Breaking the fourth plane of marketing

In the film and television industry there is a practice by actors of not looking directly into the camera or speaking directly to the audience. If you do it’s called breaking the fourth plane. The goal is to not be too personal with audience to perform without including the audience or engaging them.

Marketing practices by larger companies have operated by this same principle for a long time. Approach the client but do not engage them in two way dialogue. Commercials, print ads, radio all keep within the fourth plane principle. Social media is about breaking this plane and creating a two way dialogue with clients. I think it’s important for small businesses to evaluate which marketing direction they have taken the more traditional like large businesses or the new social media? I believe the more interactive social marketing is a natural fit for small businesses – it’s about interaction. The greatest challenge for small businesses is managing the interaction. For solo entrepreneur’s there is not marketing department, and even small businesses with a few employees struggle with managing day to day operations and have little time for marketing.

Find what’s natural
Social marketing has many options for growth and development – but finding what’s natural and developing it is the challenge. Do you use Twitter and why? Is Facebook worth the time? What about blogging? Right now there are endless choices. I’ve learned to go with what seems most natural and then work to measure the results. Not participating at all keeps your business behind the fourth plane and you may be missing opportunities for development. Review the options for social media think about what comes naturally for your business and personality this will help with development direction.

Development is the key
Transitioning from the more traditional to newer social media means you need a plan for development. Is there a group you have not reached that social media can help you develop? Can you use social media to share more of your expertise with your clients or new potential clients? Some of the more important elements of social media involve adding to the collective community of expertise (see my blog post on web 3.0) Finding other small businesses using the social media tools effectively is an excellent place to begin and finding expert help to aide you with transition and setting up these media tools is another important aspect of development.

I have friends that are solo entrepreneurs who I have encouraged to use tools like Twitter because they are natural at sharing information – they are natural “Tweeters”. Are you the kind of person that loves presentations and public speaking? Think about podcasting as a way to reach clients.

Go ahead – look into the camera and develop new ways to reach out to current and potential clients.

If you would like a free consultation on social media development email me today and I’ll be happy help you. connie@iconnie.com