Industry is far ahead of academe in applying social media, says marketing assistant professor Jane Machin, who worked with a Blacksburg digital services firm on a social media campaign for the university’s solar house (see this issue’s story on Lumenhaus). Machin, whose research interests include consumer decision making, teaches marketing communications. She recently responded to questions about marketing and social media from Dan Smith, editor/co-founder of Valley Business FRONT.

How has the Internet changed marketing for companies and individuals, and how has their approach changed in recent months?

Machin: Without a doubt, more and more companies are adding the Internet to their communications tool bag, from a simple Web site to a full social media campaign, using Twitter, blogs, Google, Facebook, YouTube, etc. I do not believe the Internet has changed the fundamentals of marketing, though. The fundamentals of a great brand (and therefore a great marketing communications plan) mean understanding the consumer’s needs and developing a product that meets those needs better than the competition. These fundamentals have not changed with the growth of the Internet. Now, though, the marketer has more ways to communicate just how their brand meets the consumer’s needs best. In my observations, the firms that use social media most successfully use it to build brands subtly—rather than directly touting the brand’s benefits, they use these tools to build and cement a longer-term relationship. After all, would you want your best friend constantly selling to you? H&R Block, for example, uses Twitter to respond to customer issues rather than to sell its products and services.

Of course, with more ways to communicate come more ways to alienate, particularly with the instantaneous forms of communication: an off-the-cuff “tweet” could undo years of careful brand building. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these new forms of media is largely still untested—how much are they really contributing to the bottom line? Some firms are also struggling with regulatory issues. The pharmaceutical industry for example does not really know what it can or cannot say on Twitter, because the regulatory environment has not caught up with the technology.

What is the overall effect of the Internet, and what do you expect it to be in, say, a year, two years?

Machin: Overall, only a tiny proportion of 2008 measured media dollars went on the Internet (8 percent)—the vast majority went on TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers. In future, it seems likely that more dollars will be transferred from these traditional media forms to social media. Perhaps more important than using the Internet for marketing communications, however, will be the use of social media by businesses to listen to their consumers in real time, allowing true brand co-creation to occur.

How are clients behaving with the change? Are many of them trying to do more marketing themselves, and are they assigning people to become savvy at social media?

Machin: There is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question! Big clients are still using advertising agencies to do much Internet marketing. Monitoring and bidding on keywords on Google, for example, and maximizing the likelihood a Web site will feature in the top five entries of a search is a full-time job that is outsourced to experts. That said, many CEOs and employees are using Twitter themselves (Zappos is one of the most well-known). Companies are even offering a new position—the Twintern—to undergraduate students. However, even in these cases, the tweets are likely being carefully coordinated so they are consistent with the overall brand image.

For smaller companies that cannot afford traditional forms of advertising, social media represents a great way to reach and connect with their target. For example, I recently made contact with a local photographer whose targeted advertisement appeared on my personal Facebook page.

How differently are your students being taught in light of the significant changes underway and still to come? Can you give some specifics?

Machin: I admit I have not yet tweeted with my students, though I have thought about it! I do spend a lot of time in class discussing the pros and cons of interactive and social communications. I have a guest speaker coming in this semester to talk specifically about social media campaigns (Aaron Herrington, co-founder of Modea, a local digital services agency). As part of my marketing communications class, I always work with a local business to help them develop their communication plan; this year, we are focusing on using interactive and social communications. I give the students articles about how firms are successfully (or not) using social media and regularly use examples from Web sites, blogs, and YouTube.