5 Social Media Myths
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While the emergence of Social Media has been amazing, much of the talk surrounding Social Media has become divorced from reality. Social Media is, and will most probably continue to be, a small (albeit important) part of the overall marketing picture.
Unfortunately, the way Social Media is being hyped will probably do more harm than good – a backlash is inevitable.
The root of the problem is that Social Media people don’t seem to know much about the rest of the marketing world. Sometimes, they seem to imply that the world’s premier marketers have been in the grips of some mass hysteria for the last 50 years and they need self proclaimed social messiahs to part waters and show the way to the promised land.
Social Media myths are very easy to dispel with even a modest attempt to look at the facts.
Myth #1 Old Media is dead: Since 1996, Digital Media spend has gone from 0% to 10% of total advertising both in the US and globally (according to ZenithOptimedia). At the same time, newspapers have dropped by roughly the same amount..
The rest of the media world has been flat. TV has dropped a few points, Magazines have gained a few, Outdoor and Radio have been relatively stable. None of the major media will die anytime soon.
Social Media gurus often cite selective anecdotal evidence. They point to a company that went bust, or that a magazine went to a digital format. Undoubtedly, these things have happened. However, the same can be said for social media as well. MySpace and Friendster have certainly seen better days.
As I wrote in an earlier post, despite the hype, there is no demonstrable trend away from traditional media.
Myth #2 Broadcast is dead: Another myth is that people don’t want one-way communication but want a dialogue instead. Socialnomics author Erik Qualman proudly declares that he doesn’t even own a TV.
However, this Nielsen report (pdf) found TV viewership at an all time high in 2008. Another interesting fact is that while nearly 30% of US homes have Digital Video Recorders (DVR), less than 5% of viewing is timeshifted. It turns out that people enjoy being entertained. They even might sometimes prefer to talk to someone they are watching TV next to, rather than online. Moreover, it seems that when they do watch timeshifted TV, they often watch commercials.
Just to put this point in its proper perspective, 5% of viewing is significant. If a TV show can garner 5% of viewing it’s a hit! However, the other 95% remains 19 times more meaningful.
Finally, It’s an open question how much of social media is actually dialogue and how much is broadcast, as Neicole Crepeau points out in her excellent blog post.
Myth #3 Editorial is dead: Digital Technology allows for greater consumer choice. If we don’t like the content that editors choose for us, we can arrange information for ourselves, through RSS readers or other technologies. Social Media gurus assume that because we can arrange information for ourselves, we will always want to.
The factual basis given for this myth is usually the same as for the two previous myths. They point to some failure or give an example why someone would want to choose information for herself. However, there are no facts to support a general trend away from editorial content. As Barry Schwartz points out in The Paradox of Choice, having more options isn’t always better or preferred.
As information multiplies, the editorial role is actually more important. Media fragmentation gives us more control over who we choose to pay attention to, but that just increases the value of those who can gain our trust.
Digital Media allows us to research the facts for ourselves more efficiently, but we certainly can’t do that in every case; nor would we want to. If it was so easy, Social Media gurus would get their facts right more often.
Myth #4 Brand advertising is dead: Businesses advertise for many different reasons. Some campaigns focus solely on stimulating sales, others do not. If direct response was all they cared about, advertisers wouldn’t spend so much time and effort tracking brand perception.
The truth is that consumers respond to brands that they like and trust. Brand advertising makes direct response more effective, salespeople more productive and products stand out on shelves.
For products that have short product cycles, advertising can translate directly into sales. However, durable goods advertise to consumers who are years away from a purchase and business services often depend on retaining clients over a period of years. Many marketers have to deal with consumer behavior that is far more complex than simply counting clicks.
Direct response advertising has been around for decades. It has been, and will always remain an important part of the picture and digital technology makes response much easier to measure. However, as I’ve pointed out before, that doesn’t negate the need for brand advertising.
Myth # 5 There is a trend towards Social Media: Just as evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould pointed out that there is no trend towards “evolutionary progress” but towards diversity, the real trend is towards media fragmentation and it’s been going on for a very long time.
While Social Media is important, it is doubtful that it will ever make up more than a small part of the overall marketing picture. (See more on this topic here).
