Social media is a hot topic nowadays.  Most marketers know it is important, but many are unsure how social media should fit into their marketing strategy.  First, let’s define what social media is: typically, social media refers to websites where users create most of the content.  Of course, that short description covers a wide range of web properties: social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace, opinion sites such as Reddit or Epinions, customer review areas on web sites, content sites like YouTube, blogs, fan websites and various combinations of the above.

There is no doubt that social media are becoming a very powerful tool in reaching consumers.  People frequently turn to social media when they’re in the market for a product or a service.  And a recent study by branding agency Cone found that social media are particularly effective in connecting with hard-to-reach audiences such as men and high-income households.  Marketers’ challenge: how to effectively utilize social media for marketing when there are so many different options?

There are a variety of approaches.  For example, Dell is investing in social media to turn around perceptions of its customer service.  It has a squad of 42 employees who spend their workdays engaging with the communities on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, addressing customers’ concerns.  They’ve also added blogs and message boards to their site in the hope that irate customers will talk to the company rather than gripe to the whole Internet.  And they’re actually using the feedback to improve their products and their service.

Some marketing agencies try to simplify the process for clients by offering integrated campaigns that target multiple social media at once.  For example, Centric creates campaigns that might include acquiring “friends” on various social networks and developing a downloadable widget which is then seeded on various relevant websites and blogs.  They say their clients have achieved better results than they did with traditional online advertising for a fraction of the cost.

My very smart friend and colleague Jenka Gurfinkel adds that social media marketing also requires a change in marketers’ overall approach:

“Social media strategy is not just about using the latest social networking site to promote a campaign once it’s done. By then it’s already too late. I think it’s easy to get stuck thinking about ‘social media’ in the mindset of traditional media–as something that you put the advertising/content ON, like seeding online forums, for instance.  Really effective social media strategy is about integrating methods for generating exposure through social media and online communities into the campaign strategy from the beginning. It can be as simple as making sure to incorporate a ‘share this’ button, or offering an ‘embed’ option for online videos, or more complex strategies like, for instance, leveraging experiential marketing to generate content that can be used online to extend the lifespan of the campaign further. Ultimately social media strategy is about creating ways for the advertising content itself to become social.” [emphasis added]

Sources: “Cone Finds That Americans Expect Companies to Have a Presence in Social Media,” September 25, 2008, http://www.coneinc.com/content1182; “Michael Dell ‘Friends’ his customers,” September 4, 2008, http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/03/technology/fortt_dell.fortune/index.htm; Centric – Agency of Change, http://www.centric.com/; Jenka Gurfinkel, http://social-creature.com/