Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Social Media Peaks
Seems like we've been here before. At least I know that I have. E-commerce? Mobile marketing? The end of brick-and-mortar businesses? Remember April 2000? P2P: Who needs it?
Yes. Social media tactics are important today. We all know that. But, what some of us might not know (or care to acknowledge) is that the return on the investment of time and dollars is not relevant for many businesses and organizations.
The Feb. 7 BusinessWeek "Generation My Space is Getting Fed Up" article sums it up well: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_07/b4071054390809.htm?chan=search. It hits the highs and lows, and it is pretty balanced. I don't know about you, but I've found BusinessWeek to be pretty credible over the last couple of decades.
At Mason, we offer clients the full array of social media and Internet marketing tactics. We also are savvy and experienced enough in brand strategy and management to realize social media's limitations.
What successful marketing is all about is understanding how the brand connects with its users and potential users, solving potential barriers then mapping the brand's contact points so that target customers easily experience what they need from it.
While one may believe its cool to advertise in Facebook (and Facebook ad spending is still growing), do your brand fans expect or even want you to be there? Maybe it's cooler not to be there and to engage customers somewhere else where it really matters. I'd suggest you take a close look at the return on your social media efforts and analyze what impact they have had on your market share and revenues.
We're always looking for case examples that work, too. So please share if you have the time. I need to go now so that I can: update my Linked In, Facebook and Second Life profiles; check my three e-mail accounts and client blogs; and, consider joining Naymz.
Yes. Social media tactics are important today. We all know that. But, what some of us might not know (or care to acknowledge) is that the return on the investment of time and dollars is not relevant for many businesses and organizations.
The Feb. 7 BusinessWeek "Generation My Space is Getting Fed Up" article sums it up well: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_07/b4071054390809.htm?chan=search. It hits the highs and lows, and it is pretty balanced. I don't know about you, but I've found BusinessWeek to be pretty credible over the last couple of decades.
At Mason, we offer clients the full array of social media and Internet marketing tactics. We also are savvy and experienced enough in brand strategy and management to realize social media's limitations.
What successful marketing is all about is understanding how the brand connects with its users and potential users, solving potential barriers then mapping the brand's contact points so that target customers easily experience what they need from it.
While one may believe its cool to advertise in Facebook (and Facebook ad spending is still growing), do your brand fans expect or even want you to be there? Maybe it's cooler not to be there and to engage customers somewhere else where it really matters. I'd suggest you take a close look at the return on your social media efforts and analyze what impact they have had on your market share and revenues.
We're always looking for case examples that work, too. So please share if you have the time. I need to go now so that I can: update my Linked In, Facebook and Second Life profiles; check my three e-mail accounts and client blogs; and, consider joining Naymz.
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Good post! In my experience people who simply push for the social media and the web-based “silver bullets” are nothing more than one-trick ponies that lack any fundamental strategic or brand management knowledge, and want to appear relevant. Like you say, there is no substitute for being a good marketer, and that skill is in shorter supply these days. The problem also is that too many clients are not knowledgeable of social media and don’t know what questions to ask ... or are merely responding because their competitors are doing it to appear like they’re doing “something.” The other thing this hype masks is that traditional advertising is dying a quick death. Many incorrectly view social media as the only relevant new front because they are mainly out of other ideas.
WC
www.latino-lingo.com
WC
www.latino-lingo.com
Yes. And there are others that charge clients for "social media" programs that wire services like Marketwire do automatically!
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