2008: VITAL Marketing

Getting on my soapbox again....if I hear "viral" one more time I'm going to scream! Its not about "going viral." Who cares about episodic, viral hype? Social media is about creating VITAL, sustainable buzz, word-of-mouth, relationship, and meaningful presence.

A "viral" campaign may have wide reach and incur a huge upward spike in sudden activity or buzz around a brand; but inevitably that goes away. (Plus there's all that pressure to be the next big internet meme, when really, how is that ultimately beneficial to your brand and your consumer?) The real opportunity in social media is totally being missed.

Social media offers marketers the ability to create extended, sustained customers relationships in the places they live online-- consider it almost a SocialCRM.

This shift in perspective about "viral" versus "vital" marketing comes when the social technologies themselves are becoming less novel, and increasingly important and intrinsic to the everyday lives of consumers.