We can reasonably expect both Social Media and its impact to grow, but eventually that growth will level off. Trees don’t grow to the sky. If Social Media can achieve even a few percent of the enormous global market for marketing services, it will be an enormous business. However, believing that Social Media’s gain will come at great expense to everyone else is just not thinking seriously.
A Future Role for Social Media – Big Seed Marketing
For Social Media to become successful, it will have to integrate successfully with other marketing services. Good marketing unlocks synergies between marketing channels.
Duncan Watts, although a virtual unknown in Social Media circles, was the initial pioneer of Social Network Theory and is someone to be taken seriously. He is also the primary advocate of Big Seed Marketing.
The concept is based on the mathematics of Social Networks, the fact that a substantial effect can be initiated anywhere in the network (e.g. delays at a regional airport can disrupt major hubs) and also on Solomon Asch’s research on how majorities influence minorities. (See How Ideas Spread).
Watts advocates using mass media campaigns, because that is the most efficient way to reach the most people. His research suggests that campaigns can be greatly extended using social media. In effect, that Social Media can multiply the efficacy of conventional campaigns. Major brands such as E*Trade and Miller Beer have adopted the strategy.
Those who have a stake in Social Media would gain much greater benefit thinking seriously about how they can improve and extend existing marketing campaigns rather than casting aspersions on what other media contribute.
- Greg
Greg, your article is brilliant. Thank you so much for nailing it. It’s been my experience that new media rarely replace old media; they merely add to the mix. TV didn’t replace radio as promised, movie rentals didn’t replace going to the theater, and the web is not replacing print (in fact, more paper is used for printing now than ever before). In the past, one could build a brand on a single medium or a single channel. Nowadays, you need a coactive strategy is to weave thin channels together to get the same bang for your buck. But that doesn’t mean the old media are dead. It merely means the mix is more complex – and more powerful, if you manage it well.
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Greg Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Tim,
Thanks for your input. Needless to say, I agree 100%. The true “new media” is integrated media.
- Greg
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Greg;
Once again a great post providing interesting and useful insight. Thanks!
Can’t help but agree with your myths. I would add, however, that for b2b marketing, participation in the social media sphere is essential, especially if you want to use Inbound Marketing techniques. For all those contemplating doing this (or who are already), my belief is, as with any time-consuming marketing exercise (sure it may be “free” but your time is valuable), one should ensure that the return on investment is worthwhile.
You wrote an excellent post a while ago on calculating ROI for marketing campaigns in general. It was good enough to inspire us to take a serious look at what’s entailed in calculating the ROI of a social media campaign. We ended up writing about ROI calculations in three posts which provide methods and tools to put them into effect :
How to calculate the ROMI of your website as a whole: http://bit.ly/6bFSvs
A list of the 10 best free ROI calculators on the web: http://bit.ly/7fwBkF, and
how to build your own ROI calculator (perhaps for a social media campaign): http://bit.ly/6IGZQh
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Greg Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Eric,
I would agree. Social Media Marketing is important already and will only get more so. However, there are lots of important things and the right mix needs to be found and integrated effectively.
I’m happy to hear that you found the ROI post useful.
Happy Holidays.
- Greg
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Greg;
Yes – totally agree about getting the mix right. No one thing is going to make anyone a successful marketer today, any more than it did before the Internet.
And Happy Holidays to you, too. Thanks.
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Great article!
A smart strategy that leverages a blend of marketing tactics will always prove the most successful. Social media is and will be important but it is just one tool. I hope this sheds some light for many who know social media, but need to understand how it fits for a company within its overall marketing and media strategy.
I like it!
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Greg Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Thanks, Patti:-)
- Greg
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Greg:
Whenever I feel a need to bring coherence to my otherwise chaotic life, I go online and look for your posts on LinkedIn. You delivered once again with this piece. Thanks for providing a perspective I can share with my starry-eyed colleagues in the direct and database marketing business who appear eager to ride the social media wagon right off the edge of the cliff.
RNT
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Greg Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Richard,
Those are very kind words. Thank you for them.
- Greg
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HI Greg ,
Amazing article !
I am interested to know that how online social network companies integrate with traditional media .
