I published this piece on tompters.com today: Social Media as Mass Marketing … Not the Future. Have a look, and add your comments.
Keep the “social” in social media!
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
"When Steve Yastrow writes, I pay close attention"
- Tom Peters
"I had to buy two copies. The first one is so dog-eared and underlined I couldn't read it any longer."
- Seth Godin
Microsoft's Retailspeak interview with Steve
Sign up for Steve’s blog
Read Steve's Free Ebook to start benefiting from profitable We relationships.
Encounters: The Building Blocks of We Relationships (Adobe PDF)
In addition to writing, I spend most of my work time helping companies unleash their potential by creating better connections with their customers. This happens through my speaking events and through Yastrow & Company consulting engagements, where my team and I help companies figure out who they intend to be in the future, and then engage the entire company in creating that future through strong "We" customer relationships.
Before starting Yastrow & Company in the mid-90s I was vice-president of resort marketing for Hyatt Hotels. My experiences in the hotel business showed me clearly that most marketing doesn’t happen in the marketing department. Customers are paying attention to all interactions with a company, not just the promises made in traditional "marketing communications."
For more information, see our About page.
I have two observations about your comment that in the early days of the web, no one knew how to use it or where it was going to lead us.
First, in those early times, our mutual friend Bob Ryan gave me a definition of a web site that I think has stood the test of time fairly effectively — it’s a cross between a catalog and a trade show booth. Unfortunately, even today, too many web sites fulfill their catalog mission of providing information while failing at their trade show mission of providing an opportunity for initiating dialogue and embarking on relationships.
Second, in those same early times, speaking to the convention of the Power/Motion Transmission Representatives Association at Amelia Island, Florida, I suggested that the limitations on what could be accomplished on/by web sites lay not in the technology but in the imagination. We can do anything, I said, that we can think of doing.
Consistent with your observations about social media, the problem is that we are using the technology without thinking about anything beyond Because it’s there.
Larry – perfectly said: “Because it’s there.”
It reminds me of our strategy at networking events. Too many rate their success on the basis of number of business cards collected. They might think that standing on a chair and telling the WHOLE ROOM about what they do is the best way to generate business. But it’s those 3 or 4 quality conversations you have with people you truly connect with that produce real value. Like Rick in Casablanca, you could be looking at the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
Great example Andy. (And good use of a Casablanca reference!)
Great post Steve. I couldn’t agree more. We’ll all definitely have see where it will lead, but the seeds are being planted now. I had a similar outlook on the business use of twitter now vs. future uses: http://chrisbrya.blogspot.com/2009/08/twitter-strategy-that-big-business-cant.html