Web 2.0 vs Old Marketing Techniques - The Real Truth!
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Marketing Maneuvers on January 18, 2008 , trackbackThere are 2 split camps in the Internet Marketing world right now. One is pro web 2.0 marketing and the other is an advocate of the old ‘traditional’ ways of marketing. So which one is better? As a marketer, here’s my take on the issue:
First of all let’s define both terms more clearly:
‘Old marketing’ refers to mostly tried and proven direct response marketing style; focusing largely on ad-driven lead generation activities, JVs, persuasive copywriting, etc. These strategies are highly predictable and can be tested and measured relatively easily. However, in general people are wary of ads and perceive them as not credible. So because old marketing strategies are mostly ad-driven, they are seen as a form of communication / information dissemination that is not very credible.
Web 2.0 refers mostly to the newer form of web communities that consist of more interactive social-networking sites such as blogs, forums, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, etc. With the explosion of web 2.0, especially blogs, many marketers are adopting web 2.0 strategies, claiming they work better than the old strategies.
To me, web 2.0 marketing is like a lot like/(basically) Public Relations marketing. They focus on getting favorable exposures and coverage in the media. The explosion of blogs and forums means there are more ‘media owners’ with (perceived) independent opinions. And because they are perceived to be independent, their opinions are perceived to be much more credible than advertisements that are obviously biased. These bloggers, forum contributors and social-networkers are critical influencers in their own niche areas of interest. And because of that, their opinions are important for the marketers wanting to market to those niches and their readers. Web 2.0 can be highly effective and powerful in building a brand and reputation because of their perceived credibility. As Rich Schefren stated in his Attention Age Doctrine and Stephen Covey wrote in The Speed of Trust, getting the attention and trust of your target market is critical. However, as you can imagine, this marketing strategy is extremely unpredictable as you are dealing with so many individuals’ opinions.
Here are just some of the potential benefits of web 2.0:
Get instant credibility: When influencers in their niches endorse you and write a favorable coverage about you or your product, you get instant credibility. This has greater value than advertising because editorial is considered more credible and authoritative than advertising. In fact, some studies have shown that this form of coverage is perceived to be about 7 times more credible than advertisements. It also attracts public interest, creating awareness, new business enquiries and referrals.
Gain trust easier: When people read about businesses in the media they are perceived as market leaders and are more dynamic and more likely to be trusted. This shortens the business introduction and sales process considerably.
You will gain fame much faster: Nothing will launch you into fame faster than several positive editorials in various media published around the same time. Just take a look at the William Hung global phenomena. Once it got picked up by a few media owners, the rest followed and it took on a life of its own. This is the kind of PR blitz a business would hope for. And how did it all started? Someone set up a website about William Hung immediately after his ‘money’ She Bangs “I’ve done my best…” performance. And it sparked a wildfire!
Once published you can use it forever: Most of the time the media will be available for a very long period of time. E.g. A blog entry will always be available on the Internet and easily searchable as long as it is not deleted/taken down. This means that the more you are mentioned positively out there in the WWW, the more likely a potential customer will come across all those materials and become interested to do business with you.
You can get if… for FREE: While advertisements are usually expensive, web 2.0 techniques can be economical and highly cost effective. You can even reach out to a wide mass audience for free by providing great content. This can create longer term results compared to traditional advertising.
BUT! Here’s the irony of it:
In this relationship, credibility is inversely proportionate to the predictability of the system.
The more predictable = The less credible
Human nature is such that at the end of the day, the ‘media owners’/influencers do have their own agenda for writing favorably/unfavorably about you. Whether it is for personal profit, to benefit their readers or simply to maintain their image of being in-the-know. You simply can’t escape that fact. In fact, more and more blog readers realized that bloggers will write a positive article about someone to put an affiliate link that profit themselves. They even have advertisement rates for those interested in advertising on their blogs.
This means that their opinions won’t be as independent as what their readers might expect. They can be manipulated. And if they can be manipulated, they can be systemized to produce a predictable outcome. And if the outcome is predictable… it’s no longer as credible. It will become one of the old marketing techniques that can be measured, tested and optimized.
Readers credit value and credibility to the writers because they are perceived to be independents. However, if they lose that, then it will become just another advertising venue.
Just imagine, if Rich Schefren’s ‘maven-ism’ (Btw, what’s the difference from ‘guru’, ‘expert’, etc? It’s just another synonym?) can really be systemized, and there are hundreds of new mavens popping out in various niches, will you be as trusting when another new guy releases a new doctrine and claims to be a maven? The more predictable it becomes, the less credible it is going to be.
That said, you can’t just deny the power of web 2.0. Similarly, those who are ignoring the power of PR are simply missing out big time. Rich Schefren, being a visionary, is able to tap into this and profit big time. And it will be a while before the market is tired of the web 2.0 marketing techniques, so ride on the wave.
As I said in an earlier post, use both. Use all the strategies that bring in profits. That’s what a responsible marketer should do. Yaro Starak, a pro-blogger and strong advocate of web 2.0 (blogging) agrees in my earlier article.
Good introductory to web2.0 Sant. I used MySpace/Friendster but don’t seem to get any good leads from there. Do you use them
The reality of Web 2.0 is that those large platforms like Squidoo, Digg, Stumble, Facebook, … attract millions of visitors on a daily basis. It’s not all about kids chatting their time away, many of those are 20-40 years old with at least one credit card in their purse.
As you write Sant, an Internet Marketer should ride on that wave and start testing which of the platforms and which strategy gives them best results ($$$). Yes, it sounds labor intensive, and that’s what it is.
Your comparison Web 2.0 — Classic Public Relation fits perfectly.
–John
John, great point about the demographic of the people getting involved in those huge social sites.
I guess it depends on the strategies you want to use and how big of a result (goal) you want to achieve. Various strategies will require various levels of commitments & involvements. Many ways to skin a cat.
However, it’s worthwhile to use several strategies and not just one (the best) strategy to achieve your goal. I think as long as a strategy is profitable and don’t compromise other strategies, do it.
Raymond, I don’t use those ones you mentioned. I’m at Facebook. The way you make it work is similar to using other web 2.0 platforms - provide great contents first, build relationship, capture quality leads then the pitch.
It’s not the fastest way to get results, so if you’re in a hurry this strategy might not be the best for you. Notice that Rich managed to promote his stuff fast using web 2.0 because he already established himself and have a huge list… AND powerful rolodex. You have to build that first. You have to start somewhere.