The social media ROI dilemma
Here we go again around and around. Last week a Digital Brand Expressions 2010 Survey found that while 78% of the respondents are using social media, only 41% of them said they have a strategic plan in place for their social media usage, leaving close to 60% without a game plan for their social media activities. "What we have here is failure to communicate"
Social media is not its own little piece, its part of the picture, that when viewed together, is your total marketing plan. At the CEO of Starbucks recently said "Whether you are creating a brand, building one, or running a big one, you’d better understand social media, because there is a seismic shift in how people are gaining access to information and, as a result, how they are behaving.
Social
media is not it's own strategy or tactic. It's
part of the total marketing plan and should not
be measured alone but rather as part of all your
marketing efforts.
Information can’t be from the company to the
consumer; it has to be a level playing field
where consumers feel that they are opting in and
that there is a sharing of information. Cracking
the code involves understanding how to create an
opportunity for people to feel pride, a sense of
discovery, that they want to share this with
someone they care about.
So why are marketers still in the "everything we
do has to provide ROI thinking" ? Because they
have not convinced management that marketing, in
its current form, in unsustainable. Executives
still view, for the most part, marketing as an
expense and when marketing spend money they want
the sales trend charts to point north.
Today's workplace is often a place where great
ideas go to die and good ideas get implemented in
their place because managers have a hard time
generating buy-in with senior executives who are
too far removed from customers to understand the
reality of new marketing and empowered consumers
who have little brand loyalty.
Often when marketing people have a great idea
they first have to generate buy-in from senior
mangers. This involves the endless Power Point's
and meeting that turn fresh ideas into stale
ideas. Then there is the:
- Death-by-delay: Your boss tells you your idea is good and to get on "the calendar" to present it but by the time you present it the opportunity is gone.
- Confusion: They ask you to present so much data that your confidence in the proposal or idea quickly dies.
- Fearmongering: "What will your new idea do to my department ? Who is going to do this ? It's not my job"
The fact that so many companies have implemented social media without a strategy and without a way to measure it clearly shows that the company bureaucracy eats new ideas and is not adaptable to innovation with speed and quality. If marketers spent as much time listening to and engaging consumers as they do preparing Power Points and changing and updating presentations they could add substantial value of their brand to consumers.
Until marketers understand that marketing has changed substantially they will continue to ask for outdated metics that don't measure the true meaning of a brand to consumers.
