Paul Gillin's recent book,
The New Influencers, is a must read for journalists, as well as public relations and marketing professionals. In it, he describes how social media is transforming the ways in which marketers engage with the market. For folks who have grown up in the Internet era, much of what Paul explains may be common knowledge. However, for people accustomed to old-style "command-and-control" marketing and traditional media etiquette, the book will be quite a revelation.
Today, effective marketing means interaction and even collaboration between sellers and buyers. Today, positive user reviews carry more weight than slick corporate advertising. Today, "blog swarms" may move the market faster and more drastically than a story in the
New York Times. Marketers need to be aware of these trends. Otherwise, they will be apt to spend too much marketing money in the wrong places and not enough in the right ones.
Gillin correctly points out that many of these new developments are in reality taking us back to an earlier time, when the world was smaller and people were more connected. Blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites are more like town squares than 30 Rock; bloggers and podcasters are more like Revolutionary-era pamphleteers than talking heads on the network news.
A career journalist, Gillin acknowledges there will always be a place for traditional media and marketing. What's important is to understand that the dynamics of persuasion are changing. With change comes challenge. The challenge for marketers is to continue refining traditional approaches while at the same time diving into the chaotic new world of social networks.
