, Sobytiinoist, eventess, Mediavorous, Brad Berens