How the consumer-marketer relationship has shifted

As a communication major my fascination with trending social media grows with every class. I find it so incredibly interesting how viral social media is in itself. In such a short amount of time it has completely transformed the art of communication as a whole, whether it be personal communication or business communication. Social media has a hand in it all.

While this subject is compelling, I do find myself slightly scared about how prevalent social media has become, especially the fact that every article I read claims that this is just the beginning of social media. How much more encompassing can it get? As it is now it seems that social media has transformed marketing the most. Advertisers and marketers now have the ability to connect with consumers in almost all avenues of their life. To me that seems a tad invasive.

However the first chapter of Brian Solis's book "Engaged", he eases some of these fears. He says, "Social media is about speaking with, not "at" people. This means engaging in a way that works n a conversational medium, that is, serving the best interest of both parties, while not demeaning any actions or insulting the intelligence of anyone involved." It seems that social media is forcing marketers to stop acting above consumers instead leveling with them about what they really want or need. Social media has caused these agencies to rethink the way the treat their customers. We are no longer numbers or statistics, but people.That is a concept I can get behind.

I think it is about time the consumer-marketer relationship got a face lift. Marketers and advertisers need to realize that consumers respond better to peers than pop-up ads. I really enjoyed how Solis captured the idea of personable marketing when he stated, "While intent counts, value talks and BS walks".