Social Media: No Longer Why, But How

Peter Levinsohn, the president of Fox Interactive Media, has a short blurb in Variety on their tech impact report. FIM is the parent company for MySpace, and has overseen the addition of Photobucket, Flektor and Strategic Data Corp in his first year.

Why is this important? FIM is one of the big boys, and they work with major brands that run multi-million dollar campaigns. They don't do affiliate ads or run Adsense to make money. They sit down with major advertisers and figure out ways to market to their users.

I found this quote instructive:

"On the advertising front, big brands are no longer asking us 'why' but 'how' to advertise in a social media environment. The development and expansion of new technologies that enable us to better serve the right ad to the right person at the right time will only further transform the way we are able to grow the business in the coming year."

The last few years, small companies have been using social media to gain a competitive advantage online against the major corporations. Smaller, nimble, and with time to spend over money, online marketing has been an effective tool.

For social media consultants, the big companies have been more problematic. Too many know they should do something, but are paralyzed by the what. As giants like FIM sell larger and larger campaigns, the what and how questions are being answered.

The objection that large companies aren't doing social media is now being answered.

I expect 2008 to be the year when social media gets mainstreamed into marketing community, not as a trial, but as a separate and respected tool in the interactive arsenal.