Social Should Complement, Not Replace

With Facebook's public stock offering taking center stage on Wall Street last week, the spotlight on social networking and media has intensified. While social may have established itself as a brand-building requirement, its role in the marketing channel mix will continue to be scrutinized and analyzed. And rightfully so. Many marketers have learned the hard way that social media platforms can't yet replace all other marketing channels. Instead of an either or strategy, smart Rainmakers know that social efforts should not represent a stand-alone solution, but rather be an integrated part of a broader strategy that leverages the scale and consistency of paid and owned media. A Facebook brand page, YouTube channel or blog illustrates a brand's willingness to communicate directly with consumers on their terms. That social interaction can help brands build consumer trust, differentiate themselves through emotional connections and leverage the loyalty of dedicated fans. But as we saw

Top 2011 Social Media Developments

In 2011 there were many significant developments in the social media raindance and that led to greater adoption of raindance marketing by major brands. We saw brands more aggressively incorporating social media extensions into their traditional marketing mix in an effort to stimulate consumer feedback and pursue direct customer relationship building. While social media activations used to be primarily used to drive consumers to a digital brand presence after strategic planning was done, we're now seeing more brands brainstorm around potential ideas that could live on social networks. This was definitely the year that many brands unveiled their apprehensions about social media and began exploring ways to be most effective in the use of so many social media tools. Here are five key developments I feel significantly impacted the social media raindance this year: