In my presentation, “The New Rules of Marketing“, I have been explaining some of the new tools that we use in marketing to the older media with which we are familiar. It is easy to see how LinkedIn has replaced the old Rolodex as the place where we keep all of our connections and contacts. As a business tool, you’ll want to connect with everyone you exchange business cards with and to refer to the many resources that LinkedIn offers for you to expand your reach, referrals and network.
The similarities between YouTube and television are also readily apparent. In the Old Rules of Marketing, you needed a large advertising budget, well-planned strategy, a unique selling proposition and creative, attention-grabbing execution to be successful in the TV medium. Under the new rules you need all of those things except for the large budget. It’s now free. Unfortunately, that also means that many marketers forget that they need to have a strategy, a message and solid creative execution to make it successful.
Folks used to get their news tossed onto their front porches in a daily newspaper.The New Rules transformed that method to digital images appearing on a computer, laptop, tablet, iPad, or smart phone screen. Blogging has replaced the newspaper and no longer do you run ads, you publish content. Useful content that people may be looking for and find valuable for doing their jobs. Unlike the newspaper which appeared for a day and then wrapped a fish or lined a bird cage, your blog remains forever. Your post from last year could be the information that someone is looking for next week.
Twitter has been compared to the telegraph. Instant, public and short messages about what is happening now. With the 140 character limitation, messages are concise and on topic. Learning to be relevant, friendly and engaging on Twitter takes some work.
But the giant of social media, the reigning champion is Facebook. Major marketers are putting big bucks and mega resources behind it as the powerhouse for reaching target audiences with meaningful, referrable and potentially viral content that drives sales. While it began life as a Yearbook, I no longer feel comfortable using that as the analogy. What is Facebook in terms of the New Rules of Marketing? As I ponder this question and view my Facebook friends and businesses and their status updates, I’m thinking perhaps it has morphed into more of a magazine. People magazine? What old medium do think Facebook most resembles?
