Who's Afraid of Social Media?

WHO'S AFRAID OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Anna Papadopoulos]
[Commentary] The mores of marketing in the social media environment requires advertisers to behave in a manner that it counterintuitive to how they have traditionally behaved. In traditional advertising, the advertiser interrupts, talks at prospects, doesn't listen and hides behind big production commercials. Conversely, in the social media space, advertisers need to listen more than they talk, they need to react to the feedback they receive (in fact, they need to allow and encourage the feedback) and they need to keep their message simple and genuine. There's no hiding in this space. So, why would an advertiser take this risk when playing it safe is so much easier? No one gets fired for playing it safe, right? Wrong. The advertising landscape is changing and marketers who behave like it's 1999 are going to get left behind. The rules of future communication, regardless of the medium, are going to look a lot more like social media communication than traditional models. Brands that are going to survive are going to have a sold foundation to stand on. And if they don't, they will be called out on it regardless of their participation in the social media space. The good news is that the space is wide open for the taking. However, entering the social media space for marketers is a lot like running for political office: any dirty laundry will quickly be revealed. Therefore, marketers need to understand their brand(s) and be prepared to learn even more. They also need to have tough skin, because honestly can be brutal. But out of this will develop the holy grail of communication, which is a relationship with a customer or prospect, and then, social media will not seem like such a big, scary monster for either party.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-papadopoulos/whos-afraid-of-social-me_b_70085.html