Though lately there has been a spate of Tv , films and print publishing companies venturing into online space , do you see the same happening with online cos i.e. they venturing into offline space?
Thanks
Hardik
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Hardik,
Sure. Almost all have sharing buttons and they will have to build social components inside their sites as well. We had a big program to do this inside my company but it mostly died after I left. Nytimes.com has launched an internal social network (although they didn’t do a very good job)
What will be the most difficult part for media brands is to let users gain recognition on their site. A great deal of the attraction of social networks is that it allows people to broadcast.
I wrote another post about integrating branded content and social networks: http://www.digitaltonto.com/2009/how-to-integrate-branded-contentand-social-media/
- Greg
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Hi Greg
Great article, well thought and discussed. Bottom line being marketing fundementals and principles still remain, tools change and social media is another tool to enhance, support marketing.
Best regards and Happy Holidays
Varsha
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Varsha,
Good points. Thanks.
I wish you Happy Holidays as well.
- Greg
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You’ve said “While Social Media is important, it is doubtful that it will ever make up more than a small part of the overall marketing picture” and based on your analysis that may well be true. I don’t know, but you have lots of impressive evidence.
There’s no doubt “social media” will have to become aligned and holistic with other efforts. I think that where your article falls short is that you only discuss social media in the context of marketing.
It’s in its wider context, which you know well, where it will become far more pervasive and influential in the brand experience. That also requires those efforts to be aligned, which I think will be one of the major trends of 2010 when we look back.
Social media is only one of many things to get right in a corporate mix of strategy and actions, but its importance is growing and I think this is going to continue for some time.
Who was it that said that we always overhype the short-term impact of such things and underestimate the long term impact – like the internet on the mobile phone. It’s a decade old as a commercialised (successful) offer, but it is only now about to happen in a massive way.
Walter Adamson @g2m
http://xeesm.com/walter
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Walter,
I think you have it about right. Social Media has already made an impact and that will only grow. However, marketing is an enormous area incorporating lots of very important and powerful things.
- Greg
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I wish the article could carry some research findings.
It more in qualitative words than facts and figures.
Will the content be true for Indian Consumers, India is exploding in use of Social Media, with 3G tech introduction , this will revolutionalise the media uses pattern??
Pl any comments.
Garg
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Garg,
Ok. Here’s some figures for India:
Internet penetration: 7%
Digital Ad share: 2%
I have a hard time believing Social Media is exploding as much as you say it is. Maybe among the people that you know, but not for the country as a whole.
- Greg
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Hi Greg,
Again you deliver a great insight on the industry, and you provide a spot-on delivery when it comes to the impact of Social Media. However, I do believe you can only make a statement about impact when we are talking about the impact of Social Media in the long run, say a time span of twenty or thirty years. The impact of Social Media will not only take up (or hit) the marketing industry but it will also, most likely, have an impact on our (social) behaviour. Right now the social paradigm is shifting, from a sphere of managing mostly offline relationships towards an evenly divided online & offline relationship management sphere. This will have consequences that will go beyond marketing, sales and PR. What these consequences will be, are hard to say, and only time will tell us.
I do agree somewhat with Walter Adamson when he compares a technical innovation (like internet and mobile phone) to the technical-social evolution of Social Media. Most people (who are not working in our industry) are still trying or struggling to catch up to the shift online. Most people in the western civilized world are using the Internet and their mobile phone’s to stay connected. With the use of these tools they will get all sorts of impulses and inputs of information. But when looking towards countries like India, something to which Garg refers, we will see an impact that cannot yet be fully measured or anticipated. Will China, India and the African nations going to have a global impact on innovation of the Internet, and/or Social Media? Of course… No doubt about it. But like you said Greg, the impact of technical innovations like 3G will not have immediate effect on a whole country.
The greatest myth remains to be confronted. Will Social Media really change every aspect of our lives forever? It already has some influence on how we shop, where we eat, how we travel, on how get job interviews (or jobs in general), how we manage our friendships, how we look television, which movies we will see, how we express ourselves and it helps us to find kindred spirits. What is going to be next? Are we going to get fed up with it at some point? Or are we going to look back in 50 years and think, wow I was right there, when it all happened. I was one of first to use Social Media in earnest, and look at it now…amazing.
