Social Media Myth #2: It will stand on its own

I mentioned in a previous post that many companies make the mistake of moving towards social media and viral campaigns because they think this is a cheaper strategy to reach the masses. Saving on the bottom line is rarely the result of such an effort. The budget just shifts. It used to be 90% media spend and 10% creative/strategy. In the online space it's flipped – with 90% creative/strategy and a 10% media spend.

The problem with looking at the budget as a model in this way is that it creates a restriction on the silos of work/formula. This takes me to the second myth of social media: It can stand alone as a marketing model. The fact that many companies are blindly jumping online, going for the cheap spend and opening the doors to consumer conversation will ultimately leave a lot of folks sour towards social media. No marketing strategy works on its own. A killer ad campaign is useless if the product sucks. 25,000 followers on Twitter won’t help your brand if you use as a spam medium. Stirring up buzz with a viral video will not serve the brand if your front line doesn’t understand it – or even knows it exists.

Rohit calls this the real joke about marketing. Lack of integration is the one constant in the marketing space at this time. We are placing more weight on the shiny new social thing and hoping it will deliver corporate harmony.

Maybe the thought of integration doesn’t work for your company. Maybe you have no choice in the matter – you're just one of a team of one hundred putting out product campaign. Then think of it this way – substitute integration for thought-intensive strategy. Direct the strategy to involve the organization as a whole while reaching the most profitable segment of your consumer base. That will sound more realistic to your peers,and will keep the focus on the end benefit for the company (not the silo of business).

Where is that internet at?

The number of people who actually understand the impact of social media on their lives and business is not nearly as many as the buzz we generate suggests.

Yes, there is growth in the use of social media/new media but many of the companies adopting it are doing it for the wrong reasons. Here are a few common statements that definitely provide opportunity to assist with the social media learning curve, before it follows the same fate of the misused, hated and ignored online banner ad.

Statement #1: When do consumers have time for this social media stuff?
I heard this in a presentation I gave to an MBA class about two weeks ago. Since then, I've noticed the comment on blog posts, client conversations and podcasts. My response here would be - when did we find time to read the paper or increase our time watching television from a 30 minute show to an hour show? When did people decide they could afford the time to setup a Facebook profile, Flickr account, or learn to text message? We are often a terrible reflection of the mass opinion. It is amazing how much time people will actually create when they have the desire to do something. The same could be said for money. It is amazing how much money people will actually create when they have the desire to consume.

Statement #2: Where is Twitter?
I'm not a Twitter power user. I tend to try and keep who I listen to and talk to in manageable. I use Tweetdeck to keep tabs on the conversations of some of my clients and some prospective clients. This question, or some of its variants like "How do I Twitter"and "Let's make this one viral" always come up. This presents a great opportunity to preach about the virtues of social media. But don't. Instead show one simple example of the benefit/power of these tools. This will focus the attention on the strategy rather than the technology. You'll avoid the "why did we Tweet" or "remind me why we're on Facebook again" conversation down the road when the technology changes. For example, I was tracking online mentions of a client the other day. I found a comment where a guy was asking if he should upgrade his current product (made by my client) or change to the competitors. There was no response at the time. I took a screen shot and sent it to my client to connect the dots between the buzz behind social media and the opportunity in its most basic form. This is also a great way to find new clients...but that's another post.

Statement #3: I want some of that social media interactive viral community stuff.
This is a request that comes in 99% of the time to all agencies. I have talked to clients, to friends and other agencies and this is usually the first client to agency initiation of a new media discussion.

Let me set up the situation. This company is x years old and knows how to market its product, after all they've been doing it for years. They come to you with the request to send our latest ad out through [insert social network] to join the conversation.

The intent here is right. This person is interested to see what can be done to reach consumers where they spend their time. The red flag here is that the expectation is probably off from what is possible. They are used to the way things have always been done. There job has been to get eyeballs to see their product ads. When someone sees a great viral video they want to do the same. They want to have 2 million eyeballs watch their stuff because they see a cost benefit over the cost to do the same in TV. They also think it would be cool - which it is. However, there are two ways things tend to go viral:

1. When a company has been in that space for so long that they have permission from their audience to authentically go viral
2. When a consumer attributes meaning to something a company does and sends it out (whether that company supports the meaning or not)

We need to manage the expectation by making this clear. It's all about engaging the people who will buy your stuff. It's way less about cool and even less about forcing something out there.

