Q: Stacie asks, “How will social media play out with healthcare vs. consumer products?”

A: Very differently. People typically want to consult with expert advisers on healthcare decisions and their relationships with those people are important. They’re much less likely to turn to anonymous sources for life-and-death matters. That said, the Internet has played and will continue to play an important role in alternative medicine, wellness and background research. Social media will have an important role in helping people diagnose problems, choose courses of treatment and seek alternatives.

In consumer products, social media is already playing a huge role in evaluation and purchase activity. The CEO of Procter & Gamble told the Association of National Advertisers last year that they have to stop trying to control the message. "Consumers are more participative and selective and the trend from push to pull is accelerating," he said. Those are strong words coming from the world’s largest consumer products company.

Q: Anne asks, ”Doesn't social networking skew younger? And, do these networks apply to B2B marketers?”

A: Yes, the most active users of social networks are unquestionably people under the age of 30. If you’re an entertainment, food or clothing company, you’re probably already using these media because that’s where your audience is.

In some markets, though, social media is making a big impact on older age groups, and particularly in b-to-b markets. The information technology market is one of the most active users of blogs and podcasts, for example, and it’s almost entirely a b-to-b business. The travel and hospitality industry is using interactive marketing to reach business people with specific interests, such as frequent travelers and corporate event planners. Professional associations like the Air Conditioning Contractors of America and the National Association of Manufacturers are blogging to promote their members. There will be more examples of this as the younger population grows up and begins to apply the tools they use at home to their business roles.

Q: Patience asks “So why did you choose to not self-publish?”

A: I believe this question is in response to a comment I made about Lulu.com and similar sites that making self-publishing of books fast and relatively inexpensive. There are advantages to working with a commercial publisher, including an established distribution network, retail store presence and a certain cachet that comes from having a publisher endorse your work. This leads to intangible business opportunities that have nothing to do with royalties. You can definitely make more money self-publishing, though. If you don’t particularly care about building a speaking or consulting business, but just want to get a message out, self-publishing gives you more control and potentially bigger profits.

Q: Brent asks, “Are there similar influencers in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America?”

A: Yes, although to different degrees. In fact, the number one language in the blogosphere is Japanese, according to Technorati’s State of the Live Web report. Korea and Japan have a much higher penetration of broadband into the home than the U.S. does, and a very active culture of bloggers and social networkers as a result. Korea’s OhMyNews.com is the largest experiment in community journalism on the Internet.

In Europe, the blogosphere is very healthy, although my evidence is purely anecdotal. I run across blogs in Danish, German, French and other languages I don’t even recognize all the time. Two of the most interesting corporate blogs are published by Benetton and Ducati motorcycles, both in Italy.

I can’t speak to Latin-America specifically. The economy is not as strong in many of those countries as in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim, so broadband penetration is lower. The Technorati blog tracks blogs by language and can give you some useful statistics.

Q: Anne asks, “How do apply this to local or regional marketing? Yelp, for instance is very biased, and doesn't feel trustworthy the way that a more neutral, traditional third party does.”

A: I’m not sure I agree with your comments about Yelp. That site is simply a conduit for its members to post reviews of restaurants and entertainment spots. While such a system is always vulnerable to manipulation, the number of reviews that Yelp lists for some properties is remarkable. In general, the more reviews there are, the more reliable the average rating should be.

You should always be leery of peer-review systems in which only a few people have commented. It’s like research: you should probably through out the extremes at both ends of the scale, because those people may have an agenda.

As far as regional marketing goes, I’d just point out that some of the most active social networks are regional. Going.com, Yelp and eCrush are just three of the many networks that target people who are looking for entertainment and companionship. Also, regional interests like sports and politics are magnets for local audiences.

Labels: AMA, blogging, social_media, socialnetworks

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