Up-and-Coming E-Marketing Channels

BY Dave Evans

March 15, 2006 - ClickZ

RSS and its compatriots are the up-and-coming channels in e-marketing. They put consumers in control: RSS, for example, doesn't require consumers divulge personal information. Together, these channels provide smart marketers with as little or as much time as they'd like with consumers, time that can be used to build a relationship. In the emerging marketing environment, those relationships are key. Build them and consumers will come.

The New Channels
Traditionally, available channels have been TV, radio, print, outdoor and direct mail. No more. Not only have at least some consumers rejected these traditional channels (though they do still work for others), what consumers use now are more complex, more finely tuned, and in general off-limits to mass marketers, such as blogs, vlogs (define), podcasts, and games.

The challenge for marketers is actually simpler than it probably sounds. It's what I've been calling "social media," something I'll speak about at ad:tech in San Francisco next month. Social channels exist alongside traditional channels. They provide the persuasive power, the validation in the sense of self-reliance, that ads used to do all alone.

The key to using social channels is to recognize that as a marketer, you can't push your way in. Interruptive marketing is checked at the door. When I was with GSD&M, we talked about raising the creative bar in support of the "uninvited guest," the notion that since we're interrupting you, we'd better make it worth your while.
Problem is, marketers can't even dependably interrupt consumers any more. Consumers possess the technical wherewithal to block an ad before it's ever seen. Consumers are in control and they know it. The social media channels that make this reality an upfront proposition are gaining favor. For smart marketers tapping these channels, this means their message has a chance of not only being heard, but being internalized, thought about, and passed along to someone else. That's a major marketing win.

It's All About Content
Increasingly, marketers must be carried in. You must create content consumers will adopt and bring to their social networks. It must legitimately address consumers' needs: they're far too smart to carry an infomercial into a friend's birthday party.

The challenge for marketers is actually simpler than it probably sounds. It's what I've been calling "social media," something I'll speak about at ad:tech in San Francisco next month. Social channels exist alongside traditional channels. They provide the persuasive power, the validation in the sense of self-reliance, that ads used to do all alone.