Top 10 Ways that Social Networking will stretch your Marketing Investment during a Recession

This Top 10 list describes ways in which an online customer community will stretch your marketing dollars. Social applications such as Online Customer Communities are about people connecting with other people and with information for the purposes of sharing. Buyers may resist advertising messages when budgets are tight, but if a trusted peer makes a recommendation then a peer is likely to respond, and buy. See, below, the ways that Social Networking and Online Communities allow you to stretch your marketing dollars in a down economy.

 

1. Listen to the ways that your customers (and potentially prospects) are talking about you. It is much less expensive, and likely more accurate, to do this through an online community than by conducting research panels and through expensive local user conferences. Listen and take action.

2. Develop case studies with your engaged community members to help spread the word about your company. User generated content that can be developed through a wiki, through an “ideas” functionality or a peer discussion can be much more authentic and less expensive than outsourcing to marketing resources.

3.  Engage your customers in a two way dialogue and allow them to engage with each other to build loyalty and connection to your company. No amount of advertising can build connection the way that one to one or one interaction can.

4. Allow your customers to create their blog around your brand. This is an inexpensive way to build momentum around your brand while giving your customers a voice.

5. Create educational podcasts about your products and your overall space, and distribute them throughout the community. For cost-free creation, invite your customers to create these through a contest series.

6. Use widgets to distribute content inexpensively. Distribute your community content and message through widgets and RSS feeds into facebook, your newsletters, your homepage or other customer, prospect and partner touch-points.

7. Create video interviews and video press releases and other bits of video to build more personable relationships. Video creation is inexpensive as is distribution through YouTube and other channels. Create video with you partners and customers to strengthen these customer and partner relationships.

8. Let your customers tell your prospects about their success. Invite your prospects into the community. Your customers are the least expensive and most educated sales staff that you have. Word of Mouth Marketing is the most cost effective method of selling.

9. Get your customers to self-support each other. Why pay a support staff when your customers can more effectively support each-other? Share-source your support function with your client base.

10. Enable your customers to add and rate feature requests to allow them to build your next products. Your customers can now work with you and augment your product development and product marketing teams for free. These mechanisms show your customers you care about which products are useful to them, which – in the end - drives loyalty.

Recommended resources to learn more on this topic: 

Jeremiah Owyang – Forrester Research - http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/ 

Chris Brogan – CrossTech Media - http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ 

Jake McKee – Ant’s Eye View - http://www.communityguy.com/

Josh Bernoff – Groundswell & Forrester Research - http://www.bernoff.com/