If you are wondering what I mean when referring to the ”social marketplace”, this page is for you.

As a marketing consultant, I concern myself with markets. My job is to help you prepare your product or service for your target market.

Since 2006, social media and social networking has exploded on to the internet scene and brought with it many implications for marketers. One of the key ones is that ordinary, everday consumers can now be as powerful as media organisations and trade customers. They can be more readily accessible. They can also be more discerning in what marketing messages they consume.

This means everybody in the marketing game needs to treat “individuals” as seriously as they treat “market segments”. This can be a challenge for large companies and organisations and frightening for smaller ones. However, brave companies who “get it” can bond with consumers at deeper levels and forge actual relationships if they are willing to invest the time and the respect.

Although there seem to be few marketers who embrace this notion in Australia, I am not a lone voice on this issue. Here are some resources crafted and shared by other workers in this arena.

Social Media Manifesto by Brian Solis

And here is an awe-inspiring video that puts this new world into perspective.