Web 4.0: R U Ready?

On 24 September, the Los Angeles chapter of the Public Relations Society of American hosted a half-day workshop on social media. It was an informative day, full of creative ways to incorporate digital technology into marketing and public relations campaigns.

Emanuel Rosen gave the first address. He stressed ways that social media helps word-of-mouth campaigns. Serena Ehrlich’s provided participants with a toolbox of resources and tactics for launching an online campaign, and Peter Shankman made it all personal and relevant over a lunch discussion.

Thank you very much to the workshop’s organizers, Keith Pillow and Bianca Dickerson-Williams, as well as to Rita Tateel (PRSA-LA, President) and Barbara Shore (PRSA-LA, Executive Director).

“It’s not web 2.0. It’s not web 3.0. It’s simply life.”

Peter Shankman, Social Media Expert

At the PRSA-LA Social Media Workshop, Peter Shankman returned to themes first introduced by Emanuel Rosen. Throughout his entertaining stories, he repeatedly  illustrated the foothold the individual is gaining over traditional marketing and public relations efforts thanks to the developments in technology. Celebrated reviewers of services, restaurants, media, and other such venues are increasingly  less effective and credible.

Moreover, each our personal networks is fluid and changing. The relevance of connections fluctuates throughout the day. Those seeking to use social media effectively for branding or influencing will need to work within established but changing communities.

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BOOK REVIEW

Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business.

By Larry Weber, 2009: John Wiley & Sons

IBSN: 978-0470-41097-4

Take Away Message:

The digital consumer is not content to be a passive receiver of marketing messages. Therefore, marketers need to think about ways to use social media tools to become aggregators of content that serves the immediate information needs of each digital consumer.

REVIEW

Unlike other books on the subject, this one is not saying that the professions of marketing and public relations are undergoing a radical transformation. No. Larry Weber’s objective in his book, Marketing to the Social Web, is to provide a sketch of a specific market segment: the digital consumer.

Marketing: The next generation

In fact, Weber illustrates how the principles that shaped traditional methods for reach potential consumers still hold. Effective marketing speaks directly to the needs of the consumer, solves their problems. Good public relations influences opinions and shapes conversations. The goals have not really changed for marketing or public relations professions.

The only difference is that mass marketing is no longer likely to lead to a sale. More than ever, it is essential for the marketer to understand not just their niche, but the exact position the product offering has taken in that niche.

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