Marketing and How Social Software Aligns

November 8, 2009 · Comments

RAF Red Arrows Sometimes, we overcomplicate things by being worried about the technology part of it. Twitter and Facebook and blogs and mobile apps aren’t all that fancy. They’re just an unknown, and so people are worrying how they’ll do what they know how to do by other means with these new tools. Yes, it takes some new understanding, but at the end of the day, marketing hasn’t changed a lot. Think about the Four P’s of Marketing:

Product

Depending on your product, you might want to think about these kinds of alignment questions:

  • How does it share? – In software, this means adding features like “post this to Facebook.” In physical products and businesses, it might mean giving consideration to how the real-world experience can spread via the online tools. For instance, if I’m Steve Wright over at Jay Peak, I’m going to want to have a bunch of “rental” Flip cameras or Kodak’s Zi8 camera on hand, plus some simple instructions for YouTube tagging and Flickr groups.
  • How do we collaborate? – In software, look at the difference between Flickr and Picasa. In the real world, determine if there’s some way to extend relationships between users. To keep with my ski resort example, I might throw together a Ning site, and invite EVERY guest to join a social network around their experience.

Price

With social software, maybe there’s a chance for “invite a friend and you both save X” kinds of pricing options. “10% off if you fan our Facebook page.” There are all kinds of ways to think about how you can align social tools to pricing. Woot.com made a great integration with Twitter. So did Dell Bargain Outlet. Your blog can have specials of the day or week posted there. There are tons of ways price aligns with social software.

Place (distribution)

Look how easy the social web makes cause marketing. Take blogging software, make a post about the cause, throw a ChipIn widget on there, and you’ve got the basics for a charity fundraising experience (technology-wise). Distribution is the web’s best talent. You can put things everywhere. You can build a simple presence framework and move information to where it’s needed. Place is the easiest of the Four P’s to align to the social media world. Make sense?

Promotion

The social web is the talk of the town because of promotion. It’s free and easy, right? Heh. Most people accidentally promote in very damaging ways. They haven’t learned how to promote without being “that guy”. But it’s true that these tools are the best tools for promotion ever.

Through my Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter outposts, I get thousands of new readers and prospective clients every week. Thousands. I make new relationships that I wouldn’t have had before the land of blogging and all the other social tools. I use YouTube and I can podcast and I can make photos on Flickr. There are tons of ways to use these tools to promote and build community opportunities.

What’s Old is New Again

I lined up all the old fashioned marketing “Four P’s” to how social software can interact. I didn’t exactly lay out step-by-step plans, but maybe you can infer a bit from what we started with. You’ll notice something. The tools aren’t all that spectacular and amazing, except that they make performing certain tasks simpler than it used to be. Instead, the potential and the wonderment are all inside the human part of the equation.

What’s exciting about how social media and social software aligns with marketing is that there are new opportunities that far surpass the old methods for marketing, and that’s where the magic truly hides. Marketers do have to understand the tools, but more so, here’s a quick list of what else needs to be understood:

  • From bullhorn to phone – Your message is no longer to be shouted, but to be socialized.
  • From theater on the stage to theater in the round – Marketing is human again. Don’t stay “on message.” Stay connected to people.
  • From millions, to the right 10,000 – Mass never worked well. It just did well enough. Find relationships that yield.
  • From campaign to community – You’re in it for the long haul. Build awareness, reputation, and trust by being there.
  • From exclusion to “one of us” – Your customers (b2b or otherwise) want to be included in the whole experience, not just to buy.

Truth be told, there are a dozen more things we could talk about in that list. But let’s start with those. You get the starting point. It looks easy, until the boss starts yelling at you for numbers and fast. Farmers can’t rush crops. You can’t join a gym a week before a wedding and drop five sizes. This is re-inventing stuff, not rehashing the old stuff with new line items.

You with me? What else do we have to cover here?

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Photo credit wwarby

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  • lesliesonnenklar
    Very clever way to incorporate social media into the standard four P's we learned about in school. Basically what it tells us is that marketing is marketing regardless of what tools you use. Social media is just another outlet to market a product or service, it's no different that traditional methods other than the way in which it is to be used. Traditional media is more of a call to action whereas social media asks us to engage others and build relationships rather than just focusing initially on selling something. In my opinion, traditional PR has always been about building relationships, trust and credibility; much like social media.
  • On the Product front, wouldn't "How does it share" fall into Promotion? The Product would be the physical, the Share would be the emotional (which falls into Promotion and how the story is told). Yes/No/Maybe?
  • Chris,

    Enjoyed the post and think that this is definitely a good "What to Do" post after you have addressed one HUGE element that many forget with marketing (in general) and especially with Social Media.

    "Who is my audience? - To Whom do I hope to speak to/with?"

    Without knowing that FIRST, all of this becomes kind of pointless don't you think?
  • I agree with a target audience. You need it and you also need to know who actually needs your service and how you can solve it for them using social tools. If you don't know what you need then you are going to be in a rut.

