Whenever marketing technology is changing quickly – as it is now with Social Media and Social Networks – it becomes hard for a marketing department to know:
- How much should XYZ cost now?
- What’s worth paying more for now, based on the differentiated business value it offers?
As with Websites in 1998, and E-commerce platforms in 2001/2002, "Social Networks" as marketing platforms are undergoing very rapid evolution in 2008… and these are the questions we are getting asked daily.
Thus… a chart!
Now, put all the predictable caveats around this (nothing’s black-and-white, actual cost depends on specific features, some things are easier in Facebook than iGoogle, etc, etc.) But in general, I find it useful to think about an emerging technology landscape in terms of the things that are:
- Commodity: Table stakes. Still valuable, but not differentiated.
- Standardized: These are things that have moved from "custom" into more "packaged" offerings. Vendors can offer them more repeatably (so they’re cheaper)…but that also means they’re less differentiated and tend to be less integrated with your core business.
- Custom: This is where innovation is happens. Companies leading a given market tend to run experiments and spend money wisely here. Some Custom things eventually become "Standardized", but not all.
With that, I offer my take on business value and types of Social Marketing initiatives as of June 2008:
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PS – our client work spans all of the above, so… you know where to find us!
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