There has been a number of posts and articles recently questioning the continuing relevance of blogs, and the staying power of Twitter and social networks.
Handshake 2.0 blogger Anne Giles Clelland called my attention to this post (inactive), which predicted that people would tire of social networks like they have of blogging. The same post linked to this article in the NY Times, which highlighted an apparent decline in blogging.
Some have suggested that Twitter will suffer the same fate as Second Life – which was all the rage not long ago but not buzzed about quite as much today.
Which leaves one with the question – how do you handicap the social media horse race and decide which tools to bet on?
In ClickZ Experts, Robin Niefield recently wrote in her story Social Media: Seduced by the New?:
We’ve been privileged and challenged by a steady stream of new and
hot technologies and communication channels in digital marketing. Each
new star garners outsize attention from the media as marketers,
educators, and agencies desperately try to stay abreast or get ahead of
yet another new opportunity.
For that brief shining moment, both fads and legitimate strategies
and tactics can take on celebrity status while other, equally
legitimate strategies and tactics are temporarily displaced. But “hot”
shouldn’t be a factor in rationale decision making or budget allocation
unless it’s the kind of hot that creates audience momentum and true
marketing opportunity.
….Admittedly, making rational decisions amid the hype and without
experience to guide efforts is difficult. Each brand’s case is unique,
requiring a customized analysis of opportunity, environment, resources,
competition, and a host of other factors. New tactics are often missing
the guidance of relevant history and example.
On the topic of Twitter (Hot) and blogging (some say decidedly Not), I have offered this advice.
Above and beyond, I think it helps to heed a few tips:
Whatever communications mechanisms you use, tell a good story – This almost goes without saying. It is like a kind of info Darwinism – the fittest, or most interesting stories will climb the buzz heap and survive; the rest will whither on the vine and be ignored.
Some hear the advice “Tell a good story” and immediately think of the old adage “content is king.”
Content
is no longer king. Amidst an explosion of content choices, attention (or the ability to capture and keep it) is king. Which leads us to the next point.
Think “pull” not push – Where
are the eyeballs of your customers today – and how can you get in front of them? How is this changing? E.g.,
while Twitter was formerly the fun toy of the techies, it is now becoming
much more mainstream. Facebook was once for the college set. This is
obviously no longer true.
Know your stuff – Today the market quickly separates clueless shills from their credibility. People are called out and shamed with brutal efficiency – and this info lives forever online. Stand behind your pitch, understand your space, and seek to have intelligent dialog.
Study how information flows online – How doe information flow and get discovered online? This is constantly evolving and you need to become a student. E.g., see my earlier post, in which I discussed the growing role of social networks for content discovery.
Blogging still counts – It may no longer be the cool new social media plaything but does enable easy Web publishing and can be a core component of a content marketing platform (I described this in last week’s post. Also, see my post on Fusion PR Forum: Crossing the Blogging Chasm).
As long as people go to blogs and read them they are still relevant. The above tip regarding your audiences should be a caveat for this rule.
