A piece on ecommercetimes.com elaborates on the new phenomenon that is Social Media Marketing.

Keeping tabs on how other companies are adopting technologies and leveraging changes in the marketplace to push their business forward can be highly instructive. It’s interesting to watch various trends take shape and gain momentum — and there’s no doubt that what’s hot right now is social media marketing.

When Oprah devotes an entire show to Twitter, there’s no denying the fact that social networking has hit the mainstream and become extremely popular. Now, marketers are scrambling to find ways to push their brands and make some money. While the motivation driving marketers to act quickly is obvious, they need to take a step back and take a broader look at what motivates their consumers and the various ways that social media can be leveraged to meet their marketing objectives.

Below are the motivators that spur people to share information…

Self-Expression

In the traditional direct marketing world, people are motivated by cash — or saving it in the form of coupons, discounts, etc. Within social media, the biggest motivator is often self-expression. That means finding a promotion that allows customers to express themselves. For example, put their own flair or style into a certain product — whether it be being able to order a product in a color of choice, or designing their own personal product.

Status Achievement

Most people like to brag, and the web only exaggerates this. Creating a promotion that allows customers to improve their status amongst their peers is an effective way to get them to share with their network. Putting shoppers in a position of power among their peers is a huge plus.

Altruism

In addition to bragging, people also like to do good — especially when it’s convenient. In this scenario, consumers are motivated to share by the opportunity to do something good — not because of some physical reward they are going to get back in return.

Self-Serving

While self-serving offers work really well in the offline world (coupons, discounts, etc.), this motivator is less potent in the realm of social networking. However, that’s not to say that it can’t be effective if done right. Combining a self-serving offer with one that taps into status achievement is one way to maximize results. For example, you can give a person a $100 gift certificate for forwarding a $20 coupon to 10 friends. The consumer wins big — a financial reward plus status among friends.

There’s no question that the marketing potential of social media is huge, but one must not rush into it without a thought-out plan. So take these ideas to heart and come up with something that will launch your company into a great success!