BusinessWeek asks if Twitter is the Next Monster.com, which is an interesting question because at PubCon South, Top Rank Marketing‘s Lee Odden referenced a company that bought ads with Monster (and other places like it) but got better results from Twitter. With Twitter, it received both qualitative and quantitative results he said.
Perhaps this is indicative of social media marketing in general. In the same session, or “Super Session,” if you will, Wayne Sutton of Social Wayne said, “social media is the online way of doing it the offline way.” That’s an interesting way of putting it. As Odden says, it’s not direct marketing. It influences purchases down the line. Following are some various thoughts from speakers at the session, Odden, Sutton, Social Media Wiz Chris Brogan, and Reem Abeidoh of Social Impressions:
Chris Brogan: If it’s just transactional sales, Twitter might not be best thing, but if you’re building relationships or multiple transactions, you need that relationship.
Reem Abeidoh: Professional perspective may not directly bring in dollars, but can build awareness.
Reem Abeidoh: Identify where your customers are at, and that’s what social media really is.
Reem Abeidoh: It’s about being social – you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
Reem Abeidoh: Facebook is a great resource because you can have both personal and public relationships
On the Biggest Risks of social media for small businesses:
Lee Odden: Businesses need to have a strategy before going into it
Reem Abeidoh: You have to kinda avoid making mistakes online because it’s there forever.
On the Skittles Episode:
Reem Abeidoh: Almost genius… brave; started new trend and expects other companies to do it
Lee Odden: As a PR stunt, successful, but not in value; believes consumers want value
Wayne Sutton: It’s creative, but Pepsi is doing it better like what they’re doing for SXSW — they bring it to their own site.
Abby Johnson contributed to this report. Read more from PubCon South and stay tuned to the Murdok Video Blog for exclusive interviews with marketing experts.