Happy holidays!
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Niels,
Thank you for your input.
Happy Holidays to you as well.
- Greg
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Great post Greg! I think this entire bit about Social Media is over- hyped. I am not sure if it is a fad that will fade.
I created a blog – then someone suggested that I create a page on a social networking site to promote the blog – I did that and then realised that I had to now post the same stuff that I have posted on my blog, onto this page.
And I hate the duplication of effort – why did I create the blog in the first place? And then there is possibility of users moving on to another interface.
The worrisome part is that every new innovation – forces you to constantly reinvent yourself and upgrade your skills – and one is never sure how long this fad will last.
All in all, I feel that this is all about short term revenue generation – not long term.
Therefore the strategy you adopt has to be robust – and you need to treat the medium like a mere tool that your are using, but are not dependent on.
The social networking tools are a means and not an end. They are the medium – not the message.
I may be wrong – and would love to be corrected if I am.
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Ajoy,
Very good points.
Thanks and have a Happy Holiday.
- Greg
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Dear Greg, Interesting article and interesting discussion. A hype not fundamental? A new marketing offspring? Or a drastic turning point? Ihave not yet found the answer to those questions. Can we compare our discussion with the discussions which was undoubtly going on when specialists discussed the future of supermarkets around 1950? If we claim that social media will not put marketing in a completely new perspective, are we not making the same mistake as the shopowner who saw his business going down but refused to adapt? And if we agree that social media will be the turning point, are we not turning social media into a new holy grail?
I am introducing a new product the Pillkey® on the market. Due to a somewhat conservative attitude and the lack of funds for intensive marketing campaigns, the launch is a puzzling question to me. Meanwhile we have adapted somewhat (you are completely right, it is absolutely stupid to throw overboard the fundamentals of marketing) our marketing strategy. We will focus on experience marketing an co creating. We will communicate with our target group by internet communities, social internet networks, hyves and so on. For me completely new and interesting field to explore, although I feel I have not yet found the optimal business model in social networks yet.
Punch line. Do you not feel that social networking, social media, and so on has changed the purchasing attitude of consumers considerably? And in the end this change in (social) attitude will have a profound affect on marketing and marketing media especially?
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Jan,
Good luck with your new business.
- Greg
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Couldn’t agree more, Greg. Your blog is now essential reading for me.
During my final few years at a major publishing company in the UK, a stream of new media gurus were paraded before us to tell us we were all going the way of the dinosaurs. They might yet be right, but they went about it in a really bad way.
My colleagues and I were producing vibrant, interesting magazines, loved by their readers. We were finding our way in the digital world basing our efforts on valuable, carefully-edited, quality content. We’re still doing OK, too.
These digital evangelists were often doom-mongers. Considering they were there to tell us about really exciting new opportunities, they managed to demotivate and antagonise a lot of delegates.
So much of what these consultants did was divisive. The new world they were supposed to represent is collaborative, but as is often the case, they sexed-up their insight into the future by slagging off the traditional skills that complement new media.
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Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Martyn,
Yeah, that drives me crazy as well. What’s appalling is the completely lack of expertise among many of the self proclaimed “gurus”
Have a nice holiday.
- Greg
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Do you not feel that social networking, social media, and so on has changed the purchasing attitude of consumers considerably? And in the end this change in (social) attitude will have a profound affect on marketing and marketing media especially?
[Reply]
Greg Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Garg,
I guess that depends on what you mean by profound. Would I rather have 100 GRP’s this week than a social media campaign? Absolutely!
Do I think that Social Media can be effective? Yes.
How many “profound” marketing campaigns have I seen? Zero.
- Greg
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Hi Greg,
Spot on! There is a huge gap between displacement and replacement.
In the pool of media options, Social Networks (I refuse to use the term Social Media when marketers playing in the space create Social Interference) is a small drop.
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Greg Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Paul,
Thanks for your input and thanks for your excellent post about quantum search.
- Greg
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As the tools around marketing evolve – and diversify – it is important to see how the trends and behaviors around social media affect the new marketing resources. There are no “myths” rather there are catalysts that affect the tools and way marketing process work. The playground has changed and so will the workplace.
