Realities if social media
12/27/08 08:15 AM
According to the chart below more marketers are looking at cutting traditional media in favor of social media. However, these marketers believe the social media will have an immediate impact on their business and drive sales. Strategically a social media program could in fact benefit the numbers but if a social media program is to be effective then it has to be nurtured over time until it blooms into a full blown brand communication touchpoint.
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A social media program is a great way to listen to and engage consumers who could become customers. However social media, in order to be effective, requires a level of trust and like any relationship building trust takes time. The first step in any relationship is to listen to what people are saying so that you can converse with them in their language and tone. Developing great listening skills can take a lot of time and most marketers, and marketing departments, don't have the time to learn how to listen.
This week I sat in some research with marketing executives to ask about social media and marketing in a down economy. There were 4 groups of 8 marketing executives working in consumer marketing and what we heard were the cold hard realities of implementing a social media program in a corp marketing department.
Most of all we heard that senior business executives are demanding accountability from marketers, now more than ever. One VP of marketing told us that hey would find himself on the street if he went to his boss and said he was going to implement a social media program that might not have results for some time. Another said that getting people to administer and monitor social media right now is all but impossible. The bottom line "we know social media is needed and can enhance the brand, but if it does not impact sales NOW than we just can't do it".
At the end of two groups I asked the moderator if I could talk to the group and give them an example of how social media might drive business. I used the example of developing leads and a lead funnel with social media. All agreed that it was a great tactic but the "interaction per sale" is too expensive and therefore they need something that does not cost as much in time and people. It was also interesting to note that most executives are planning to curtail TV spending big time. Marketers are using TV to drive awareness of new products but once that awareness has reached a certain point they know that the ROI diminishes over time.
So what's it going to take to move the needle? Well first all the executives want to see more of a "sell" from social media platforms. "Tell me why I need to be on Facebook" said one and another said "what can they do to help me minimize mistakes on social media ?". The executives also said that their ad agencies were not prepared to recommend social media or administer a program. What about a social media agency? Well if social media is supposed to be transparent and we are talking with customers and consumers I'm not sure I want that conversation done by an agency person.