Think Public Relations. Getting a PR team to send out a press release has far less use and impact than getting a PR team to manage your brand/company/employee story. We waste our resources getting people to do little projects for us, no matter what the marketing purpose. Think holistic story telling.

Statement #4 I agree. We should reach out to consumers. Could you give me a price on how much it would cost for you to do this on our behalf?
This is usually a follow up to Statement #3. If this is mentioned to you it means you've failed to help this person in anyway. But all is not lost. It might also mean that you have one more opportunity.

This question usually comes from a company that:

• Still considers it's customer base a cost. Hence their eagerness to unload the customer relationship onto an agency - they have too many other things to do.
  
• Is thinking 'campaign' versus 'sustainable revenue'.
• Does not understand what your talking about.

In all cases they are a company that has not made a real commitment to engage in the strategy. The only steps one can take here are to drip, drip, drip the strategy into different levels of that company. Hammering the idea into their head at this point is useless. Actually moving forward with the campaign is probably not a great idea either. It would make the company happy and put some cash in the bank, but in the long run it makes both client and agency look bad.

I'm sure there are more statements worth sharing, but I'd like to hear yours...

Social Media Best Practices

Looks like a Media 2.0 Workgroup has organized a group of great minds to to work on an initiative that will focus on the ethics of participation. The project however, is fairly open to anyone looking to get involved - just head over to Media 2.0 Best Practices page to learn more.

I think the approach is great - collaborative and community oriented. Definitely reflective of the social space. It is also relevant. Although many of us who engage in the social media space tend to practice and preach the genuine connection of community and corporation, there is a silent majority who are still uncertain of what this new media stuff is all about. Clients flood agencies with requests like "I think it'd be great to do something social in Q3" or "I want to do something around social media. Here's my budget. Now get to work and we'll talk in five days". These requests are not ignorant - just uncertain. Having a definitive document that is as dynamic as this industry should help educate that silent majority and allow for better decisions prior to getting their feet wet.

We don't have to look far from home for an example of unethical marketing. The dangers are easily seen within the Facebook advertising model. Find a truly relevant product/service ad in your Facebook profile. Chances are at least two out of three ads will be bait & switch ads or spam proclaiming the glory of "I got fired and now I make $7k a week". Most of these ads are just hunting for mobile phone info (and will abuse the "permission" you give them). As a result there will be a very [very] skeptical consumer base on Facebook who will eventually block all ads from their impulse and memory. Marketers tend to ruin it for themselves. Hopefully Media 2.0 Best Practices can capture some attention from those who spend money in this space.

Go check it out at @ Media 2.0 Best Practices

Social Media versus Traditional Media...

...the debate continues.

Well, it's time to end the debate. It's not either or. It's "with"(in the words of Mitch Joel). The whole purpose of marketing through any channel is to reach out to your audience where they will engage best with your brand. If this is true than the debate should be Media versus No Media. The differences between Social Media and Traditional Media are no different than those that separate Television and Radio, or Newspaper and Billboards. All offer:

• Different levels of consumer engagement
• Some form of scalability
  
• Different execution strategies
• Different results
  

Chris Brogan just wrote a great post on the unique experience that Social Media can (but doesn't always) provide. His story is about the small business, mom and pop shop of the 1930's type of brand experience...."That’s the time to use social media, when you want to reach people on a more personal and more connected way. It’s not always the path to more revenue. In fact, it’s definitely not as easy as just pushing a few clicks and having books sent to the house. But when you need a more personalized feeling, a more human experience, cafe-shaped is what social media does best."

Radio didn't start out with 15 second product dumps and the online space didn't start out with a focus on click through rates. We have created this environment. Social Media is no different.

First find out who you're talking to. Then find out what you want to say. Then explore where you want to say it. Not the other way around.