Interactive Marketing Definition

As I prepare to take over as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, I invite all interested in the field to look at the wikipedia definition which we posted several years ago and to make any appropriate edits. We based the definition on the work of John Deighton that interactive marketing is really a conversation. With so many community and collaboration based tools out there now and the rise of social media, it seems appropriate to take another look at the definition below. Marketers are not the only ones creating conversations now, are they?

•1) the ability to address an individual

•2) the ability to gather and remember a response of an individual

•3) the ability to address that individual once more in a way that takes into account his or her unique response (Marketing=conversation)

»Deighton, 1996

Zynga Direct means Direct is Social

Social gaming company Zynga recently unveiled Zynga Direct as a way to distribute games directly to players on computers and mobile devices and not just on Facebook. "It’s a platform for a direct relationship with consumers whether on the web, or on mobile, to give you a whole sandbox and create socialness about the games and not just within the games,” Zynga chief executive Mark Pincus said this month at the company’s Unleashed event in San Francisco. This announcement shows that direct marketing is more relevant than ever. Social media applications are wonderful ways to monitor conversations but savvy marketers will use social media to reach out to a customer base. Zynga will learn who its customers are and be able to make more relevant offers to them develop relationships. We recently renamed our Direct Marketing Course Direct and Multichannel marketing to reflect this continued trend.

Tip of the Day: Collect information from your customers on your Facebook page. Make an offer and in exchange collect an email address.

Social media challenges for educators

This past week I was on a panel on social media at the PrepMe College Readiness Institute. The audience was educators and counselors at the high school level and also on the panel were Linda Tuncay Zayer from Loyola and David Koehler from UIC. The Chicago Public School system has banned educators from communicating with students in any other forum than the CPS email. I assume the CPS wants to keep a handle on communication and protect everyone involved. Here is the problem: The younger generations don't like email, preferring social media and texting for communication. We have trouble at NIU getting students to read email even when money is involved, like scholarships.

I suggested that the CPS start its own social network, perhaps on Ning, to engage students and share information. We use social networking extensively in our Interactive Marketing program. We have a special group under my page to share job information and other updates and do the same in Linkedin. We are also going to be starting a Facebook fan page for the IM program because the program has become so big that we need a little bit more formal way to communicate. I don't know how I would let students know about jobs when they are five years out without Facebook. I have been a member since 2005 and it is a great way to stay in touch.

We also talked about the negatives of social media, including fostering a short attention span and poor communication skills. We wonder what the next generation will be like? Will they be able to or even need to write a business memo. Any comments?