There’s No Denying Social Media’s Buzz. But How Real Is It?
I recently read (and misplaced) an article deriding many social media “consultants” as carpetbaggers, and after reading a presentation to a trade association by a social media “guru” I’d say that’s true for at least one of them.
Naturally, this isn’t a blanket condemnation of social media consultants. After all, I’m a True Believer (note the caps) in engagement marketing, which qualifies me as someone willing to believe in the long-term power of connection with your audience.
So instead of condemnation, consider this a call for sanity.
In the marketing world, social media channels should meet the same performance standards as other, less-glamorous marketing channels. But the buzz is hard to escape – as is the sense that more than a few consultants aren’t doing their clients any favors.
Online Marketing Tough Love
I’m in the midst of teaching an Online Marketing Boot Camp – a class I developed for a local economic development agency. Even at the outset, social media reared up on its hind legs, demanding attention.
My students want to know if they should dive in. I’ve got two more weeks to figure it out.
Over the last month, I’ve read a lot of “Ten Reasons Why Every Primate Should Have a Twitter/Facebook/MySpace Presence” posts.
What’s striking is how few of those Top 10 “reasons” offer any hope of revenue. After all, I’m teaching small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs – people with limited time, and long, long to-do lists.
It’s easy to rave about the blue-sky benefits of Twitter and Facebook. But harder to define the dollars-and-cents return – especially when most of my students didn’t enter the business world to become “content generators.”
Most have trouble sticking to a regular e-newsletter mailing schedule. And email/e-newsletters remain the ROI Kings of online marketing.
Yet the social media buzz is powerful – as are the temptations.
Social Attraction
I consult with a small business client who’s done a great job putting their online marketing world in order.
Their Web site is solid (it’s running atop WordPress). They’re growing their monthly e-newsletter list (within a week of each mailing, the e-newsletter generates about half their revenue)
We launched their blog into a regular, google-pleasing, traffic-pulling orbit (no, we didn’t call it a blog – we wanted the publishing platform but not the baggage).
They’re a regional business, and yes, 95% of their new business comes via the Internet.
And yes, they’re asking me about social media.
My answer? Maybe.
Asking The Right Questions
First, let’s revisit the idea that new technology doesn’t drive marketing programs – business goals drive marketing programs. Investing time in a new media channel because it’s generating “buzz” doesn’t quite meet the bar.
In other words, the questions aren’t “Should we Twitter?” or “How about Facebook?”
It’s “Where are your customers? How do they want to be contacted? Can you deliver high-value content? How many media channels can you reasonably feed?” Then comes the biggie: “Do the contacts generated by social media convert into sales – or just traffic?”
In the case of several of my boot camp students, the answers to those questions suggest getting their online house in order before they launch social media initiatives. Sites should be dynamic and sticky. And – for most clients – an email program is a necessity.
Lest you think I’m a total unbeliever, I’ll say this: One of the boot camp students is an absolutely perfect fit for the hippest, hottest social media we can dredge up (fashion), and we’re going to go for it – though I’m suggesting an email program to turn short-term social medioids into long-term (profitable) customers.
For that small business client? I’m thinking it’s time to explore Facebook – but the second he misses an e-newsletter deadline, we’re taking the keys to Facebook away.
Keep marketing, Tom Chandler
Comments 6
Hey, this is what I was looking for. A man who, in spite of all the buzz about social media, stay focused in what is important: Where is the client?
Bravo!
Excellent post Tom. I will launch my first information product–an e-book on writing supplements for college textbooks–in mid-March. In the process I’ve been studying Internet marketing and all its facets.
Social media is prominently discussed now in IM circles; however, so far I’ve done nothing with it.
Why?
1. I have far more important things to do regarding launching and marketing my information product, and the ones to follow.
2. I don’t need more information to deal with. We already live in an information-overload society.
3. It appears to me that in social media there are a few leaders and a huge mass that hangs on those leaders hoping to get noticed.
I will eventually investigate social media, but it’s way down on my priority list.
Hey Tom,
Social media is like that quote I had on my placemat at my grandparents house when I was a kid:
“You can forever chase butterflies and never catch them, but if you sit quietly and patiently, they may alight upon you.”
[very bad paraphrase dressed up like a quote -- hey, it's been 30 years...]
The point is that the moment you try to “work” social media, it disappears. Requests for retweets, stumbles, and trackbacks all get old quickly. Forcing social media is like forcing the kid on the basketball court to play with you.
You have to be engaging in a natural way. You have to want to Twitter or blog, you have to want to talk to people about their interests.
You have to do all the things that Carnegie said we should do. The only difference is that the media are different. The social isn’t.
~Graham
@Alejandra: The client is the key.
@John: How close are you? We should talk.
@Graham: Point well taken (I preach “authenticity” to my engagement marketing clients), though my concern isn’t with how social media is accessed, it’s whether the business case exists for it in the first place.
I’ve heard plenty of hype – and yes, I’ve seen some interesting results – but the buzz alone doesn’t spare social media the same kind of scrutiny other media channels get when their utility is being decided.
In my online marketing class, several students are clearly candidates for involved social media programs; others need to focus on the basics (like e-newsletters) before they invest time they don’t have in social media.
I agree with your excellent post. However, I have, as a writer, had two jobs come to me through a link to my blog that I put on Facebook. And am now putting a “status” post on Facebook if I write anything on the blog that I particularly want to “market” … I fully agree that too much unproductive time can be spent on social media but it can occasionally bring in unexpected returns.
8-)
Russell: Quality leads are always good news. I don’t know how much effort you put into Facebook, but I’m asking my small biz students to be very clear about evaluating time investments vs results – especially when most aren’t in “connected” industries like you and I seem to be.
Good luck!
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