Social media - Friend or Foe?

Steven Fry - King Tweet


I have recently been embroiled in several forums discussing the business use of 'Social Media'. These seem to be the new 'known unkown' of B2B and B2C copmanies marketing departments.

Opinions seems to be split 3-ways:

1) Waste of time - will dilute the core brand. One correspondent even went so far as to claim it would 'destroy' brand equity. Twitter gets the harshest criticim.... 140 characters... what's the point?... ok for riots and revolutions... no use in real business situations.

2) Wait and see.... or... don't know... or... it will be the next big thing... tomorrow.

3) Absolutely essential as part of the market research proposition... where real customers can have their say. (They're saying it anyway so why not actively engage?) Can also be used as a marketing comms channel. Great for viral campaigns.

I am firmly of the 3rd opinion. Wheren esle can you get real time feedback, communicate with whole segments of younger, web savvy, mobile consumers and customers? For free!

Companies that don't get it are missing out!