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Take It From the Clowns…

When it comes to social media marketing, sometimes you’ve just got to listen to the clowns. Well, a very specific group of clowns anyway.

In particular, the mind-bendingly bendy group at Cirque du Soleil has once again thrown off convention and is currently leading the movement by established and successful organizations to move advertising online. While they haven’t completely abandoned traditional means of advertising, Soleil’s social media manager Jessica Berlin is spearheading the effort to make the high budget production known on forums such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and others.

In a recent panel discussion, Berlin divulged some key points about the benefits of moving advertising efforts online.

• Your company can have a voice in discussions that are already occurring about your brand. If somebody’s raving (or ranting) about the latest Cirque du Soleil production on a social media outlet, representatives have a chance to respond.
• Online marketing allows you to target your audience much more precisely and accurately, while still exposing your brand to those that aren’t yet familiar with it.
• Judging the success of your online efforts can occur in several ways. For one, you can measure the number of users or unique visits to your various blogs and social networking profiles. Or, you can always keep tabs on the number of positive comments made about your company within these channels.
• This particular brand of advertising is exponentially more cost-effective, especially considering that joining most social media sites is free.
• The majority of people who use social media sites are on these venues regularly. If these users receive exposure to your brand during this time, you’re able to regularly interact with both existing and potential customers. This immediately establishes a more intimate relationship between company and consumer.
• Social networks allow companies to reward customers who check out their profiles. For Cirque du Soleil fans, this means everything from exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage and photos to online interaction with the performers themselves.

While no single form of advertising can guarantee results, Cirque du Soleil is a great example of one company who has used online advertising and customer interaction to further the amazing success they’ve already enjoyed.