Where is the Edge of Social Media Participation?
Feb 1st, 2010 by David Svet
Edges matter — ask any first grader. If you color outside the edges you’ve got a problem. Edges matter in marketing. That’s where you win. Brand leadership is attained by owning an edge among the four major points of differentiation; price, product, performance, and placement.
Jackie Huba, author of the popular blog, Church of the Customer, introduced a fifth P during a webinar from MarketingProfs titled: Brand Detractors and Brand Evangelists: How to Connect with Influential Citizen Marketers. Her fifth P is Participation — social interaction with or between customers and prospects. I agree that this is an extremely important opportunity for differentiation in any marketing effort and should be included on the list of Ps. Social media and social networking are exploding, radically changing the face of marketing and shouldn’t be ignored. But it raises a question. Where are the edges?
The other Ps have polar extremes where it’s possible to clearly differentiate a product or service to gain ownership of a market. So, what about participation? I think it looks something like this:
- Price: Lowest price / Most exclusive
- Product: Industry standard / One of a kind
- Performance: Total simplicity / End-to-end solution
- Placement: Ubiquitous / One source
- Participation: Exclusive / Inclusive
To lead in participation I think the extremes of differentiation are to be inclusive or exclusive. Being inclusive through social networking is easy to understand. It’s why and how most of us use social media — we meet people, make friends, gain referrals, and grow our networks. Exclusivity seems a little less intuitive given the current state of social media. But if you use the analogy that social media is a cocktail party, it makes perfect sense. Exclusivity is the red velvet rope at the door. Are you on the list? No? Sorry.
Exclusivity isn’t used much in social media, yet. I think that may change. It is a powerful motivator. Is it something you can use in your marketing effort? Is there a way that you can create a red velvet rope experience with your brand? Have I missed the mark on this one? I’m interested in your thoughts.
Photo: http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
for brand differentiation, i get the ‘ex’clusivity factor but i also see how exclusivity is necessary for private networks, targeted customer excellence initiatives, security, internal communications, etc..in that respect, yes you need to be on the dj’s list
Dave,
Great post … Again!
Here’s my take on an exclusivity twist.
You can generate “exclusive” feel - while in fact being inclusive. Here’s how I’ve done that before:
I worked at a hugely popular alternative rock radio station in Atlanta for a few years. We started a “freeloader” customer reward program. It was inclusive - anyone could fill out a quick form, give it to us, and you’re in. Then, each month the sales team sold freeloader deals - announced on the station, website, and in the magazine I ran. Sounds inclusive, right?
We branded and “used” it as an exclusive set up. Make people feel like they have the inside scoop, like they are the only one’s who get that info. We consciously built a club and pumped it up as unique. In reality, those programs have been around for decades.
I see some companies doing that - but there is absolutely no hurdle to receiving a deal via a tweet - all you have to do is follow me…that’s not a relationship. Give me a slightly larger hurdle, and make it something I am really passionate about, like music in my example above, and then I will treasure it.