blog till you drop!
A cocktail of advertising, social media, and technology
Are bloggers turning into puppets controlled by marketers?
Nov 7th
Social Media Marketing / WOM Marketing / Digital PR – an increasing number of brands are trying to engage with consumers using social media these days.
Social Media is impacting on the decision making process, and marketers have jumped at the opportunity to use bloggers’ influence to get reviews about their products. It’s cheaper than traditional marketing and it seems to work (for now anyway…)
As a blogger and WOM Marketing specialist, I know how things work both from a blogger’s perspective as well as behind the scenes, crafting campaigns and deciding which bloggers we should engage with. [NB: 'engaging' as opposed to targeting']
One of my Twitter contacts recently told me about Social Media Library, a website that specialises in ‘providing PR and marketing professionals with up-to-date information on the most influential social media sites in the UK.’ Funnily enough, the folks at Social Media Library called me at work this morning… needless to say, they had a bit of a shock when I told them I was both a blogger and a WOM specialist!
Social Media Library is essentially a database of blogs sold to marketers, and the scary thing is that they pretty much know everything about you – your age, which city you live in, what you blog about, your interests, how influential you are, quite literally everything! How scary is that?!
I am passionate about WOM Marketing (that’s what I do for a living after all!) provided campaigns are exciting for bloggers, and social media engagement ethical.
Such a database shows, in my opinion, a lack of respect towards bloggers. We are not writing puppets! If you want to get bloggers involved in a campaign , get to know them, read their blogs, engage with them, and avoid buying a database!
I’d like to ask fellow bloggers and PR / WOM / Social Media specialists what they think…
Brands, Social Media and Consumer Buyer Behaviour
Sep 15th
There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
The Cluetrain Manifesto
Every day people are having conversations online.
Forming around passions and interests, millions of blogs and hundreds of social networks, message boards, wikis and media-sharing sites (Flickr, Youtube, Picasa etc) are discussing a vast array of subjects.
As audiences seize control, attention and influence shifts outside of a brand’s immediate control. Companies need to recognise that people are engaging with brands with or without them.
The rise of social media is not only changing the relationship between brand and audience, it is affecting the traditional marketing and PR metrics. Social media offers insights and understanding never before achievable.
Before the internet, people talked about brands. Usually one-on-one or in small groups, they exchanged stories about brands, products, shopping experiences, and recommendations. Conversations, previously out of site of marketers, are now freely available online.
As a Social Media Strategist, my role is to empower brands with a Social Media presence, and ultimately raise awareness and increase sales.
Now put your consumer shoes on: do you use Social Media as a source of information to make choices? If so, what are the most influential and relevant sources of information you’ve ever come accross.
I bought a Crumpler camera bag after finding this photo on Flickr.
I’d love to hear about your experiences online!
Peter Kim also has a very comprehensive list of brands that embrace Social Media available on his blog.