The mistaken belief that social media is going to save your brand
02/07/10 06:22 AM Filed in: Social
Media Branding | #in
Marketing is an
art, not a science and there are not very many
artists out there right now. Marketing linchpins
know that conventional thinking around marketing
is going in the trash and they are looking to
connect with their customers in a human voice.
However, they also know that nobody gets up in
the morning and says "I think I'll start a
relationship with the company that makes my baked
beans in a can".
Research has continually shown that the number one reason people friend brands is to get "discounts" and other promotional offers but newer research has also shown that the number one place consumers look for promotional offers is print media like newspapers. Yet these marketers are going full speed ahead into social media because "it's the thing to do".
They are going to go charging ahead without a firm objective, strategy or a way to measure the impact of social media at a time when management wants to measure every marketing activity. To quote Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does".
So are you telling me to put the breaks on social media dollars ? No ! What I am saying is that before you spend the dollars ensure you have a clear marketing objective, understand the channel and have metrics in place to measure your investment. Just putting an intern in charge of a Twitter of Facebook page is probably the dumbest mistake any company could make and anyone that recommends that should be forced to work in customer service for a year.
Social media is not a strategy; it is a channel and part of an integrated strategy to support your brand/business objectives. If you're not ready to make the investment in time and people to support social media than you're farting in the wind.
Research has continually shown that the number one reason people friend brands is to get "discounts" and other promotional offers but newer research has also shown that the number one place consumers look for promotional offers is print media like newspapers. Yet these marketers are going full speed ahead into social media because "it's the thing to do".
They are going to go charging ahead without a firm objective, strategy or a way to measure the impact of social media at a time when management wants to measure every marketing activity. To quote Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does".
So are you telling me to put the breaks on social media dollars ? No ! What I am saying is that before you spend the dollars ensure you have a clear marketing objective, understand the channel and have metrics in place to measure your investment. Just putting an intern in charge of a Twitter of Facebook page is probably the dumbest mistake any company could make and anyone that recommends that should be forced to work in customer service for a year.
Social media is not a strategy; it is a channel and part of an integrated strategy to support your brand/business objectives. If you're not ready to make the investment in time and people to support social media than you're farting in the wind.
For a presentation on Social Media is not going
to save your brand
Click
here
