Social media has become an indispensable part of our lives. The interconnectedness of analogue and digital realms is immense, so it's no surprise that many businesses rely on social online communication channels. Simultaneously, however, voices are emerging suggesting that social media is not a suitable marketing channel and that success and reach can only be maintained there by spending enormous sums on paid advertising.
What is often overlooked in such remarks, however, is the fact that social media alone does not herald a "digital spring". Social media and social media marketing are tools that serve a broader idea: digital communication.
The Internet as a Revolutionary Communication Medium
The internet is not a traditional advertising medium, but a communication medium. As such, it must first be understood, and a sound concept then built upon that understanding. As part of a broad strategy, social media can therefore only represent one aspect. Social networks are not the core of digital communication, but a selection of channels through which messages are disseminated and dialogues emerge.
I often refer to the social web as a communicative revolution, and I'm happy to deliberately provoke energetic discussions with that statement. Nevertheless, I am thoroughly convinced of this viewpoint. In my opinion, the emergence of the internet represents a significant development in human communication. New standards are being set that profoundly change the nature of our communication.
Communicative Characteristics of the Social Web
The social web has significant characteristics, which, although not always and everywhere applicable, are fundamentally enabled by the medium itself. (Restrictions and modifications are usually based on socio-political influence.)
- The internet is freely available.
- We decide for ourselves when, where, and how we communicate and get information.
- Knowledge is freely available.
- We have evolved from mere consumers to producers of information.
- The internet has the power to create communities.
- It creates new truths, new hierarchies, a new society.
These characteristics are quickly read and even more quickly forgotten. However, if we, as marketers, look at these points more closely, we realise that analogue marketing approaches usually fail to fully adhere to these guidelines.
Digital Communication is Freely Available
The first characteristic of the internet is its free availability. I know that this point in particular is often critically questioned – and it should be! Originally, the web, assuming technical prerequisites and a certain basic understanding, was indeed open to everyone. However, due to its increasing socio-political relevance, the social web was also seen as a potential danger by some powers and confined behind certain barriers. The most prominent example is certainly China, but restrictions have also repeatedly been reported in Turkey.
Another danger threatening the openness of the internet is the restriction or abolition of net neutrality. This almost inconspicuous development within the European Union (and beyond) brings with it a large number of problematic consequences.
No matter what profit-oriented network operators want to convince us and European mandataries of, we, as marketers, should also advocate for the freedom of the net and fight for it. This is certainly not an easy path, but it is worthwhile defending the values of the free internet before they are (probably) irrevocably changed.
Free Choice in Digital Communication
While the freedom of the internet may seem rather abstract and irrelevant to some, the free choice in digital communication is a central characteristic of the social web. This point is one reason why some advertisers struggle so much online.
Online users decide for themselves when, what, and how they consume information. They jump very quickly from one source to the next, are very selective (after all, the next page is just a click away!) and, moreover, highly networked. For marketing managers, this means that, firstly, they can only reach their target audience with difficulty (due to content density on the web) and, secondly, that this target audience only pays attention to truly relevant content. Most of the time, there is only a fraction of a second for a positive first impression, which often decides the success or failure of entire campaigns.
This clearly results in a drive within the digital marketing industry to know and understand target audiences precisely. Those who don't meet the needs, desires, and interests of their potential customers 100% will be out of the game faster than expected.
Knowledge is Freely Available
Knowledge is freely available on the social web, and that's precisely why content marketing works so well as an approach. Holding back knowledge out of fear is a widespread misunderstanding within professional digital communication that one should quickly abandon if they want to be successful.
How marketers can be successful with Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing has already been described in my previous posts here.
Digital Communication as a Prosumer
One of the most significant differences between the social web and traditional media is the fact that online we are not just consumers, but also producers of content. The "advertised" individual has long ceased to be passive, but actively participates in the form of reviews, blogs, and social networks.
This development holds enormous potential for advertisers and communication managers. From social media marketing to referral marketing and blogger relations, we are definitely still in our infancy here. This is particularly evident in the still existing difficulties in understanding the peculiarities of the social web and implementing communication measures based on it.
This requires courage and a willingness to experiment, and I see professional communicators in particular as having the duty to establish this understanding among businesses and brands.
Communication Creates Community
As in the analogue realm, language and communication also create community on the social web. There is, however, a crucial difference: while in "real life" we are local and geographically bound, online we can form communities based on our interests, irrespective of location.
The topic is the core of the community, not the place. For this reason, language and communication assume an even more significant role. How language and communication function precisely on the social web, I have already discussed, for example, in this article.
The New Reality
The social web creates new truths, new hierarchies – a new society. Does that sound exaggerated? I don't think so, if we consider how much the internet has already become established in our daily lives and how much developments from the digital world can influence society and politics.
It is clear to me that analogue and digital will converge much more closely in the future, and that the open source idea of community will play a central role in this. The characteristics of our youth increasingly resemble those of the social web, and this is certainly no coincidence. Essentially, it is only a matter of time before the digital social web generation rises to positions of decision-makers and politicians.
The Future is Digital Communication
From all that has been said so far, I conclude quite clearly that our future will be digital communication – whether in marketing, politics, or everyday life. The changes we can observe currently are holistic in nature. We are increasingly and more strongly networked. Those who understand this today, not tomorrow, and know how to implement it, have gained a decisive advantage, social media or not.
