Comments on: Social Media isn’t Free

By: Social Media: NOT Sold In Stores | Branching Out: The Maples DMG Blog

Social Media: NOT Sold In Stores | Branching Out: The Maples DMG Blog — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:44:26 +0000

[...] would think the availability of “free” social media tools would be an attraction to organizations. Instead, it has caused an unusual [...]

By: Ruby S.

Ruby S. — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:28:55 +0000

Hi gfnell3,
Couldn’t agree more. Ultimately people get onto social media because they want to get updates from people that matter to them. That is why I personally feel that advertisers need to present themselves as an individual, a typical social media user, that involves with its customer’s activity. If they are able to do so, engagement is bound to occur. Btw, Josh Bernoff’s article was an interesting one.

By: musicbizzdude

musicbizzdude — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:52:21 +0000

good post, I agree- Social Media is free advertising for whatever it is you have to sell, but it does take work. I have been trying to use social media to market my stuff for a long time now and it does help to have good content.

By: gfsnell3

gfsnell3 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:28:53 +0000

Hi Drama Queen:
I’d argue that it isn’t only about making a presence (and building awareness), but starting and engaging in a dialog. Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff has a great posting on his blog about how he asks clients if they know their customers:

“Marketer: Women with a child under 4. [Or "People with assets of at least $1 million." Or some such.]

Josh: No, I really mean “Who are your best customers?” What are their names?

Marketer: [No response.]”

The full link: http://tinyurl.com/pbaxb4

By: Drama Queen

Drama Queen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:10:28 +0000

A good one here! I strongly agree. Advertisors get into social media thinking it is another ad space that they can buy into with money, but they fail to realise that social media isn’t about buying space. It’s about making a presense.

By: gfsnell3

gfsnell3 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:57:35 +0000

That’s an interesting observation Mike. Would your commitment to maintaining those social media channels increase if you were paying a fee to use them? The answer would have to be: Probably.

By: Mike Elfland

Mike Elfland — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:46:27 +0000

So true. It’s easy to give FB and Twitter less than 100 percent attention because they are free. From a business point of view, there’s no urgency to justify an investment. There’s no investment. I wonder what would happen if those sites required me (a newspaper) to pay a subscription fee. (Interesting…..I won’t go there!)