post

Mike Holland (http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeholland) – boss at Peterborough-based marketing communications company Metrix Marketing (http://www.metrixmarketing.co.uk) – has told members of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce (http://www.cambridgeshirechamber.co.uk/) that there is nothing fundamentally new about social media marketing.

 Speaking at a Chamber breakfast meeting he said: “Social media is just a continuation of two good marketing communications strategies that you can trace back to the Romans in the Forum – and beyond.

 “Firstly, talking to customers and, secondly and very importantly, listening to customers.

 “Companies that talk and listen well – in the Forum or online – do better than companies that don’t talk and listen well. That hasn’t changed.

 “What has changed is the scale and speed of conversations. Social media allows you to talk to thousands of people – in minutes, or even seconds.”

 He dismissed the idea that social media has ‘fundamentally changed the rules of marketing’. He said: “Some of us in the marketing profession would like you to believe that things have fundamentally changed because then we can sell you lots of shiny new ‘stuff’ –  while bamboozling you with jargon we’ve invented to make ourselves sound clever.

 “In fact, social media is just another channel of marketing communication. It has advantages and drawbacks.

 “Like any other channel, it needs to be managed properly. You need to set realistic, measurable, objectives at the outset. And then you have to measure the actual outcomes to see if the objectives are being met.”

 Metrix is offering one local businessperson the chance to find out in detail how to manage a social media campaign. The company is running a competition to win a place on a one-day day course called ‘Social Media Marketing B2B’ (http://www.cim.co.uk/training/CourseDetails.aspx?course=0747). A place on the course is worth more than £500.

 All people need to do to enter the competition is visit the Metrix LinkedIn page (www.tiny.cc/MetrixSocialMedia) and submit their name and contact details.

 Metrix Marketing was formerly Smye Holland Associates, a marketing communications company established in 1987. In May 2012 the company changed its name to Metrix Marketing to reflect the wider range of services it offers and its commitment to delivering real, measurable, results for its clients.