Eric Ries has written a great post on the huge value a brand can get by engaging with customers on the social network platforms, especially concerning the real data available and the cheap CPI (Cost-per-Install).
His essential points are:
1. Huge social network advertising inventory means that the cost of driving users to applications is very cheap, and can be highly targeted
2. Once these users install your application, you have access to a wealth of data about them and can use the application to drive real engagement with one-to-one and permission based marketing.
3. Because of the cost-effectiveness of driving installs with media spend, you can afford to not even worry about virality, and instead focus on engaging directly with the user.
Imagine the kind of impact you could have with a potential customer if you didn't have to waste any energy at all on convincing them to invite their friends. You can actually communicate with them instead, learning more about them, getting better at serving their needs. If you have an e-commerce product, for example, you could try using the app to offer specialized product offers or to tune your recommendations. If you follow Seth Godin's original permission marketing concept, you could offer your customers entries in a contest in exchange for learning more about your products. You could find out what products your customer already uses, and find out when they run out, need to refill, are ready to switch, or it's time to upgrade.
Wise words.
