Web 2.0 Marketing

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For the last several years internet marketers, web designers and programmers have been talking about “Web 2.0″ and “Social Media”.

This buzz has begun to spread as sites like Facebook, Myspace and Youtube have been growing in popularity.

In fact, most of us have experienced “Web 2.0″ even if we were completely unaware.

As I was working today, a program came on the radio that really piqued my interest for 2 reasons.

1. It was Jarvis Cocker presenting it, which was unusual considering it was Radio 4.

2. He was presenting a program about music fanzines.

(The BBC describes the fanzine phenomena far better than I can here, so I recommend you listen again on the BBC’s website.)

So, you may be thinking what have Jarvis Cocker and Radio 4 got to do with Web 2.0? Well, nothing actually - but Fanzines have everything to do with it!

Let me explain…

Fanzines were (and still are to a degree) magazines produced by music fans for music fans. They were impassioned, underground and followed none of the agendas or allegiances (political or otherwise) that the large publishing houses did.

They were distributed at concerts and the like by tiny distribution networks of friends of the author.

This was grass-roots, ground-up media. They weren’t doing it for the money; they did it because they loved it. And their readers loved them for it.

Some of the more popular Fanzines eventually became mainstream (I think Rolling Stone magazine began as a Fanzine), although the original fans trailed off because the publication became too mainstream, losing its edge and “selling out” to the major publishers.

So what has this got to do with Web 2.0? And more importantly, what’s this got to do with your business?

Even before the internet, there were people who felt passionate enough about a subject to publish their own magazine. These guys really struggled, (the program discussed the old fashioned crank-handles printers that were used) but they still managed to get their thoughts out there and influence the success of the bands they wrote about.

Some bands and musicians owe a lot of their success to positive reviews in popular Fanzines of the time.

40 years ago, to publish a Fanzine, you had to really want to do it. You had to have a deep, burning desire to get the printing press, typewriter, get distribution… etc. This meant that only the staunch fans would ever attempt it and it would quite literally be a labour of love.

Today, with websites such as Facebook, Myspace and hundreds of others, there’s no stopping the 21st century equivalent of the Fanzine.

The difference today is that creating articles, videos, audios, pictures about your area of passion is so easy. It’s so easy that it’s not just the stalwart, die-hard fans of a subject that are doing it anymore. More and more “ordinary” people are getting involved as well.

This may take the form of blogging, youtube videos, podcasts, myspace pages or any other website that allows users to create, share and vote on theirs, and others content.

In nutshell, that’s what Web 2.0 is all about: Anyone can create a “Fanzine” on any topic they want and share it with the world.
The media and advertising agencies no longer have the monopoly on what we watch, read or listen to.

“Top down” traditional marketing is beginning to lose its effectiveness.

People aren’t listening to advertisers as much. Word of mouth has been given the power of instant, global communication… The possibilities for growth are mind-blowing:

• Your potential customers may be talking about a problem your company could solve on a forum.
• Someone may be blogging about your industry.
• Another may be making a video about you (think that’s far fetched? Search for “iphone” on YouTube).

…And this is without you actively taking part or using this to your advantage. Can you begin to see the power of this if you did?

The way marketing works is beginning to turn on its head. The message is starting to come from the “bottom up” rather than the “top down”. The masses are now broadcasting their own content — not a handful of broadcasters creating content for the masses.

This change won’t happen overnight. This is a gradual process and is happening now, and you really need to know about it before your competitors do…
Like with all big shifts, there’s potential for profit for business owners (like you and me) who get the “first mover” advantage.

Web 2.0 is still wide open. There are lots of opportunities to be had but there are a lot of pitfalls as well.

I’ve spent the last few months investigating what works and what doesn’t with Web 2.0 and Social Bookmarking for “normal” small and medium businesses, not just the silicone valley start-ups… and the outlook is good.

Businesses that are good at what they do and keep their customers satisfied will do well. Businesses with poor quality and bad customer service will find it harder to hide that fact. (About bloody time too!)

I’m dedicating a lot of time (and money) to learning and testing some of the leading marketing strategies using Web 2.0 and sharing them with you when I know they work.

I’m keeping away from the faddish, spammy or blackhat stuff, and will be focusing on solid principles that’ll bring you more business and help grow your company.

In fact I’m in a lucky position because I can test these methods not only on my websites, but with my diverse range of clients websites as well. That way, I can be pretty certain it’ll work for you when I show you how it’s done!

Keep an eye on this blog for any updates.

The times they are a-changin’!

Cheers,

George

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Further reading:

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (Changed my way of thinking when I first read it!)

The Attention Age Doctrine by Rich Schefren (It’s rather hypey, but the points he makes are spot on.)

I admit it. I’ve been slow on the up take with this.

If you’ve been following me or my work, you know that I’m a pay per click and direct response marketing evangelist.

I love it because it brings me and my clients measurable, accountable results. The kind of results businesses can be built on and financial projections can be made.

However, a couple of things recently have sparked my interest. Here’s how it happened…

FaceBook and direct mail marketing.

Back in October I was at a get together in Chicago with Perry Marshall and his other coaching students. We were talking over lunch about marketing on the internet and the subject of FaceBook came up while we were waiting for our food…