What Is Social Media Marketing?

More and more people are asking  "What Is Social Media Marketing? What is all the excitement about? What happened to traditional Marketing activities and how are they changing? What can I do with my business to really promote my product or service? What can I do right now for my business?

Social Media defined from Wikipedia encyclopedia:

"Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein also define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value."

The buzz around social media marketing is based on the fact that it is the consumer's influence that is either promoting or killing the product or service.  It is no longer a PR firm, a banner or blatant advertisement.  Traditional marketing activities have changed.

The main problem with social media marketing from a business perspective is that it can be incredibly time-consuming and the ROI is difficult to measure. It is based on Return on Conversation. Social media marketing campaigns are not one time deals. They need to be nurtured over time.  Even small businesses and organizations however can truly benefit from social media.

The first suggestion I give anyone who wants to start with social media activities is to begin to listen and research where their audience is. Get comfortable with social networks that have to do with your product.  Visit forums and message boards. Read blogs. Read tweets. Join groups. Have an active and real interest in these. Do your research.  Look at what your competitors are doing. Look at what companies of your complimentary services or products are doing. Are they on Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin? Are they tweeting? Do they have blogs? What are they saying and better yet, what are their clients saying or complaining about?

The second suggestion I give  is to really keep a clean, detailed and updated databank of your clients. Your satisfied customers will be your first step to outreaching to new potential clients. They will provide the word of mouth you will need as a jumpstart.

Luxury Brands & Social Media Marketing

Burberry acquires 3 million fans on Facebook and has a social network Art of the Trench that is truly engaging. Jimmy Choo runs with its treasure hunt on Foursquare and Louis Vuitton partners with Foursquare to offer a designer badge. Tiffany wears its Engagement Ring iPhone app.  DKNY is doing fashionably well on Twitter.  It is especially exciting for marketing professionals to watch what is going on with social media and luxury brands. Who would have thought that something so exclusive, so closed doors, so v.i.p. as luxury brands would utilize social media to not only get "in touch" with their present followers but to acquire new fans and thus consumers? It is fantastic to see what some of these companies are doing to really harness the power of social media.

Forbes recently wrote that according to a Forrester Research Survey, "in 2008 only one third of international luxury firms actively sold online, yet 8 out of 10 affluent consumers actively used the internet to research and purchase luxury goods on a daily basis."  Another survey shows how these numbers are growing. EMarketer published in 2007 in   "Affluent Internet Users: How The Rich Live Online" that these users will grow from 43.7 million in 2006 to 57.1 million in 2011.  So we know that the affluent purchase more and more online on a daily basis so why aren't more luxury brands taking advantage of this?

This is astounding and signifies that those few luxury brands that are embracing the internet have an extreme advantage over their competitors who refuse to budge. What else can luxury brand designers do to remain at the cutting edge of social media and attract a new generation of luxury consumers?

1. Research

• Study the trends and behavior of  online visitors and customers to identify new opportunities 
• Find creative ways to increase consumer engagement with the brand and product online

 2. Social Media, Mobile & SEO

• Work with in house departments and third party firms to define and execute the mobile strategy 
• Maintain total brand consistency throughout all digital platforms while building  brand awareness, engagement, purchase intent, repeat purchase and brand advocacy
• Direct search engine marketing and optimization
• Utilize digital platforms, stores and third parties to increase e-mail address acquisition 

3.  Ecommerce

• Identify innovative ways to enhance consumer interactions with the brand and product through Ecommerce and especially via mobile devices.

 4. Follow up 

• Analyze performance and tweak and retweak according to results.  Remeasure.