Gary J. Nix is a Social Media Marketing Specialist at Blue Fountain Media. He also stays in the digital zeitgeist by consuming and delivering industry content, attending and speaking at conferences and co-moderating #brandchat. The easiest way to reach him digitally is on Twitter at @Mr_McFly.
If your brain is trying to make sense out of the statement serving as the title for this article, congratulations! You are prepped and ready to go on this journey. The purpose of this journey is simple: to provide an easy explanation linking traditional and social media marketing. This is for traditionalists who don’t believe, understand or are afraid of the social web. This is also for digitally social beings who think that this form of communication is the end. Remember, comparisons work both way and they will bring us to a wonderfully harmonious place where marketing is marketing.
To do this, we will use the old-school thinking of the 4 Ps of marketing and compare what you should do on the appropriate social channels to move towards a better level of understanding for us all.
Product
Whether your offering is an actually a product, service or other commodity, this first “P” is the thing you want consumers to buy. This is the thing that will make the consumer’s life better ten-fold. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. This is the thing that will live everywhere the consumer is and, in many cases, social media encompasses one of those particular places. Your consumers are there and if your product is not being referred to in any way, you’re already at a decided disadvantage. You need to be where your customers are. Speaking of being where your customers are…
Place
Where do buyers look for your product or service? Where do they look to find trusted information about your product or services? Who do buyers trust to tell them about your product and service? With technology continually making it easier to remain in contact with people that you know and trust, no matter how physically far away they are, social channels serve as a major way in which people stay in touch. It is your responsibility as a brand to make sure that your information is easily accessible, but that you know what both potential and actual consumers are saying about your brand. In the old days, you’d spend gobs and gobs of money on focus groups, surveys and other time-sucking ways of gathering vital information. Guess what, the conversations about your brand are much easier to hear on the social web. Listen as you used to, not to interrupt the conversation, but to add applicable information when needed. Listen to both the good and the bad; this is how you make the best thing since sliced bread even better. The great thing is to know when to speak and when to keep quiet.
Promotion
This is the time to speak. Consider the fact that people are looking for information about your brand and they are coming into your “home” for this information. If they’ve come to you, that means they expect you to tell them why your product or service is so great. Speak to what you have to offer and how valuable it is. There’s nothing wrong with having an ad in a popular magazine or on a popular television show. However, if you know that there are people looking for you on a social media network, why wouldn’t you be there waiting for them with open arms? Exactly.
Price
A common mistake by some is that when we talk about price, we’re talking about how much your product or service will cost the consumer. As important as that is, what we’re referring to at this moment is your own cost. How much does it cost to do all of the research about your target market? How much does it cost to pay the designers to create the communication collateral for your brand? How much does it cost to create the content necessary to lead someone towards making a favorable purchase decision? These are costs that we’ve always had to consider, but in the traditional days, the items born out of these necessities could very well produce a high cost in terms of placement. Shed some of these costs by sharing some of these particulars on social channels. In many cases, the cost of sharing your information is very low and, as we all know, sharing is caring.
