Social Marketing
Social Marketing is Marketing aware of the media differences and prepared to leverage the increasing participation of Social Media in the accessible media mix.
While Social Media doesn't change the basics of marketing, it does have significant effects. Campaigns are smaller and more targeted, the marketing funnel migrates to social media (i.e. move from e-mail lists to Social Networks and other social forums), direct customer advocacy becomes more important (happy customers influence prospects).
For mid-sized companies, Marketing is about finding leads and expanding business. Social Marketing is about doing that better leveraging Social Media.
Classical Media allowed inexpensive broadcast of messages to a large audience, but did not provide the channels for customer participation and for audience peer-to-peer interaction. Social Media, on the other hand, can support more engagement between all participants.
The media mix is moving towards dynamic web and Social Media. The shift is gradual but, because the new media is fundamentally different, it has effects that go beyond a simple change of channels.
By connecting to Social Networks, a Social Marketing System can enhance the ability of Marketing to get market insights, engage both with existing and potential customers, and monitor and manage the Social Media presence and Social Media Campaigns. You need time to evolve, so the tool must support both traditional and social marketing processes.
