Social Media Marketing

Online social media is ever expanding. At first i remember when i was in highschool the new cool thing was having a myspace, then when i got to college this thing called facebook was just started and you needed a college "@.edu" extension to sign up for this new "better" myspace. Now having a facebook is the norm and anyone can get one.

 

Because of this new trend of checking your facebook/myspace and twitter daily; online advertisers and marketers have an entirely new market to go after. Im sure everyone has seen the side adds in facebook saying "videogame tester wanted" or "automotive locksmith".

 

Now we get to the point where its so easy to advertise online that small business basically need to do it. Combine this with social media advertising and you have a gold mine for potential customers right? I mean if you can get people talking about your business between theyre friends, then youve got the best type of ad system out there because people trust theyre friends opinions more than say a billboard or tv commercial. Now lets take it a step further and actually make a company facebook or representative friend them on facebook now youve really got your hands in theyre pockets right?

 

This may seam good at first but think about it, what if that customer didnt like your company, then you've just lost out on the 250+ friends of theres. Not only that but how much time would you be willing to spend on facebook or tasking an employee with spending company time on facebook (keeping up the customer/friend relationships) when they could be working? there are even companies emerging now that are dedicated to social media marketing such as socialmaediamarketing.com

 

I think its ultimately the small businesses decision as to how many and what type of resources are put into social media marketing because it depends highly on the type of business in question (ex:restaurant vs dry cleaners). What do you guys think?

Neuromarketing

When someone hears the word Neuromarketing, at first it sounds like something out of science fiction, with similarities to a relatively recent movie Minority report in which there is a futuristic world of tech far beyond our own. In actuality this is a concept being used right now.Car manufacturers are experimenting with using brain waves to do basic functions such as opening the door and turning on a light all with just a thought. check out the article here

Imagine if this technology is being developed right now then neuro marketing should be a piece of cake right? well its not as easy as it seams. Neuro marketing involves finding out what the individual person likes and then gears the upcoming ads or marketing techniques to that person.

There is an issue with this however that many skeptics are discussing, the thought of subliminal advertising and to a minor extent some form of mind control. Thats not to say people are going to all go out and buy toothpaste everytime they they see a  colgate ad but it can definately influence a person.

Proponents of neuromarketing say that its not nearly that advanced. It can tell whether a persons reaction is positive or negative but it cant tell if the positive reaction was excitement or just mild amusement. Lets not not take away from the fact that it does help the consumer in a way by targeting the individuals exact needs and taking out all the extras. For instance a ten year old who plays video games doesnt care about commercials about car insurance. So what do you think? Is neuromarketing worth it?