We recently wrote about our fascination with the Twitter phenomenon known as @iamdiddy.
Sean Combs, once known as Puff Daddy is someone who certainly gets what Twitter is all about — having established almost 165,000 followers (30,000 more than when we last wrote).
We at KARMA Media Labs love to follow people who inspire and teach us what Social Media is all about, which is why we we’re even more impressed to see Diddy not only take a proactive approach to “Take The Power Back” on Twitter, he’s also apparently listening to what is being said by his fans online.
We’ve seen many celebrities in recent months embracing Twitter, including Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk), Demi Moore (@mrskutcher), John Mayer (@johncmayer) and others — but we love that Diddy’s not just talking to his fans, he’s listening.
Within 24 hours of writing our blog post, we found our words featured on Diddy’s Official Web Site Diddy.com, his official MySpace page, and linked on Bad Boy Entertainment.
So again, we want to thank Diddy for the shout out and for inspiring us to not only Take the Power Back on Twitter, but reminding us how important it is to to keep our eye on brand and reputation conversation. Diddy is someone who truly understands what social media is all about.
Image above from Diddy.com.
Social Media Marketing = Word of Mouth = Awareness
Social media is as simple as its component parts – social interaction meets media — the sites, events, communities and resources that enable people to share with each other, collaborate, communicate and reinvent.
Social media marketing is harnessing that media to drive conversation, build awareness and spark word of mouth around a brand, individual or particular subject matter.
Your audience is living in the new media space – on Social Networks (Myspace, Facebook, LastFM), Sharing and Bookmarking sites (Digg, Stumbleupon), opinion and voting sites, UGC and video sites (YouTube, DailyMotion), and a variety of communities and blogs targeting niche interests. For successful social media marketing, it is important to:
- Find those consumers;
- Listen to them;
- Amplify their voice; and
- Engage them with the information and content they’re asking for.
Why Social Marketing is More Effective.
Traditional Media = Monologue
Social Media = Dialogue
Now, more than ever, consumers have the opportunity to involve themselves in the marketing mix, and they will. As new, digital media became the preferred media of the Millennial Generation, information and content became easier to create, share and manipulate. This democratization has led to an unprecedented interconnectedness both to the world and one another. This real-time, interconnectivity creates a two-way communication channel for everything, always, which is one of its primary advantages over traditional media.
Traditional media is characterized as monologue, slow if ever to adapt and respond. Social media is defined by dialogue, evolving constantly and responding instantly. Consumers have gravitated to and adopted social media because it allows them the opportunity to interact with and engage the people, brands and ideas that matter most to them. And this two-way communication channel requires that brands interact and engage in return. After they are done speaking, they are now required to listen and respond. Those that don’t will be left behind.
Once people are engaged it becomes increasingly likely that they will share and this sharing is the ultimate value for brands practicing effective social media marketing. All of the actions we take online are now shared with our friends – we are clicks away from sharing the links we like, from seeing the clothes and music our friends just purchased, from reading the restaurant reviews posted by our neighbors. And we know this sharing is the most important factor when influencing consumers to adopt a specific brand identity or purchase a certain product.