Almost every client brief now asks how we would place brands within the social environment. And I find myself questioning if there really is a place for every, or even any brand, within our personal pages online?

Aren’t the likes of Facebook and Twitter the realm of mates rather than marketing, of chat instead of commerce, of sharing, not shopping?

Perhaps it is for these very reasons that brands are so keen to be part of the social sphere? Marketing managers doubtless recognise this ‘emotional’ environment as very different from the “rational” destinations they create for their own brands online. They no doubt also note their own changed state of mind, when looking at their Facebook pages or writing their latest Tweet? These are times when we are all off-duty, open-minded, less cynical and potentially more receptive.

As an agency, we do believe there is a place for brands within the social sphere, but only if a certain mindset and approach is applied:

. social media is a personal, emotional space – standard advertising and promotion isn’t appropriate

. context and personalisation are key, relating to users, their likes and dislikes, preferably on an individual basis, are likely to engage and, therefore, succeed

. considering and involving friends and groups is a powerful way to achieve relevant and timely interest

. overall, this is a pretty intolerant space – ‘road-blocking’ or ‘spamming’ is guaranteed to create a negative brand reaction

In sum, our belief is that there is no problem combining brand messages with our personal spaces, as long as sensitivity and care are used.

Playing devil’s advocate now, allowing advertiser access to our beloved social media sites may be a necessity anyway! Facebook, Twitter and other social spaces operate under generally unsustainable revenue models today. Inviting brands to get more involved may be the only way we can hold on to these sites we have become so attached to.

Indeed, it would appear that Facebook’s recent news about imminent profitability is heavily driven by The Gift Shop, Facebook Connect, and other ways brands can engage on a deeper, better informed level with consumers, as opposed to monetisation of display advertising alone.

You did a very good job of showing how social media should be used as a tool – something that new webworkers don’t always grasp right away.

However, some companies are at the other end of the scale and want this “Twitter application” right away and once it’s installed the money will apparently start rolling in. Marketing sites such as “10,000 followers in 2 days” don’t exactly make the murky waters any clearer. It’s great to have 10,000 followers, it’s what you do with those followers that counts.

I typically walk right in and ask companies “what is your product,” “who is your customer” and “how do you make money?” It’s direct, totally traditional, but it clues me in right away and it’s impossible and a waste of their time to talk to a company about an online strategy if they can’t sum up in less than 140 characters who they are, what they sell and why their customers need their products or services. How are they going to get out there online and actively socialize with their fans if they are unable to reduce their offline, brochure overflowed, marketing speak into bite sized chunks?

Like this article says, social media is a tool. It’s a tool that you can add to your belt along with the telephone, email, fax, leaflet drops, your personal image and a whole wide catalog of other very traditional and more technological tools. Social Media is not a new transaction method to directly move money from a customer to the company’s balance sheet.