First, I'd like to give you some quotes to set the stage for the discussion..
Programs and promotions to drive traffic to Web sites are an important part of the mix, but equally important is the ability to understand the behavior of the people....
"Understanding user experience and how people interact ... is a big part of establishing a . . . relationship with customers," he said, adding that the Web lends itself to that more readily and more quickly than other targeted media such as direct mail.
"Paper doesn't go away, but [the web] gives us a new level of intimacy with consumers. With intimacy you get loyalty and with loyalty you get profitability."
A proposed model illustrates a direct relationship between .. the online customer conversion process. Relationship marketing, integrated marketing communications, and segmenting, targeting, and positioning should guide both Web ... and customer conversion. Ultimately, a [web program] should help to establish, build, and maintain long-term customer relations.
All of the above are quotes from either me directly, research synopses we did, or companies that I worked for. And they took place anywhere from 1996-1999 in the infancy of the internet. They could just as easily have been about marketing advice in social media today. Now, I'll grant you that my old boss actually brought the term "Relationship Marketing" to the marketplace, so perhaps I was exposed to the philosophy earlier than most. We just extended that vision with the Internet added as another part of the marketing mix. But the notion of understanding and leveraging the behavior of social structures, influencers, etc. to provide value and foster a long term relationship is anything but new. Referential marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strata Marketing, etc. are all just variations on the same theme. So it's humorous to see a lot of social media marketing pundits describe these methods as groundbreaking tactics.
I posit that the tactics and strategies aren't new, it's the ability to execute them so much easier that is groundbreaking. What the general web did for direct marketing in the 90's, social media is now doing again. Even deeper levels of access and intimacy are yet again made available. However, as many of us found out the hard way back then, the more intimate the contact the harder it is to gain trust. At the core of relationship marketing is the notion of what I will call "selling sideways". The premise being that first you have to go through a trust building exercise (insertion into their communal circle, referenced via an influencer, etc.) before the value of what you have to say can be realized. A head on selling proposition in an intimate environment actually creates mistrust both in what you say as well as anything you might say in the future.
What started this train of thought for me today was an article Eric who works for Forbes and blogs at Opinion At Large wrote titled "
Why you don't need social media experts". {please note that the linked blog is Eric's personal blog, is not an official Forbes blog, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Forbes}
When I'm asked the question about why I feel so strongly that someone consulting in the social media world have a heavy background in marketing, my point of view is that it is this exposure to the above marketing philosophies that so closely mimic that of the social media environment that truly makes a real-world marketing background invaluable. While not 100% of past marketers may have been involved in the above approaches, 0% of someone new to the field have been. I say increase your odds and go for the evolved monkey over the amoeba.
Matt Ridings - @techguerilla
