The digital consumer grew up, and with this evolving maturity came new expectations for content, programming and how the new digital tools could fit into their lives at home and at work. A new type of media literacy evolved too, and with it, a notable seizing of control over the scheduling of media and entertainment. Digital media literacy also generated a greater appreciation of how commercial messaging was being used in the new channels, and for many there is a clear desire to be communicated with differently from the interruptive marketing models that traditionally the advertising industry has revolved around.

Consumer culture is still evolving, but there’s no question that the tactics of marketing to the Facebook generation will remain very different to the previous models of online marketing. It’s also clear that without appreciating the way social media work, marketers will struggle to create communication that delivers either cut-through or results.

How do marketers navigate Web 2.0?

These are huge issues, because as social networking has transferred online, myriad new networking platforms and techniques have opened up. With them come many new ways to reach customers, and thousands of social spaces brands can participate within. The early communities and blogs have been joined by an array of personal profile and discussion formats, and as social media have become more accessible, anyone who wants to has been able to create a web page. Digital consumers can air opinions and discuss in a way that becomes instantly discoverable through search engines and leaves a breadcrumb trail about the brands they reference.

When it comes to online communities, there may be a daunting range of new tools for marketers, but the ways to harness them can be boiled down in to five main areas:

1. Architecting their own communities
2. Participating directly within a community
3. Sponsoring or be associated with specific communities
4. Supplying community participants with information and motivation
5. Observing and learning from how participants discuss and behave in relation to their brands

Advertising in social media spaces

There’s a huge excitement around social networking and social media, but that doesn’t mean the same techniques from traditional advertising placement can be transferred across to the new environment. For example, most social media are anchored around private or semi-private spaces, with content that individuals have chosen to share with their friends. Your brand may be able to buy media space that includes thousands of these pages, but there’s a question as to whether you really have their support, or whether you could be seen as intruding into their space.

Next up, think about the nature of this content a little more. There’s a great deal of content out on the web that you probably wouldn’t want your brand associated with, so if your campaign includes social media then consider how your brand can be protected. Here are a few key questions to ask yourself:

• What profanity filters are in place to block your ad appearing next to inappropriate content?
• What gives your brand permission to advertise in this space?
• Are you considering customising your creative to fit with the needs of social media?
• If you have a presence in social media, then could your campaign benefit from
integrating your social media advertising with your own social media content?
• Can your campaign factor in social media from the very start to ensure the integration really works?

Social media give you a massive range of tools to work with, but even simply advertising in these spaces using simple online graphical formats can create risks unless you think them through.

Taking part in conversations in social media

This is the tricky one for many marketers, but the blunt reality is that marketing is moving rapidly away from the interruptive model to grab attention, and into a new era of engagement that solicits attention. It’s a massive cultural change for classically trained marketers, and a humbling experience to shift the marketing mindset to taking part in a brand conversation as an equal rather than writing the script and delivering it. But that’s where marketing now needs to be: the world is filling with savvy consumers who share a maturing digital media literacy. They are taking back control of their attention. The motto? Cooperate, don’t control.

If you decide to take part in the conversation, then remember a few of our golden rules.

1. Remember this is someone else’s space and you are a visitor; it’s a personal space so treat it with respect
2. If you make comments be courteous and keep on topic
3. When you are writing as a firm, make it clear and be transparent in how you present yourself – there’s a massive debate here about ethics in marketing and although many agencies are establishing themselves as subversive posters, it’s not something we’re going to support
4. Every community and market is different, so walk through the ideas with a few people from different sides of your industry first to sound them out; remember once your material is in the public domain it’s out there – so a gentle dry run is well worth it
5. Check your posts carefully before they go live. In blogs create a voice and personality, in communities have a strategy for why you’re contributing, and in wikis do rigorous fact-checking before anything goes up

As a few heads are normally better than one, try involving a couple of colleagues to act as a sounding board about what is going up and how it’s being presented.