Marketing_Management_14th_Edition-min

548 PART 7 COMMUNICATING VALUE
The TreeHugger Web site tracks
blogs and Internet activity with
respect to green products.
SOCIAL NETWORKS Social networks have become an important force in both business-toconsumer
and business-to-business marketing. 59 Major ones include Facebook, which is the
world’s biggest; MySpace, which concentrates on music and entertainment; LinkedIn, which targets
career-minded professionals; and Twitter, which allows members to network via 140-character
messages or “tweets.” Different networks offer different benefits to firms. For example, Twitter can
be an early warning system that permits rapid response, whereas Facebook allows deeper dives to
engage consumers in more meaningful ways. 60
Marketers are still learning how to best tap into social networks and their huge, well-defined audiences.
Given networks’ noncommercial nature—users are generally there looking to connect with
others—attracting attention and persuading are more challenging. Also, given that users generate their
own content, ads may find themselves appearing beside inappropriate or even offensive content. 61
Advertising is only one avenue, however. Like any individual, companies can also join the social
groups and actively participate. Having a Facebook page has become a virtual prerequisite for many
companies. Twitter can benefit even the smallest firm. To create interest in its products and the
events it hosted, small San Francisco bakery Mission Pie began to send tweet alerts, quickly gaining
1,000 followers and a sizable up-tick in business. “Follow Me on Twitter” signs are appearing on
doors and windows of more small shops. 62
And although major social networks offer the most exposure, niche networks provide a more
targeted market that may be more likely to spread the brand message, as with CafeMom. 63
CafeMom Started in 2006 by parent company CMI Marketing, CafeMom has
6.7 million unique visitors per month on Cafemom.com and 18 million on boutique ad network
CafeMom plus. Visitors participate in dozens of different forums for moms. When the site
started a forum for discussing developmentally appropriate play activities, toymaker Playskool
sent toy kits to over 5,000 members and encouraged them to share their experiences with
each other, resulting in 11,600 posts at Playskool Preschool Playgroup. “The great thing is you get direct
feedback from actual moms,” says the director of media at Hasbro, Playskool’s parent company. This kind
of feedback can be invaluable in the product-development process as well. The site’s sweet spot is young,
middle-class women with kids who love the opportunity to make friends and seek support, spending an
average of 44 minutes a day on the site.
CafeMom
USING SOCIAL MEDIA Social media allow consumers to become engaged with a brand at
perhaps a deeper and broader level than ever before. Marketers should do everything they can to
encourage willing consumers to engage productively. But as useful as they may be, social media can
never become the sole source of marketing communications.