Undercovered between the crowd

(Or how social media is being used for business purposes in the av industry)

(Hey – The Pixies) http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/11/9/3011696/My%20Documents/08%20–%20Hey.mp3″

Social media has reshaped the industry, the commerce, strategies and the world behaviour. Nowadays it is the key of business and every marketing campaign needs to take place mainly online, where the public already is. But social media is not only about marketing in the business’ mind.

Something has changed in the world 2.0. Business is not just providing goods or services to the customers anymore, but rather getting engagement from the people. Not only the consumption of the product is important for the company, but also the communication and the highest participation possible. People feeling part of the brand, giving them opinions and suggestions, being involved and feeling part of that community, having positive experiences… a whole experience of buying.

In order to get it and instead of just trying to sell whatever their product, firms now identify our necessities, analyse what most of the people are interested in, try to fit there and chat with them, pretending to be selfless and to expect friends and followers more than clients. To do this (giving otherwise unheard people a voice) social media is the perfect ten, however is really difficult to predict the outcomes of different initiatives.

As a result we are workers for every company, giving ideas, opinions and suggestions to improve them and not only this but also doing it happily and convinced. Like Ikea or the pubs where you serve your own beer. In exchange you get the feeling of being an informed costumer and having some influence. You feel the power.

That applies to the audiovisual industry but in this case the challenge is even bigger because the social media strategy usually coexists with the audiovisual content itself. Hence, there is the need to create solid and interesting contents that can push through the incredible amount of competitors from all over the world, including the consumers. Getting a strong online presence and making possible the whole enterprise process happening in the same medium (from the creation of content to its marketing, selling, evaluation…).

P.S.: I guess that would be better in this post to speak about prosumers instead of consumers, but I have to say it: I hate this word…