New Media Marketing

New Media Marketing is a relatively new concept utilized by businesses in developing an online community, which allows customer evangelists to congregate and extol the virtues of a particular brand. In most cases, the online community includes mechanisms such as blogs, podcasts, message boards, and product reviews, all of which contribute to a transparent forum to post praises, criticisms, questions, and suggestions.

One of the primary arguments to promote New Media Marketing is the premise that traditional advertising is losing its influence on consumers. Backed by statistical evidence demonstrating a growing trend of consumers making purchasing decisions off Internet research and referrals, outspoken New Media Marketing advocates such as Shel Israel, Joseph Jaffe, and Seth Godin argue for non-traditional methods that encompass word-of-mouth tactics and blogging applications. These advocates strongly adhere to the notion that consumers are more inclined to believe feedback from like-minded peers than corporate marketing verbiage dispersed through traditional television, radio, direct mail, or newspaper advertising.

Although businesses would be exposing certain weaknesses to the marketplace by allowing individuals, or even competitors, to post critical comments, responding with an honest and transparent answer designed around solving the issue at hand may mitigate potential risks.

Often referred by traditional advertising methods, New Media Marketing is most effectively marketed by Internet-driven technology such as RSS, email forwards, search engine optimization, and reciprocal links.