Just as I sigh at those calling social media the silver bullet — which it is not unless you know how to incorporate it right into your channels, strategy and most importantly your workforce’s inherent comfort with the channel and message….I sigh at folks who discuss the “over-hype” without looking at the effect on consumer behavior of social media, real-time search, and mobile / location-based technology, etc….butterfly effect….at least in my mind….what do others think?
Great conversation!
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Greg Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Janet,
Thanks for joining the conversation.
I think the problem comes when people focus on social media to the exclusion of everything else that’s going on. The media world is enormous with lots of innovative people and companies. While Social Media is growing and having an important effect, so are other things like free newspapers (next to digital, this has probably been the fastest growing media over the last decade).
- Greg
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Hi Greg,
An excellent article well written with informative links.
To add even more meat to the argument advertising Beer Mats have been in existence for well over 100 Years.
3.2 Billion advertising and marketing beer mats were printed in Europe in 2008 alone.
And here’s the surprising bit 613,000,000 had nothing to do with beer or drinks of any kind.
Every year more and more companies are switching to this form of “social media”
Best regards
Beermatman
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Greg, another very informative post. The key is always integration. No marketing initiative as a stand alone is the answer. I think human nature leads many to be extremists – either all or nothing. Social media, if integrated into a total marketing strategy which includes traditional media, will have the most success.
Once again, thanks for the share.
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Greg Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Julie,
Thanks. I agree 100%
- Greg
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I completely agree with Julie – one needs to look at an Integrated Approach – and ideally a 360 degree approach at that. Depending on seasonality, nature of the problem, the audience (and mind you audience behavior can be fickle) and the product or service itself – the medium and the message need to change. And one also needs to be open and flexible enough to keep testing and making course corrections where necessary.
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Greg Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 10:00 am
Ajoy,
Good advice. Thanks.
- Greg
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Thank God, someone who doesn’t think the sun rises and sets by social media!!!!!!! As an umemployed media buyer, social media is something that I’ve been seeing everywhere. It is gratifying to see that there are other people who believe that social media is only a PART of the overall picture. It makes me feel as if I’ve become extinct when all that I see on these job websites are social media directors, social media buyers and digital media buyers, etc. When did social media become the end all and be all of the media world? Who said that there needed to be buyers that specialized in social media, as if it was the only part of media that mattered? Rarely do we see any other medium that requires a specialist, so what makes social media any different? I loved this article and the sense it made in a marketplace where social media has become the new media god. Thank you!
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Greg Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Cindy,
Thanks.
To be honest, I think a big part of the appeal of social media is that it really doesn’t require much expertise. Nobody asks you how a different channel or daypart split will effect your curve, or how to manage the trade off between coverage and affinity.
Just say “old media is dead” and your in!
- Greg
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What effect do you think cloud CRM will have on Social Media?
(Please follow us back on Twitter)
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Greg Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Ivan,
I think it will help some of the big players with revenues by giving access to data. I wrote a bit about the potential in a post about consumer targeting, although it has more to do with faster processing in general than cloud CRM.
You can see it here: http://www.digitaltonto.com/2009/future-of-consumer-targeting/
- Greg
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Greg,
I agree that the “dying” off the old ways is a myth. The comments here make some good points, re: the shifts in marketing. Paul mentioned “displacement vs. replacement” and Janet and many others talked about how the tools have changed and diversified over the years.
Whether it’s revolution or evolution, the changes have been developing for a while now. Marketing is changing, but core tenets–such as starting with great products–will remain the same. Marketers will have to learn to adapt to emerging media, while not ignoring the old ones. FWIW.
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Greg Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Davina,
Good points.
Thanks.
- Greg
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Interesting read, Greg. Thanks for posting on linkedin.
Just about everything you wrote about and linked to ran counter to the importance that was placed on SMM by a business course I took in the fall. I linked to my group over there to hear some comments today. I’ll share if any responses are well thought out.
