Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business (2nd ed.)

Citation

Hazlett, K. (2010), "Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business (2nd ed.)", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 293-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761011038383

When Larry Weber, chairman of W2 Group, a global marketing services ecosystem that helps CMOs in their new role as builders of communities and content aggregators, writes about “Marketing to the Social Web”, he knows of what he speaks. Weber is the public relations leader to whom a young British researcher by the name of Tim Berners‐Lee turned for advice on marketing his then radical new idea … the “world wide web.”

With this second edition of his widely‐acclaimed book, Weber offers updated information, including a new chapter on Facebook and updates on blogging and measurement to help “marketers, whose job ultimately it is to introduce products and services to people who are sincerely interested in them, learn how to do it the right way” (p. x).

Marketing to the Social Web is a compelling read comprising 17 chapters that gently walk readers ‐ marketing manager to CEO ‐ through every step of the process of incorporating social networks into their consumer marketing programs.”

Part 1, “Pandemonium: The Landscape of the Social Web,” builds an understanding of and appreciation for the power of the social web. For those of us who earned our stripes in the traditional media world, this can appear deceivingly simple. “Marketing at its best is the influencing of opinion through compelling content; doing so through the Web will get harder before it gets easier … ” (p. xiv).

Just how significant is this new and rapidly‐growing area? Weber cautions that “Managers have to understand that the Web is rapidly becoming the most important marketing medium … A symptom of how things are changing: nearly every commercial during the Super Bowl is designed to send viewers to a digital destination.” (pp. 12‐13).

Two concepts that appear repeatedly throughout Marketing to the Social Web are those of “control” and “transparency” as they relate to social marketing … “Consumers love control so much that when they hear about devices like TiVo and DVRs they want them mainly for the control they offer.” (p. 22) … and “when you start or join a social web conversation about your company or your competitors, you should be upfront about who you are. Your stakeholders deserve nothing less.” (p. 17).

With these guidelines in place, Weber proceeds to walk through the ABCs of building one's brand using social media. Crisp, easy‐to‐follow text combined with excellent examples of “good” and the “not so good” social media marketing efforts make for an entertaining, highly educational read.

First, says Weber in Chapter 2, “Community and Content”, one must recognize that, while the terminology may be new, the idea is not: “This is not much beyond Marketing 101. You must know what business result you're trying to achieve, use relevant traditional marketing tactics and strategies that have proven effective, and then get a little help to leverage some of the new tools that are available today.” (p. 29).

However, there is a cautionary note: “In the traditional communications model, your organization controls content creation and distribution. In the social media world, you have little or no control over content or distribution … Everyone has access and everyone can participate.” (pp. 29‐30).

“Making the Transition” (Chapter 3) makes a particularly good case for a new way of thinking about marketing, and the reader will be comforted by the use of familiar terms such as “nurturing relationships” and “prospects”. However, the manner in which these terms are used is different. [Marketing to the social web] “is not about you getting your story out … It's about nurturing relationships and dialogue among customers and prospects … in the new marketing reality, the brand is based on the dialogue you have with your customers and prospects … ” (p. 36).

There are, of course, caveats to the social marketing concept, most importantly the concept of “control” as it relates to a company's message, and this can be a difficult pill to swallow for the traditionalist. Chapter 4, “How to Let Customers Say What They Really Think (and Keep Your Job)”, reminds us that, again, anyone and everyone has access … “the Web means that everyone with a grievance can publish it so all the world can read about it … ” (p. 58).

Part II, “Seven Steps to Build Your Own Customer Community”, is the how‐to part, with eight easily‐digestible chapters covering topics ranging from “Observe and Create a Customer Map” (Chapter 5) to “Engage the Community in Conversation” (Chapter 8) to “The New Tools, Techniques, Networks, Platforms” (Chapter 12).

The first step in the process, says Weber, is to identify your “community” … “a core group of people who want to talk about your company, your products, things you are doing, where you are going” (p. 66).

This crucial step sets you on your way to social engagement. But this is just getting your foot in the door. Ensuring that your website is “fresh”, with continually updated, relevant content, greatly increases the chances of your company/product/brand being seen by your target communities. “Identify the hot topics and search terms that people are likely to use to find you” (p. 92), and use them diligently.

Social media marketing is very much about conversations with your customers and potential customers, and the strength of your brand hinges on the quality of the dialogue you maintain … “The stronger the dialogue, the stronger the brand … ” (p.99).

Measurement … a familiar term … continues to play a key role in the social media world, says Weber, and the approach to measurement remains unchanged. “Before you jump on to the social web, be clear about what you would like to accomplish … and what measure(s) you'll use to determine your progress toward reaching your objective(s).” (p. 115).

Once you've built your website, though, and developed your marketing strategies, how do you ensure you can be found online? Chapter 10, “Promote Your Community to the World”, provides clear suggestions on developing content that will rise to the top of the pile in an online search. “What feeds search engines … is content, which communities generate in very high volumes … The more you have, the more likely you are to show up in someone's search results.” (p. 132).

One final note on “find‐ability” is “simply putting fresh content automatically moves your site up in the organic search ranks … New content signals to the search technology that a site has something not seen before by search users.” (p. 159).

The third and final section of “Marketing to the Social Web” addresses blogs, podcasts and other online venues available to the social media marketer. Although the concept is simple … “be seen” … the reality is that there is a marked difference between traditional and online target markets/communities … “It took decades for the New York Times, Le Monde or the Financial Times to become brands, but the Diggs of the blog world are becoming trusted information partners to a new generation. They're being held accountable for accuracy by readers rather than by editors and fact‐checkers.” (p. 170).

Once again, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the marketer to accurately target his or her desired audiences and communicate with them. But, one may ask, which medium is better? As Weber explains in Chapter 14, “The Blog Strategy”, the e‐communities, as opposed to “the social networking communities of MySpace or YouTube, … largely contain professional content with a leaven of reader comment, whereas the other communities mix user‐generated with some professional content.” (p. 187).

More to the point, “E‐communities will become the preferred resource for today's generation the way magazines were for an older generation … The big difference is that in the older world, magazines, newspapers, radio, and television were one‐way communication. In the e‐communities, members take only what they want, take as much as they want, and talk back.” (p. 191).

Chapter 17, “Living and Working in Web 4.0”, is the author's forecast for the future of online marketing, with the social web playing a larger role and demanding greater attention to details about consumers. “Whether you're a small company with a chain of restaurants or a giant corporation with a global presence, you're going to have to start talking to customers and prospects as if they were with you in the room.” (p. 230).

Marketing to the Social Web (2nd ed.) is a thoroughly enjoyable, well‐written look at the next generation of communication … web‐based communication with personality and with a clear vision of who the customer is, what that customer wants to hear, when the customer wants to hear it, and where. “Through openness, transparency, and truth, you can live and thrive on the social web until the Web and marketing disappear.” (p. 230).