A Marketing Tip from PR To the Trade
Social Media Can Inform Your Marketing Strategy.
By now, your gallery, shop or Show should have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a You Tube account. If you do but are still asking the question "Why?" you will be surprised to discover that you can actually gain valuable customer knowledge from these social media efforts, provided you have structured them as an integral part of a larger marketing strategy.
But first, you might like to know why social media works.
50 may be the new 40 and 40 the new 30 – but there’s no changing the mindset that goes with chronological age. At least that’s the latest from the research labs that specialize in psychographics and other behavioral factors.
Seems that folks who were born in the beginning of the 20th Century were very linear thinkers. That's why they were comfortable in large corporations with hundreds of Vice Presidents. The Boomers have a different mindset. They are the most entitled, the most important generation – legends, you might say, in their own minds. And boomers' kids?
Well, our kids are the are the leading edge of the Internet generations. Coming of age in the information age, they can handle more brain food. Internet gens seem to be more creative (possibly because of the increased data), more adaptable and more informed. Simply, they are open to the many channels of communication at once. That’s why they’re so eager to connect. And eager to participate.
If you are still overwhelmed by the place of social media in the marketing mix, it may be simply due the fact that social media are hybrids. A little bit marketing, a little bit public relations, and a little bit customer service.
This can be confusing if you’re trying to manage your own marketing program.
Other than working with a specialist who can meld the components of your media plan, your contextually specific web advertising, your print, your newsletters, your FB, Twitter, You Tube so they they truly reflect your brand, the best thing to do is watch the results you are getting from you Social Media.
Social Media can inform you marketing decisions.
If you’re on Facebook, take a look at your fans’ sites. You’ll gain valuable marketing information . If your Tweets are being followed, find out whose following you.
Is it easy? Yes, but it is time consuming. (One reason you’re a dealer and we’re a marketing organization is because we have the mindset to wade through these scenarios as well as the metrics that are associated with these media as well as the associated KPIs.)
Young collectors – let’s call them buyers, young marrieds or new home-owners – have a lot to juggle. The Internet is where they gather to share experiences, get peer advice and approval, connect.
Make more use of the Social Media than you’re doing now and you will be more informed than you thought possible. You will be able to pick advertising media more effectively, learn how to adjust your pitches to new buyers, and possibly even re-order your buying habits to meet the demands of new buyers.
It sounds amazing, but it is true that social media can be an effective yardstick in laying the foundation for your own marketing plans.
For more on creating an integrated marketing plan that maximizes the use of social media, call us at 212-665-6773. Click through the icon to follow us on 
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