I’m still going through some of the blog links and responses here, but I did read enough to think these points are all on the right track. I don’t “tweet” but have been tinkering with the idea of getting on board. My main concern runs along the lines of some points you and others have raised. Much like MySpace and Facebook, people flock to the latest platform and seem to throw up as much info as they can, but the value of the content posted isn’t always there and I rarely go back to the same site more than twice. Keeping current with posts and blogs and tweets can be a time consuming affair. One that, if not managed properly, can actually overtake the business you were trying to run in the first place. Since most businesses fail in one way or another it seems the best use of time is developing an identity for your brand that people can relate to and want to continue associating with.
I’ll post more thoughts once I’ve gone through everything, but thanks for the always valuable insight you provide.
Best,
Ced
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Greg Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Ced,
Thanks. Yet I also think it’s important to realize there is a real value to social media (I’m an enthusiastic tweeter). I’m not denying this value, just pointing out that it’s often overstated.
- Greg
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Greg and others,
I am trying really hard to find the value in Twitter. I get some good info from others’ tweets but don’t see any other benefit at this point. Is there somethng I am missing? I am relatively new to this so maybe I am not “getting it”? I find some “followers” to be rather odd in that they are not involved in internet marketing and have absolutely nothing in common with what I am doing. I don’t choose to re-follow those individuals. Then there are those individuals (not big corporations) who have tens of thousands of followers! It is almost like a game to see how many people they can get to follow them. Seems strange to me.
On a separate note, I just finished an interview with WhoHub.com – not sure why I was asked – the email invite said I was referred by “another member” – whatever that means LOL. In any event, Greg, I wanted to draw your attention, in particular, to one of the question and my subsequent response:
“Can you cite brands or well-known products that you admire for marketing brilliance?
.
http://www.hubspot.com/ and http://www.digitaltonto.com/ come to mind immediately. They both write extremely creative, valuable and well-written content on their blogs and are willing to freely share their expertise with others in the same market. Digital Tonto, in particular, because Greg Satell personally responds to each and every comment on every one of his blogs – and he has tons of comments. Naturally his blog site has a great ranking. I want to be Greg in my next life
So a big thank you to you, Greg, for keeping me entertained while I learn
If interested, you can read the full interview at http://www.whohub.com/jweishaar.
[Reply]
Greg Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 am
Julie,
I used to feel the same way about twitter, but now I think it’s genius. It’s basically a user generated newswire. Although, like you, I do find some of the “rules” that people want to make up a bit odd. I see no reason why you should have to follow someone just because they follow you, for instance.
Another point is that twitter is mostly used for broadcast, there is very little “conversation” going on (although its use for customer service does seem to be something genuinely new and different).
Also, thank you very much for what you said in the interview. That was very kind of you.
Happy Holidays!
- Greg
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Greg,
I would like to see the data that backs up your ascertaition that newspaper ads have dropped by 10% and online advertising has improved by only that much.
You can’t just look at percentage decline in a vacuum either. Full page print ads were commanding a much higher price than ROS banner ads are at this point.
I would say print ads are dropping and the revenue isn’t even being replaced online. I think that is a much bigger concern for publishers in general.
[Reply]
Greg Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:50 am
Dave,
Unfortunately, I am not allowed to share that data as it is proprietary. You are free to buy it here: http://www.zenithoptimedia.com/gff/
- Greg
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Another point that needs to be made is why are advertisers drifting towards social media in the first place and this is important.
Advertisers are finding ways to get their message out cheaply instead of having to pay a publisher the money to do the same thing.
Because of this, social media is only going to grow exponentially. We are in the early stages, Greg, it has not even come close to peaking. Marketers are getting more frugal because they can find ways on their own to drive traffic to their sites.
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Greg Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Dave,
That assumes that advertisers are shifting their budgets in a substantial way. There is no data to confirm and much to the contrary. You can read more about this topic here.
- Greg
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Greg,
Your post is thought provoking – as usual. The agency I work for specializes in micro-marketing where we depend on a multitude of tactics to get our customers message out there. Social Media is a large component of that and is particularly useful for reaching out to the consumer for a short term guerrilla campaign. It does not however, replace the more traditional components of our campaign. It enhances them. We depend on our professional relationships to make our campaigns translate well. Guerrilla tactics are pointless if you’re not on good terms with your audience. Our CEO wrote a blog post not too long ago. http://wdfamarketing.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/experience-relationships-personal-connection-a-successful-sale/
It’s really all about connecting with the consumer. Social media is just one aspect of that – an increasingly efficient way to impact sales – but that connection between the brand and their audience is really the most important piece to the social media puzzle.
