- Image by jking89 via Flickr
One of the early attractions of social media was the low barrier to entry. Basic access to all of the platforms was free and many services did not even have a premium option. The accessibility empowered small to medium sized businesses who had felt outspent in other areas of marketing by big business. A small company blog could compete with big business on a level playing field. Video put commercial production in the hands of anyone with a flip camera. Now that may all change.
Ning has announced an end to free. Twitter now offers “promoted tweets.” Many other free services have either dissipated or switched to premium models. There was always a danger in relying too heavily on platforms that we neither owned or co-opted with our dollars. The very thing that drove social media’s growth may force these companies to shift to paying models in order to support traffic and innovation.
While we still likely see free or low cost services available to all, the introduction of premium services may once again mean that he who has the most dollars can gain an edge.
I do not believe that we should abandon the tools but it is imperative to develop strategies that are not dependent on a specific platform or current day business model. Let us not forget that free also means lack of control. The recent issues with Twitter illuminate this fact.
We must have plans and contingency plans and all should hinge on the non-negotiable asset in all marketing – your customers. Relevant, quality messages will survive any delivery method. The ingredients are the magic not the plate on which they are served.
And yes, we must watch for those telltale signs of change and be ready with a plan should our tactics need adjusting. Change is one of the constants of this digital age. The one thing we cannot do is build a business or marketing strategy on the foundation of free, at some point, we will pay the price.
Have you ever used something that was free and then moved to a premium model? Did you continue using? What impact did it have on your business or life?
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Hi Karen – this is wise advice and a good reminder to us all that free isn’t always better. It makes me think of earlier websites. So many of us used free web hosts with the hideous flashing banners. Looking back it was a bad move, as it meant starting from scratch with a paid host and domain and losing a lot of traffic.
Yahoo is a great example! I still have a few yahoo accounts but switched a few years ago from Outlook to Gmail. It’s funny but free Gmail outperforms paid Outlook! Although Gmail also has an enterprise version which is a fee version. You’ll love Gmail so many cool things you can do.
.-= Karen Swim´s last blog ..The 8 dumbest business decisions: Mistakes they’d like to take back – MSN Money =-.
Hi Keith! WordPress plug-ins are a great example and a great resource. The developers do gain from designing the plug-ins and many offer premium services. I agree with your approach and in this case the plug-ins serve us all well great free features and more advanced features for a fee.
.-= Karen Swim´s last blog ..The 8 dumbest business decisions: Mistakes they’d like to take back – MSN Money =-.
The media that comes to mind reading this is Yahoo mail. I had used Yahoo mail for many years and still have an account with them. However, over the last couple years I’ve been switching to gmail. Recently I’ve found some things that the basic Yahoo mail won’t do and if I want access to it, like POP mail, I have to upgrade my account. Gmail offers it for free so that is one more reason to stay with Gmail. I just hope they don’t take these free services away. I guess I’ve gotten spoiled.
.-= Debbie Yost´s last blog ..Teamwork =-.
@Friar – my sentiments exactly.
.-= Keith Davis´s last blog ..Flying in formation =-.
Hi Karen
I use the WordPress plugin “all in one SEO pack”, which is free but I have noticed that it offers a premium edition.
The free version appears to give me all I want but if the premium version suddenly offered a big advantage….. who knows, I might be tempted.
.-= Keith Davis´s last blog ..Flying in formation =-.
Karen,
Obviously, social media platforms have to find ways to monetise their platform, and like Brad said, I think you will be seeing going forward is some form of mixture of free and premium services.
Obviously, SMEs can and should take advantage of any free services in their promotional efforts. But, as you say, to become dependent on these would be foolhardy.
.-= Andrew Heaton´s last blog ..Toyota Part 2: Behind the poor response =-.
Friar, Lol, I think that personal use will remain free so you’re safe! I would miss you on Twitter and Facebook so I’m hoping it stays free. 🙂
Brad, I agree with you that inevitably we will see premium services. I do not think free will completely vanish but there will be a vast difference in the free and paid. Depending on the price points it could make a huge difference to SMBs.
Karen, I upgraded to a premium LinkedIn account and that’s been a good investment. It seems inevitable that premium services will infiltrate social media platforms that grow popular – there are just too many monetization opportunities for this not to happen. I think Twitter will continue to be used in a multitude of ways, some free, some not. But that’s OK as long as people follow your sage advice and not assume that today’s social media models are permanent.
.-= Brad Shorr´s last blog ..When Should a Company Be Funny in Marketing? =-.
What…? It’s supposed to COST me to read someone say:
“Oooh. Having roast beef and mashed potatoes for supper. <—Yum"
The second I have to start paying to use Twitter or Facebook, I'm outta there.