We are living in interesting times for marketing. On one hand, the sluggish economy has made attracting new business through your company’s front door very difficult. On the other hand, we are living on the fault line of a new way of marketing via social media. It is a different way of thinking about marketing that has less to do with traditional advertising and more to do with the opinions of my closest friends. Is marketing, as we know it, dead?

Some have suggested that traditional marketing has reached room temperature. (Take a look at the Harvard Business Review article by Bill Lee.) Some very smart people point to the influence of social networking "likes” as an indication that the market puts more decision making on what their friends think about a product than the influence a traditional ad can have on them. There is some support for this, however, I would suggest that the influence of people we know and trust is no different than it ever has been. For instance, I recently bought a new computer. How did I go about making a decision to buy it? I took a look at the current models for sale on the manufacturer’s web site. I read about all of their features, read a couple of customer reviews, and then I phoned a friend who is a tech geek. I asked him what he would buy if he were in my shoes. We recently cleaned out the back closet and found the computer I started with when I launched my business nearly 16 years ago. (It was so old, I was surprised it had not turned into fossil fuels by now.) I remember the process I went through to purchase that computer as well. I went to a bricks and mortar store to see what my choices were. I picked up a Mac World magazine to see what experts had to say about different computers. Then I called a friend who was a tech geek and asked him what he would do if he were in my shoes. Now let’s compare then and now. Did the method that I used to buy the two computers change? The medium I used to do my research changed from a store to the product page on the manufacturer’s web site, from a tech magazine to an online review. In the end, I phoned a friend I perceived to be an expert.

What we know and what we don’t know

Those who are waving the social-media-is-the-new-marketing banner would point out that you no longer have to phone a friend to find out what they like. All you have to do is follow them on Twitter, become their Facebook friend, or review what they have given the #1 on Google Plus. Take a look at their "likes” and you essentially have their opinion. I think that is a flawed approach. For one thing, "liking” your product may not be the endorsement you think it is… the kind that result in sales. For instance, on Facebook, many have complained that there is not a "dislike” selection. There is no sliding scale in between "like” and "dislike” either. If you really want to get a strong endorsement, you have to have the ability to let people know how enthusiastic you are about a product or service. Am I to assume that all of my friends who do not choose "like” actually dislike the product? I don’t think so. In today’s economic environment, if someone is not enthusiastic about your product, they probably will not purchase it – money is just that tight. You may argue that a person can do a review in a format like Google Plus. But human nature being what it is, most people will leave a complaint before they will leave a compliment. In fact, the dirty little secret is most of those positive reviews are suspected of being plants.

 The unchanging aspects of marketing

This is where marketing has not changed since someone first put wheels on a chariot. Marketing is at its best when it can get some kind of human emotional reaction. That is where good, enthusiastic endorsements have been effective. Maybe your product makes life easier and the marketing behind the sales of your product evokes relief from anxiety. Relief from anxiety is emotion. Perhaps you are selling cupcakes. You won’t get anyone to try them unless you can convince people that they are going to experience pleasure when they eat them. Pleasure is emotion. Maybe you are selling brakes for cars. You will not be effective in your marketing unless you relieve fear of what failed brakes do to people. Fear is emotion.

Effective marketing endorsements have long appealed to these types of emotions by people who we deem as credible (or just like looking at.) Many times these are actors or pop culture heroes. Is this any different than following someone on Twitter who tells you that they just ate at a restaurant and had a great steak? Not if you are selling consumables like steak. But if you are selling products or services that are not consumables, and not likely to be tweeted, how do you leverage social media marketing? It is hard to imagine that Nike Air Jordans would have made the splash they did without Michael Jordan wearing the shoes, soaring through the air and slam dunking a basketball in TV ads. If he tweets it, it doesn’t have the same emotional appeal. If he likes them in a Facebook ad, it doesn’t do the same thing. Ah, but what about video on YouTube? All we have done with YouTube is switched the delivery method from TV to the computer. And these days, with nearly anything that is broadcast on TV being downloaded on a computer, what is the difference? Same medium, different delivery method.

If you want to make a dent in your marketing efforts, make sure you are making an emotional appeal. Get the right people to endorse what you are doing. Find the delivery method that works for you.

Is traditional marketing dead? Some delivery methods are dead, but the concepts behind what gets the attention of people, what makes them want to buy a product and what keeps them coming back to purchase again and again – those things have not changed… and I doubt they will any time soon.