Stacey Maziarz
WDFA Marketing
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Greg Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:56 am
Stacey,
Very good points, well argued:-))
Happy Holidays!
- Greg
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As good guy, smart and humble guy, Joseph Jaffe said at Brandhackers the other night in NYC, it’s not an Either/Or thing, it’s an Ampersand thing. Social AND other/traditional. Because that’s the way people BEHAVE SOCIALLY…via whatever means they can share, and there are many of them. Yes, early adopters of new technologies are by definition those who tend to LEAN INTO the new, be it hype-real or hype-hype or a a combo of both. But the lesson looking back is that they’re leaning in to somewhere we’re all headed, with or without the hyped or real technology…TO THE FUTURE, THE THING THAT MIGHT MAKE THINGS BETTER. And, ah, you gotta say that the numbers for Facebook and Twitter and the social media space are of the volume and substance and ROI-construct that c-suites are leaning into, too. So, while there are always going to be healthy market corrections in the road ahead, even possible bubbles to be burst or deflated, chances are that we’re going in that same direction where our innovators are already leaning: forward to something new. I tried wrapping my arms around this in these two pieces I wrote, with some FUN example cases on the 2nd one, enjoy:….http://bit.ly/4JSBfy …http://bit.ly/3tIsOO
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Greg Reply:
December 24th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Jan,
There a lot of truth to that, but I don’t think it goes far enough. It’s really an integration thing.
It’s kind of like when you build a friendship with someone you would say I’m going to use the telephone & e-mail & face to face meetings & social media. You would integrate your available communication tools based on the purpose of what you wanted to communicate.
- Greg
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Awesome post, thanks for some much-needed objectivity.
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Greg Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Jeff,
I’m glad you liked it. Many didn’t (although I have a feeling they earn their living from social media marketing.
- Greg
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Greg;
There’s no arguing with your solid accumulation of relevant facts – you are now the Official Myth Buster!
Buried within the hype, however, is the fact that SMM actually does work, although not, perhaps, as well as or for “free” as people say. The cost in time is a large investment. It’s important to not ignore more traditional media outlets as you point out, and thus to use every available outlet to reach out to people. Even within just the online world, for example, SEO on its own is not the answer, nor is PPC or SMM. What works best is to use all the techniques you can figure out how to use, and if you can’t figure it out for an important one, hire an expert to show you. Marketing has always been about finding the right audience and these days, with all the fragmentation you highlight, it’s more and more about using the right medium to find the right audience.
If you are going to leap in and run a SMM campaign, you may find the process we use to run ours useful as it does indeed work: http://bit.ly/SMMProcess
Thanks again for a great blog!
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Greg Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Eric,
Nice to see you again. I hope you had a nice holiday.
You are absolutely right. Social Media Marketing is a valuable part of any marketing effort, although not to the exclusion of the other valuable parts:-))
- Greg
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Hi Greg;
Thanks for the kind wishes. Hope you had a great holiday season and all the best for twenty-ten. Keep up the great blogging!
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Greg,
Nice assessment of social media in a relevant context—as a small part of the overall marketing landscape.
Take away for marketers is that they have never had greater choice with more complexity to distribute messages or build relationships.
One of the biggest questions they now face is who is the most qualified resource to help marketers connect the dots in this increasingly integrated world that will deliver the highest efficiency and ROI.
As always, there’s plenty of opportunity with this significant challenge.
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Greg Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Paul,
Paul,
That’s a good question which might not be answered for a long time. My own personal feeling is that everybody will need to integrate social media into what they do. A few specialists will make it, but most won’t.
- Greg
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Greg – I can see your point of view. Social Media is hyped up in a way that is confusing to most and for the companies that are new to the game it can be extremely time consuming. The reason why it is so time consuming is because; there are limited professionals who can properly carryout Social Media campaigns.
