Web 2.0 Rule #1: When diving into Web 2.0, mind your (Marketing) 101.

Note: This post is part of a current series for B2Bs and B2Cs that explores 10 (Essential!) Rules That No Marketer Should Pass The "Web 2.0 Go" Without. All posts in the series are archived here. This post kicks-off the series with:

Web 2.0 Rule #1: When diving into Web 2.0, mind your (Marketing) 101.

Web 2.0-- aka "social media"--is more than a set of new technologies. Conversely, social media heralds an entirely new era that puts customers in control because it places dynamic media tools within everyone's reach (not just marketers).

And in making the tools of marketing, communications, distribution and creation freely available to everyone changes things. A lot. As a result, this new environment turns many marketing practices on their head, with many companies scrambling to keep up with consumers.

But even though many best practices have changed in the new era, age-old marketing principles absolutely have not. Value creation, positioning, messaging, targeting, segmentation, differentiation and other principles apply as much today as ever (if not more so).

While Web 2.0 tools might be "one-click easy", your marketing efforts are far from simple. Because just as with ALL of your other marketing efforts across ALL other media, there's an extensive amount of work involved in planning, launching and maintaining your social media presence and programs.

And how well you execute on age-old principles will directly equate to how well your brands fare in this new environment. Don't look for shortcuts here.

Let's take Obama's groundbreaking (marketing) campaign for the top spot as a key example of this rule. And I have expressly chosen this example because so many get it so wrong. It's true that the Obama campaign leveraged social media tools like none had before, not even his opponent. In fact, many credit his win to how fervently he used these technologies to connect with constituents.

But this is far from the whole story--and one I remind fellow marketers of frequently.

What Team Obama did, and did exquisitely well, was to identify a robust platform (positioning) of "change" that set him far apart (differentiation) from his competitors--be those competitors within his own political party during the primaries or competitors outside his party during the general election.

What's more? Every communications vehicle he employed--be it Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, e-newsletters, stumping speeches, broadcast advertisements or broadcast television debates--reaffirmed his platform of change (messaging, repetition and consistency of message). Further, a critical part of his "50-state strategy" was to engage the youth market, vis-a-vis 2.0 technologies, to campaign for him... which is a case of targeting and segmentation. As when we segment accordingly, we not only look to identify which points of value will resonate with our audiences, but through which touch points we can best access them (in this case, social media).

The reason Obama yielded so much WOM was because he and his campaign were so unique (again, positioning, differentiation) and wholly resonated with so many (value creation, messaging). Yet most miraculous of all, in hitting all the right notes and putting the foundational principles in action, his marketing equated to less of a campaign and more of a mass movement--and that's a case of good ol' strategy which is wrought through tapping the current trends and societal climate and mapping those findings to the wants, needs and desires of one's target audiences.

Folks, you really can't get more marketing 101 than that.

Thus, Obama's marketing was not limited to a win for social media, but a win for tried-and-tested marketing principles--and yes, a win for the top spot as the new Commander-in-Chief of the USA.

All told, leveraging social media will keep your brands relevant and open you to new opportunities, but using core marketing principles will ensure that your brands resonate when approaching these new audiences and opportunities. While indeed many of the practices have changed--and we'll review those changes and their marketing implications throughout this series--we are all after the same old thing we've been after for centuries. And that's ROI.

So when people tell you that Web 2.0 changes everything in marketing, just tell them everything old is new (media) again.

Here are some supporting posts to provide you with more insight and direction stemming from this rule:

• Social media planning checklist: check it out here.
• The work you do before you do the work: find out here.
• The secret of social media: get it here.
• Reasons for a social media presence: learn the many reasons right here.

Rule #2 comes your way next...

(Psst! all posts in this series are archived here)

Social Media Tips • Social Media *Extras* • Social Media Training • Contact CK

Comments

[Lewis Green]

Excellent analysis, CK. The only thing I would add is that while segmenting major groups works well in politics, we marketers need to ultimately segment to the loneliest number, which is one. Social Media can help us to do that, as can every customer touchpoint, especially and most effectively the call center and the store experience, which remain the number one and number two ways that customers reach out to us.

When social media advocates claim Inbound Marketing, they do great harm and injustice to the concept. Very little Inbound Marketing currently occurs through Web 2.0 tools. I raise that to support your correct contention that:

"All told, leveraging social media will keep your brands relevant and open you to new opportunities, but using core marketing principles will ensure that your brands resonate when approaching these new audiences and opportunities. While indeed many of the practices have changed--and we'll review those changes and their marketing implications throughout this series--we are all after the same old thing we've been after for centuries. And that's ROI."