Aug 25

Social Media Marketing Tribes and How it Affects Everyone

Social Media Marketing, Tribes No Comments »

social media marketing

For any webmaster that spends time online you’re bound to have come across mentions of joining or creating a Social media marketing tribe around your niche or passions. The question however is not “IF” you should become involved the question is “When”. Social media marketing tribes is not just a random concept that will fade out over a few months, it is here to stay and will become a huge predicting factor of how your business will succeed in the future.

Yes it’s true that “word of mouth” is probably the oldest and most reliable form of getting your message out there but as the world grows and changes so do the methods that work. Lets face it the online and offline marketplace has become a metaphorical war zone with companies and individuals battling it out every day to deafen each other with our own content. The internet has changed and advanced with new technology but people and groups still respond to communication on a tribal level. Social media marketing is fast defining the way online communities consume information and communicate. Some sites are dictating and some are letting people do the talking like “Twitter” for example. So how can a Social marketing tribe help you in your online business pursuits?

The Power of Social Media Marketing Tribes

In essence the concept is simple, join or create a tribe that suits your business perfectly and help each other syndicate one another’s content to achieve a wider marketing reach and connect with people in the farther corners of the world. The way that people connect these days has become so dynamic and this is changing the way we communicate which leads to the creation of a whole new language. This “New” language will shape our future online (and offline) as it involves the use of certain social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn and Twitter. The new language is taking shape in the form of tech-slang that you’ll only understand if you’re a participant in one or most of these online social networks.

Some of this tech-slang involves the use of hashtags (#) on twitter for example which means that users can use these on their tweets to attract more traffic while remaining niche specific. A simple example on Twitter would be:  “I love red widgets more than blue widgets #redwidgets”. The fact that millions of people are using this way of communication means that it works but it also means that it’s slowly changing the way people think and interact.

In the same way that communication online is evolving the same could be said of how webmasters need to adapt to get traffic and build a community. Social network marketing has changed the way people use the internet and also how we perceive trust and value of a company and their products.

Content Syndication through Tribes

By creating or joining a tribe allows people to share niche specific information amongst each other but it also helps in spreading your content out to thousands of people you previously has no access to, and the fact that most of this can be done at almost no cost to you is the number one reason why social media marketing tribes have become so ridiculously popular.

Using social networking sites has enabled marketers, fortune 500 companies and politicians to raise and create enormous amounts of revenue and when you start employing the same tactics you can too, but make no mistake this is not like a walk in the park, it takes planning and effort but the fact is that it works. You might just consider employing a social media manager to take care of those tasks involving social media marketing. Combine this with the concept of tribes and you just might have the world at your fingertips.

Mar 10

The Four Principles of Tribal Marketing and Why You Have Little Choice

Tribes No Comments »

Venture capital firms invest only in the most profitable segments of any market. If there are not plenty of customers who are thirsty for your product or service, you can forget about any kind of leveraged start-up. During the last thirty years, merchant bankers have drafted and polished to perfection the requirements for investing successfully in high-growth private companies. Lo and behold, those principles happen to be the same as the elements of tribal marketing. How come?

Like in any business riddle, the answer is already contained in the question: both venture capital firms and tribal entrepreneurs aim at a rapid multiplication of invested capital. What are the characteristics that identify the potential of a business to grow at a compound rate of 15% per year and beyond?

1.- PEOPLE IN PAIN. It is not difficult to sell dental services to someone suffering from a horrible toothache. You are bound to do well if your new product or service addresses an urgent unsatisfied need, but there are not that many of those. Failing real pain, a strong emotional desire will do. Satisfying entrenched passions is the card played by tribal marketing, which is equivalent to the old venture capital dictum of seeking customers with maximum pain.

2.- PEOPLE IN TARGET. You won’t hit targets that you can’t see or reach in a relatively efficient way. Before investing in a private venture, merchant bankers check if the customers of that business are, to a good extent, a homogeneous group. Is your product or service aimed at a group that you can easily reach, such as trial lawyers, paediatricians, or school teachers? Starting your own parade is an expensive marketing method. The most successful tribal marketers find an ongoing demonstration, approach protesters, and sell them T-shirts favouring their cause.

3.- PEOPLE IN TOUCH. The best markets are those where customers sell themselves. If your product or service delights ophthalmologists, they will tell their colleagues during their next conference. If you use such strategy, customers will find you on the web without your having to spend much on advertising. Investment bankers always search for this factor of “spontaneous marketing” when considering funding a new product or service. Tribal marketers often go beyond this level and they actually provide themselves an internet forum for customers to talk to each other.

4.- PEOPLE IN GROWTH. “How are you going to grow your company year after year?” is one of the toughest questions that a businessman must face when trying to obtain funding from a merchant bank. If your venture is destined to become a one-trick pony, your growth prospects will be too limited to justify a substantial commitment from professional investors. Tribal marketers use the clever approach of searching for items that can please their existing customers, instead of developing random new products which would require massive marketing efforts.

In essence, the answer is in the method. It is a matter of throwing away what doesn’t work and focusing on the little cream that floats on skim milk. The highest barrier to success in venture capital investment is caring too much for a product, to the point of becoming blind to the market. The most difficult aspect of tribal marketing is forgetting about what you want and making the effort to understand other people. Mental flexibility is as profitable as it is demanding. Alternatives might look sweet and comfortable in the short-term, but ultimately, death ensues through marketing asphyxia.

JOHN VESPASIAN writes about rational living and is the author of the books “When everything fails, try this” and “Rationality is the way to happiness.” He has resided in New York, Madrid, Paris and Munich. His stories reflect the values of entrepreneurship, tolerance and self-reliance. See http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com a blog about rational living.

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