With social media, you and your network are in charge

Q: Who are the hottest marketers around right now?

A: You and your friends.

Yup, thanks to the social networking revolution, you’re overthrowing the traditional rulers of commerce — the advertising media.

Why is this happening?

Because despite all this recent upheaval, one thing that hasn’t changed is that referrals and endorsements from people you know are still among the most powerful and persuasive tools in the world. And nothing takes better advantage of that fact than social media.

Here’s how it works: If you see a product, shop or restaurant in, say, a television commercial or a newspaper ad, you’re more likely to believe the advertiser’s claims if they’re backed up by a testimonial from someone you trust.

That hasn’t changed — we’re just skipping the middle man now.

Thanks to social media, you and your friends can exchange all kinds of firsthand, trustworthy information about merchants and service providers. Since it’s all among friends, nobody’s trying to “sell” anything … which makes the information unbiased and all the more valuable.

This is scary stuff for advertisers and media alike — and many of them are clamoring to keep up, colloquy.com notes in a recent post:

“This is not your father's direct-mail game,” Phaedra Hise writes. “This isn't even a direct email game. Today's customers expect all communications and offers to be personalized, accurate and absolutely relevant. If you don't give that to them, the fallout could earn you an embarrassing mention on Tosh.0, or a business-damaging blowup on Facebook or Twitter.”

We get that.

That’s why we let you drive.

With Photopon, you simply show up at a business or restaurant, zoom in on a deal, take a picture and send it out to your social network.

From there on, it’s up to you and your network.

After all, you’re the marketing experts now — but feel free to contact us if you have any questions from here on.