Situating Social Media as a Grassroots Tool – How Well Does it Rank for Yielding New Business?

It is a debate for which the relevance cannot be overstated—is social media the new nucleus around which grassroots marketing strategy should be created, or is it simply a piece of the puzzle? Most organizations are aware of the importance of using traditional and digital means for engaging customers, building brand loyalty and driving business, but those on the cutting-edge are also investigating other opportunities for using new, creative media in their marketing. NESN, the regional sports network that covers the Boston-area Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox, launched a pilot campaign to test the value of social media as a complement to grassroots customer outreach and brand-building tactics. Novell, a leading software and services corporation, has employed social media as part of its greater strategy of connecting with the open source network. Their joint successes and failures help answer the question of whether a strong social media presence is more effective as a dominant or supplemental component of your customer outreach initiatives.