"How social networks are courting marketers"

Pete Snyder makes a strong case on why and how marketers need to rethink the way products/brands are viewed by consumers/users.

Here's a quote from the article:

"Demographics have always been an imperfect method to match the right message to the right user, but we have relied on them so long that we overlook the fact that many basic ad strategies were designed to compensate for their inefficiency. Flights, disruptive media and frequency all make up for the fact that a lot of money is talking to the wrong people."

The implication seems to point to the "unpopularity" of push (n) vs. pull (2ⁿ + n²) marketing. The table (from Dion Hinchcliffe) below could perhaps help clarify the options:

Career Fair 2.0

aka "The Game Has Changed: College Admissions Outpace Corporations in Embracing Social Media".

Nora Barnes, Ph.D. and Eric Mattson report in a recent paper that: "[t]he adoption of social media by admissions departments is being driven by familiarity and their recognition of the increasing role of social media in today’s world ."

A logical consequence seems to be that "[g]enerally, the “marketing teams” of academic institutions [get to adopt] social media faster (especially blogs) than even the innovative companies of the Inc. 500.".

To get a preview of the study, go here (MS doc).

via Gilbane.com.