    I agree Social tools are a cross section between marketing, pr and promotion.
  • Hi Chris,

    Lovely article you've written. I strongly agree that social softwares & social media are tools that facilitate communication. And I feel that while these new technology gadgets, tools, softwares and etc are definitely fascinating, classic concepts on marketing and advertising still applies. After all, what I think is important is the link/conversation between our audience (targeted, I'd say) and us (or our clients).

    I was wondering whether integrating social media should be considered from the very start, product conceptualization, or would it be better if it comes in later (Product)? Since being able to share it with the community is only a feature, and growing to be a not-so-unique feature in certain industries.

    Side tracking, would it always be better for brands to be proactive on social media?
  • For new products, I'd say it should be part of the design from the start. For existing, it can be bolted on. : )
  • Great connection to the Ps of marketing we all learned in school. I would add 'partnerships' as another P. And the web makes partnerships (affiliates, co-branding, combined offerings) quite easy - and social media allows for easy promotion to the brand communities of all partners involved.

    Thanks, Chris, for reminding us of the Ps of marketing.

    Best.
    William
    www.williamarruda.com
  • I couldn't agree more and grow weary with the messages that are shouted at me. Also really like the campaigns to community. Recently I heard Geno Church speak at the Social Media Business Forum and he said campaigns are dead that we need to think about creating movements. It's a paradigm shift but an important one I think marketers like myself need to embrace.
  • modem
    I think marketing and social media are combined to each other. Social media plays very important role to growth the business of any products. You can publish your ads on the social media sites. Thanks for sharing this.

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  • Hi,

    According to latest Facebook guidelines “10% off if you fan our Facebook page” is not allowed anymore :( http://j.mp/3bKbqJ
  • As social media re-humanizes business, here's yet another P -- People!
  • I get your point of staying connected to the people, but I have to point out that saying "don't stay on message" is inaccurate.

    The message should be who you are as a company. For example, if I'm interacting with you, just as two human beings, I'm going to behave in character for the person I am. A business needs to try to do that, too. But the problem is that you've got all your employees, each with their own personality, which can sometimes mute the character of your company.

    Having a message, a brand character, allows each person to share both their own and their company's personality. So staying on message is important.

    I think it's more accurate to say that you need to make sure your message (personality) is one that relates to your customers & staff, not one that just chest beats and talks to itself. Then, staying on message actually MEANS staying connected to people (both internally and externally).
  • Excellent article. Although you explained it far more in detail than myself, I was thinking about something along these lines this weekend. I keep reading social media related article that use words like "reinvent" "rethink" "think differently", etc.

    But I've begun to think that's misleading. When it comes to the tools of social media, yes, business have to think in a manner that they've never been required to before. But that's just for using the tools.

    When it comes to marketing strategy, in some ways, it's returning to the thought processes of the 40's, 50's and 60's. What I mean by that is that many of today's Fortune 500, Fortune 100, Fortune 50, etc. companies began in those eras with one goal in mind: become the go-to place in their communities.

    Communities were much smaller then, and reach was limited, but point was the same: become an active member or your community and get to know people on a social level.

    Essentially, that's what social media is about. It's just using modern tools to perform traditional strategies: get to know your customer on a personal level and be part of the community.

    And as you noted, the traditional "Four P's" still apply.
  • Thank you for bringing in the 4P's into your post. Marketing has never changed and we need to remember that - this definitely has my mind thinking right now on what to make sure I do and don't do when we launch.
  • I like the part about staying connected to people rather than staying on message. I think this is one reason why politicians have avoided social media, or at least do it poorly. They are so concerned about staying on message. If they, and companies, recognized the need to just be connected, they would reap the benefits in a much more effective way. Be human!

    And that of course leads to building trust in the community by "being there."
  • This is a great post. A good way to remind everyone that things have not changed that much and the basics are still there. I do think we still need to think of objectives and success criteria as well - no?
  • Thanks for this post Chris. It's a nice supplement to some concepts I shared with our company's Business Development Directors in a presentation I did last week.

    I think I'll forward them this link as a way to reinforce what we talked about. I'll bet, too, that you'll be able to reach a few I didn't/couldn't.
  • Elizabeth_H
    Back to the basics...perfect. People get so wrapped up in the latest avenues for marketing that they take the focus off of the basic principles we learned in school. Marketing really hasn't changed, it's still about people and using the 4 other P's to reach those people.
  • Hi Chris,

    Interesting thoughts.
    I have the feeling that in many cases place and promotion can be perceived as one, certainly when we link it with the reputation of the information provider.
    On the other hand I think that when dealing with online marketing it is more convenient to compare with the Cs rather than the Ps.
    Here's a short but good post about the subject http://www.customfitfocus.com/marketing-1.htm

    Does it make sense?
  • It should be top of mind for every product manager today -- how can I make my product social and shareable while making it natural and acceptable. Chris, thanks for your suggestions on how to make all products social using software/tools. Food for thought for software product managers themselves on how to design a product that is social.
  • Social media are creative tools to share insights to a particular subject whether it is for promotional services or just ideas from the owner.

