At the DMA ’09 in San Diego, Alterian announced the launch of the Social Media Marketing Council.
The SMMC will provide guidelines, documentation and best practice advice for organizations on exactly what kind of data it is acceptable to source through social media, and how they should be using it responsibly for lead generation and customer service.
There will be an online portal to provide access to these resources, which will include a discussion forum and opportunities for companies to demonstrate that they are exhibiting best practices. The council will meet for the first time at the DMA in San Diego and thereafter on a quarterly basis to discuss the latest developments in this space, with the first objective to define what constitutes the unacceptable use of social media information.
The SMMC will be doing some great things for the social media industry:
- Producing useable content for organizations, customers and brands.
- Establishing best practices and regulations regarding social media privacy.
- Assist social media marketing organizations with challenges and opportunities regarding data usage.
This should be a great resource and I hope it follows up with some standards that consumers can use, as well, verify the hundreds of apps that are appearing on a daily basis.
The council is comprised of some heavy hitters – DMRS Group, Acxiom, Merkle, TargetBase, Alterian, Engauge, Epsilon and Harris Interactive.
Douglas,
How do a bunch of direct mail/email marketing companies represent social media to the extent that they should be staring a social media marketing council? They will "provide guidelines, documentation and best practice advice" based upon what experience? I went through their website and not a single one even mentions social media as being a service offering, much less a core competency. School me…I'm not seeing the connection here.
Hi @giavanni,
I believe a decade of collecting and aggregating client data will provide social media companies with a ton of insight on the responsibility of data and privacy. I don't believe these folks are trying to consult on social media, they're instead consulting on the responsible use of data within social media.
You're also talking to a guy that came from the direct marketing, direct mail and traditional media industry. I can tell you that applying all the lessons I've learned from those industries has provided me with quite a leg up on my comrades who decided one day they were social media pros. I've been working to leverage data and technology for 20 years now.
It's pretty obvious to me that Facebook and other social media companies don't have a clue when it comes to marketing… even though they provide a perfect vehicle for it.
Doug
Hello Douglas,
I really support with you that SMMC will provide guidelines, documentation and best practice advice for organizations. Here I'm unable to catch what SMMC will be doing things for the social media industry??