AllanWoodstrom.com

The driver behind successful social media campaigns is no different from the driver behind successful traditional marketing campaigns.Success in social media marketing starts with product differentiation. Companies must first examine what makes their product or service better than the competition. Hopefully this should come easy. Examples of product differentiations could be the features and functionality, it could be an interesting story about how a product was developed or it could be simply the price.Either way, when entering the social media stratosphere, it is important to take note of what sets you apart from the competition.People on the Internet – bloggers in particular – are interested in discussing product ideas and solution approaches that are new and different.A current example would be the new Driod Phone. In this case, bloggers who write about new technology tend focus on the product differentiations. This article on Mashable illustrates just how important this is, as they displayed in a large chart showing differences among different types of phones. Social media marketing specialists should be prepared with this type of information.To close, before you suggest social media marketing as a realistic marketing tactic – think about how is your product or service different from the completion? Who are the early adopters or major influencers? And where do they hang out on the Internet?