PART V OF THE “TREND WATCHING TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE IN MARKETING” SERIES:

Let's Hug!

A survey was done at the end of last year that asked people  What their most important source of information was. 80% responded the Internet followed by TV, Radio, and Newspaper at 68%, 63%, and 63% respectively. Simultaneously 73% of people responded personal source as their most important method. When the two highest categories Internet and Personal Source can be so close coordinated in a social network it paves the way for potentially the most important way to communicate with consumers. – USC Annenberg School: Digital Future Report 2007

We can target Age, Connection Type, Day Part, Education Level, Ethnicity, Gender, Geographical, Interest Groups, Marital Status, Parents, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Smoker/Drinker, Enthusiast Targeting.  Unfortunately we’re still just pushing more target ads, when we should be targeting communities and using this knowledge to engage them in a longer conversation.

While brand advertisers have historically trusted people as consumers, they do not trust them in the new role of producer (e.g. uncontrollable content).  Likewise, people who are armed with the power of interactivity are also demonstrating that they are increasingly distrustful of brand advertisers (e.g. ad-skipping).

Remember, social networks are a new medium for self-expression and, unlike traditional media, the content is being produced and owned by the audience itself and to be extra clear I’m not talking about consumers creating youtube videos of themselves with your product in it. I’m talking about every bit of content they create from the photos they upload to the comments they make in public forums.

This is a new model that requires new rules… and for advertising, the most important rule is to launch programs that integrate users and advertisers, not segregate them.

By aligning their interests, trust will be created and social networks will be able to offer advertisers, and users, benefits that are truly unique to the new medium.

We’re seeing it already, but these elements of social networking are in everything. They’re in our business applications like LinkedIn, they’re in music applications like IMEEM, and they’re even in our news portals like Digg. Consumers will control everything – it’s time to make friends now.