Social Network Marketing
With Facebook having more than 400 million users, Twitter 100 million, and the humble phone evolving to a network application device, it is a little hard these days for social and business commentators to avoid the conclusion that social networks in general are changing the way we communicate in a game changing way.
That said, we at White Chalk Road believe that businesses should avoid being caught too much in the media hype and plunging themselves into the social conversation just because it is trendy to do so. Every business is unique, such that the pros and cons of participation will vary greatly.
For example, some business to business trading companies may not benefit so much from a Facebook page, although a LinkedIn profile or two would not go astray. Business to consumer trading businesses may be more likely to consider their social network options. However, we believe they should only do this after careful considerations of their objectives and consulting with those in the know about the rules of engagement, formal and informal. Users in general and network providers in particular, are very sensitive to commercially motivated intrusions to their personal space. Even advertising on Facebook is a lot more restrictive than advertising on say Google AdWords.
Moreover, one can do more harm than good to a brand if people bring the wrong motivation to the network or fail to resource the participation adequately. So, we believe a business would do well in the social context if they are prepared to change their tradition ‘lifetime value of a customer’ (LVC) perspective to a Lifetime value of a relationship (LVR) one founded on adequately staff resourcing and mutual benefit.