The idea that social media can be indoctrinated into a greater marketing and PR campaign is beginning to sink in. When statistics and pinpoint targeting become a greater part of it, rather than the lack-of-control jitters undermining social marketing, expect to see Digg.com and other social networks added to campaigns as standard fare.
SEOMoz.org begins this week’s discussion on social marketing by outlining how to incorporate Digg with a traditional PR media campaign. In addition to press releases, a little buzz on Digg can go a long way, perhaps farther. Plus it’s a direct conversation with your target audience. In Digg’s case, that’s young tech geeks.
“We’ve seen both success and failure at getting articles Dugg in the past for SEOmoz and other sites we write for,” writes Scott, “but this is the first time we’ve tried to incorporate it as a complement to a PR blitz.
“What I’ve noticed as we work to create this is the process is very similar to creating the press release itself. We know our target audience, we know what they like, we know what tends to get their attention, and now we have to spin and package our client’s product to appeal to them.”
Over at the WebProBlog, Chris Richardson refines the idea by noting how important it is to know the audience:
There is no point being Dugg if you are marketing to the senior citizen crowd. . .Make sure you do some research on your target audience. If you are going after the mom equation, be aware there are a lot of blogging mothers who post a great deal about their adventures in motherhood. These mommie bloggers are also quick to acknowledge products that can be beneficial to their child or their motherhood efforts; conversely, they will also crucify products they deem unsafe.
Readily acknowledged also, is the lack of tangible evidence of success with presentable charts and graphs – which is what advertising clients like. Cameron Olthuis, of Pronet Advertising, raises this point as well:
Measurable statistics and risk factors need to be determined for any social media campaign and clients need to be prepared for what they are getting into. Because social media marketing has only been recently defined, I think it will be some time before this type of measurable information is standardized.
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