Wednesday 16th December 2009

For most companies, it is a passing reference, or a knee jerk reaction, "Quick we must have a twitter page", OK....you got it, then what?!

At best it is the most powerful way to personally and effectively reach your customers, at worst, it shows that your half hearted attempt at keeping a dialogue shows no staying power or planning to the strategy you started out with as it dries to a trickle and isn’t updated for 7 months.

The real power of social networking sites is evident in the Rage Against the Machine campaign against X Factor on FaceBook

Quite simply a brilliant piece of viral marketing, picked up by the tabloids and propagated through the net into what looks like the making of an "alternative" Christmas number one for the most unlikely of Christmas Number ones since Pink Floyd in 1979 (Bob the Builder in 2000 & Mr.Blobby in '93 don’t count)

So what will this showdown come down to, the X Factor and the hype of millions, or the Power of FaceBook a 90's political rock band and this new doorway to the consensus and feeling of the masses? 

Note: Rage Against the Machine have pledged to donate the proceeds to UK music youth charity www.Shelter.org.uk (click here to donate now) so are the nice guys the underdogs and the XFactor and Simon Cowell – the establishment, the Man and target for videos such as shown below.


Should My Company Be on Twitter & FaceBook?
We are not advocating that everyone should jump up and get on these sites with your company immediately, however a well structured plan of where your business should be seen (or not seen) should be in place.

These online tools and windows on the world offer an array of ways to interact with customers and clients that were previously not cost effective, and with the scary statistics of how many people and how much time people spend on these each day - can it really be ignored?

Good for all businesses? Well, no!
Pop stars - Great; Celebs, TV shows, Radio Programs, B2C companies all great interaction - however, would “Partner & Partner Legal Firm” want all of their clients connecting with all of their clients -  or “Ground Breaking Research Inc”. linking to those in their close circle, backers  and  think tankers of new ideas floated on the internet daily for all of their competitors to see? - maybe not.

There is merit however with strategy and in supporting a great campaign with a great source of social networking can create an advantage and make a great extension to the marketing collateral your company already has. This can even open new avenues never explored - as long as you have a strong map