    For me social media is widely used nowadays as an online tool for marketing and free advertising through systematized and well organized internet marketing techniques like interconnecting each of your social medias to your main content. Most internet marketers utilize tools which contains some of the most popular social media tools in one interface.
  • Sometimes I find it hard to keep up with everything. It seems like it all exploded about 1-2 years ago and is growing very fast.
  • When I work with clients I am always trying to figure out how they can turn offline opportunities into online content.

    You Said:
    "In physical products and businesses, it might mean giving consideration to how the real-world experience can spread via the online tools."

    When we simply look at the tools and ask "How do we use them" in my opinion it limits creativity. (It's not about the tools) The best thing to do from my experience is to look at a business and find natural extensions that people can easily share in the digital space.

    Let me give an example. I am mentoring Sarah from the Bechemere Inn. She and I actually connected in the comments here a few months back. Sarah told me one of the things her customers really love is when she leaves a CD of photos that her staff takes at special events like weddings or anniversaries. Patrons don't have to wait for the professional photographer to create a book of proofs and they can pop the CD into a computer and instantly relive the special moments. This goes a long way to create positive word of mouth and generate loyal customers but my immediate thought was to embed a link to the Facebook fan Page or to the blog testimonial page! This gives people a simple one click to share their experiences.

    I call it "Closing the loop of opportunity". Think creatively. Look for these natural extensions in your business!
  • I speak with 27 years experience in marketing successes and failures. And I'm writing this for myself because, honestly, I don't know how many actually read blog post comments, even to someone as loved and respected as Chris Brogan. That being said, it all still boils down to trust. Whether it's one person, or one million people, the "Four P's of Marketing" only work if the foundation of each is trust. Do you trust the product to deliver, do you trust the price to be fair, do you trust the the place to be credible, and do you trust the promotion to be honest. I speak from experience - do NOT tire of the message in Trust Agents. It is the core of marketing success. Always has been. Just never so well put before.
  • Hi Cheril,

    Some people do read blog comments :)

    I might not have the same experience as you do, but I always considered the 4Ps and marketing in general to be very pushy and one way.
    Yes the customer has to trust all element of the brand, but do marketer take this into consideration the "right way"?
    Certainly the promotion part of it. When I look at adverts, brochures or any other brand communication channels, trust is not really in my top of mind.

    I think that trust is one of the reasons why marketers have to adapt to the web era and why the 4Ps, even though they still make sense today, must be redefined. At least for the internet; simply because the information flow has changed.

    On the other hand, I am always going against the flow, so I might be totally wrong :)
  • Thanks for the response Laurent. Keep going against the flow. You bring up interesting points.
  • My simple definition of new age marketing is- establishing a 'connect'-
    come to think of it- it applies to product, place, promotion, price, target market and positioning, the essential elements of conventional marketing strategy.
    The connect could be physical – such as retail touch points or product designs; it could be practical – such as establishing pricing decisions; and it could be psychological – such as developing predispositions.
    More on an article published on iMediaConnection here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/25054.imc
  • michaelklein
    I love the 4p reference. Great marketing starts with defining the story you want to tell, and then simply using the 4ps to help tell that story. A great reminder.
  • angelinasimon
    Great way of connecting the Marketing “Ps” to social software and how we use social media in general. It’d be interesting to see an article on which social software you recommend.
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  • Very nice post. It's nice to see an authority in Social Media (largely Promotion), tieing the opportunity back to all of Marketing. Whether considered or ignored the Four Ps (and Positioning or "Branding") still exist and should still be considered by those that Manage Brands.
    - I agree with Danny below, your point on Product is really just a (more effective) way at Promoting the Product
    -And your point on Price is really just a way to Promote a Promotional Pricing Strategy.
    -And certainly products can be distributed through social media, but an even bigger opportunity for SM is to direct consumers to the distribution channels (Promote the Place).

    Social Media provides a great new opportunity for Promotion of all types of products. And I think your article does a great job reminding us to consider SM promotional opportunities in all parts of Brand Management (I think you could write a piece on integrating SM into product development, commercialization, production, consumer research, sales, etc).

    Again, Good Job!
  • uggsaleboots
    I agree with a target audience. You need it and you also need to know who actually needs your service and how you can solve it for them using social tools. If you don't know what you need then you are going to be in a rut.
  • Wow. Your focus is awesome and a great example for others.By writing it down you are creating a sense of accountability and structure to your goals.keep it up.keep blogging
  • We already knows the 5P's of marketing as the whole marketing strategies are concentrated on the them to increase the sale force and simultaneously the visibility.
  • You've hit so many nails on the head with this post that I feel like getting up and applauding you on the computer screen. This notion of coming full circle, back to basic values is so appealing to me, and at age 59, I feel like a child who has just discovered a game that I can play when I've been on the sidelines for so long not liking the rules of the old game. These rules...the ones that allow Trust Agents to rise to the top...resonate in a big way, and I'm so grateful for your leadership and clear-headed content on these issues.
  • Finally! I've been waiting for someone to write this...this is 100x more valuable than another Top 10 little things you can do on PlatformX.

    Love your stuff, Chris.

    Best,
    Jason
  • bdr
    For new products, I'd say it should be part of the design from the start
  • bdr
    For new products, I'd say it should be part of the design from the start
  • adamsscott
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