A couple of studies found me this morning and I want to share something I noticed as I was reading them. One comes from Buddy Media via eMarketer; the other from ChiefMarketer.com. Both concern social media and how companies are investing and utilizing this channel. Both raise questions in my mind especially as I look at their findings in concert with one another. Let’s see if you agree.
The first is called the “Campaigns to Capabilities: Social Media and Marketing” report and details how companies are increasing their spend to support the social media efforts:
When asked about where they are making investments in social media, 57% of respondents said hiring full-time employees. Additionally, 48% highlighted services provided by partners, 39% said creating more content and 38% mentioned media buys.
So far, so good. But one item scares me:
Interestingly, 41% of respondents said they don’t have any plans to build revenue-generating platforms from social media. Only 15% currently have such plans in place and 44% are building, or will soon build, such plans.
Now, I’ve made it clear that I’m ll for accountability in media. However, while I think social media should be just as accountable as any other channel, I think revenue generation is not a primary benefit unless we’re talking about online commerce. With a lot of marketers heading in this direction, it makes me think that maybe social media is being put into the same box as other channels with respect to the marketing mix and it’s a very different animal. In fact, the Chief Marketer study sort of confirms this:
The ability to reach customers at multiple touch points rather than simply through one channel remains the most often cited benefit of social marketing, according to 85% of this year’s respondents (81% in 2010). 60% of those polled say they’re involved in marketing through social media because their target customers are spending increasing amounts of time in those channels, compared to 59% who said the same last year….The viral effect of social media as one of its key benefits is important; 59% named it as one of the three key assets of social marketing.
Oh boy. The first part of the pervious paragraph is worrisome and confirms what I’m picking up from the Buddy Media study – social as just another channel. In the second part, it sounds If the majority of marketers are expecting to have anything they do go viral, they’re nuts. I can count on one hand the number of advertiser-generated campaigns that went viral on their own. If that term is meaning that people converse with their friends and perhaps might mention a company with which they’ve had a positive experience, then maybe it’s OK.
Social media os about conversations, not monologues. Its great value in my mind is in providing a real-time look at your customers and their feelings about your business and their worlds as a whole. It requires dedicated investment and company-wide best practice implementation. While it does demand distinct, measurable goals and accountability, they need to be appropriate to the channel and not parsed over from what’s going on in other media. These two studies give me the feeling that we’ve got quite a ways to go. You?
Consult Keith 