The basic functions of Social Media are simple though, they are to Communicate, Collaborate, Educated and Entertain. So, in short Social Media is Branding. It is also platform for providing information, resolving internal and external issues, feedback and conducting training to eliminate time and money spent. If used properly it can decrease the number of call center reps by using a Blog or YouTube video educating your customers on the set-up or provide user information on your products or service. Setting up a Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace page can give you customers and employees a platform to discuss issues or new development ideas by giving them the opportunity to collaborate. You can even conduct employee trainings around the globe using YouTube or Skype cutting down on travel expenses.
While Social Media is not the only answer to all of your marketing needs, there needs to be a focus in this area. The advantages to Social Media stretch far beyond just marketing, if Social Media is something you are using or considering you should look at all of the advantages, not just marketing. When Social Media is appropriately carried out it can have an impact on your overall business.
For an example of how Social Media can affect your overall business take a look at Dell. This is one GIANT that is using Social Media to its fullest advantage.
Check out their Social Media website at http://www.ideastorm.com. This website was created to encourage customers to share ideas about what they do and what they wanted from Dell. Ratings and Reviews are implemented on Dell.com because customers want information from each other.
They also have a Facebook page, Facebook-Dell social media page for small business driven by a desire to “give back” to the community some lessons they have learned in social media.
To find out more about Dell’s success in Social Media check out the interview by Richard Binhammer conducted by TopRankBlog: http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/12/dell-social-media-interview-with-richard-binhammer/
If companies such as Dell see a great value in Social Media and have made it a success, it is worth spending a little time researching, testing and implementing Social Media in to your business.
-Joseph Keith
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Greg Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Joseph,
I’m not anti-social media, I’m anti-myth.
Anyway, lots of good points.
Thanks.
- Greg
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Greg, Hope you are doing good. There has been quite a good reflection on the facts and myths you state out there. However, One question, How can traditional media and social media can integrate together to work for the betterment of the society rather than turning both concepts one against the other?
Regards
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Greg Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Sarm,
That’s a very good point. In my view, they have to integrate.
I wrote about it here: http://www.digitaltonto.com/2009/how-to-integrate-branded-contentand-social-media/
- Greg
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Greg, Thanks for your insight on this. I read your article. It was really great. However, it perhaps could be solidified by stating the roles of the actors that are involved, the problems that have to be overcomed between both these media, the roñles of user behavior, for that matter.
Perhaps, also it is important to consider the technical developments that have occured over the years that may provide some kind of a leverage between the two media in order to instill any synergies between both the media.
Possibly you have material that would answer these queries. So, I look forward to more insight on this.
Keep up the great jobs!
Cheers
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Greg Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Sarm,
Thanks. The story is still being played out. However, I don’t think technology will have much to do with it (the technology of social networking isn’t very sophisticated). Rather, the economics of business partnerships will drive the process.
Anyway, it will be exciting. That’s for sure.
- Greg
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Hi Greg,
Good article. Realizing you focus more on the major corporations of the world, and I am not, I still benefit from the information you write about. In my short time frame of experience and limited buget for advertising, I believe a beginners main focus should not be in social media – but to use it as an addition to other avenues.
“small and learning”
Lisa
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Greg Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 5:24 am
Lisa,
I’m glad to hear that it’s helpful.
btw. How are you marketing your company? Trade shows? Direct response?
- Greg
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Hi Greg
I believe the younger generation who has not had the experience in other marketing mechanisms are now coming out as guru’s because that is how it works in business. Each new generation comes with new ideas and tools because that is how they communicate and react. When we do marketing it is hopefully to get someone to take an action or remember the brand when they go to purchase something. For the younger generation it is social media but at the end of the day is it the only thing that will meet the needs of the different audiences probably not but as someone who is diving in because I believe if you are not plugged into the new group of buyers and discussion happening on the internet you are going to loose out. But do I think the standard marketing tools don’t work anymore no, I think they have their place but honestly I through more direct mail away than I care to tell you.
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Greg Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Diane,
Interesting points. However, the simple fact is that Social Media isn’t getting the results that match the hype. It’s definitely going to be part of the landscape going forward, but it probably won’t play even close to the role that its advocates hope that it will.
- Greg
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