Comments on The Marketing Spot Blog - Turning Entrepreneurs Into Marketers: The Uncharted Waters of Social Media Marketing

Sam, Great perspective. Maybe that's the true ...

2010-06-13T16:35:04.662-05:00

Sam,
Great perspective. Maybe that's the true objective of a company's participation in social media: authenticity in culture and marketing.

Jay, Great question to ask. The best way I thin...

2010-06-12T16:57:06.932-05:00

Jay,

Great question to ask.

The best way I think to answer it is the 'wisdom of crowds'...or more specifically, the 'wisdom of budgets'.

Forrester estimates Social Media spend (and by that I mean advertising, as a proxy of interest in social media) to $1B this year. In contrast, all of interactive marketing will be $29B. That doesn't include hundreds of billions spent on other forms of marketing.

So, traditional marketing isn't going away. In my opinion, the hope for Social Media is to change the culture of business, for them to create better products, converse with customers, and then traditional marketing (perhaps done in a more authentic way and less spin, more reality) will amplify a message the company has great products. Ex: Apple.

@Jason Social media wandering, have you been track...

2009-10-21T14:08:11.834-05:00

@Jason
Social media wandering, have you been tracking my web activity?

Jay, Time is definitely a factor when it comes to...

2009-10-21T11:51:04.271-05:00

Jay,

Time is definitely a factor when it comes to social marketing. The ability to deal strategically with social media and stay on task is very important...especially to someone like me who has a bad habit of following every interesting link that pops up.

I would assume that most serious business people have the ability to stay focused on their goal while online, but there are many times when I go on Twitter or Facebook to promote something the company is doing and get sucked in. Before I know it, I am looking at pictures from the international space station or looking at MLB postseason statistics.

Admittedly, I may not be as focused as some, but this can happen to anyone. When figuring time into your social media costs, this social media wandering can be quote costly.

Judy, Great advice. But I've come to expect so...

2009-10-20T10:09:18.712-05:00

Judy,
Great advice. But I've come to expect sound reason from you.

You remind me of when I first decided to start my business, I took the FasTrac Entrepreneur course. I remember the first thing our instructor said was that his goal was to help us kill our business idea before it killed us. Meaning that unless we could justify our business idea and overcome his objections, we shouldn't start a business.

Rather than being a pied piper to social media marketing, social media consultants should make clients defend there desire start a social media marketing program. (Remember that the Pied Piper led the rats to the water where they all drowned.)

Jay, I love this question. One of our clients is ...

2009-10-20T09:43:48.345-05:00

Jay,

I love this question. One of our clients is struggling with it right now. He's the kind of guy who needs to see the solid ROI numbers before he jumps in, even though he went to a workshop where they told him that he must do this.

For one thing, I wouldn't listen to the recommendation to do it from anyone who makes money from helping people implement it, including myself. I do tell clients that if they do decide to try it, before they start, they need a strategy and goals for their participation in each platform. Without that, they are just treading water.

Bob and I teach blogging classes for beginners and we go over a "Should you have a blog: things to consider when deciding" part. We've had a few people come up afterward and express gratitude, and relief, because everyone had been telling them that they must have a blog. And no one helped them to decide whether they even need one (or have the time available to make it a success).

I am in total agreement that, even if you use social media, it's just another tool. Part of a BALANCED marketing strategy. It helps me with networking in the times between the face-to-face meetings, events, etc. so I can stay in touch with colleagues and clients. It has also presented incredible opportunities for collaborations and partnerships I wouldn't have otherwise had.

I'll be interested in seeing what Forrester comes up with.

@Dennis The affect on sales is one of the missing ...

2009-10-20T09:04:54.902-05:00

@Dennis
The affect on sales is one of the missing links. Others are customer loyalty, brand awareness, lead generation. You would think there has to be some comprehensive study that provides that measurement.

@Bill
The current hype reminds me of the hype surrounding the internet/boom bust. The internet was going to change the way we bought everything. The common sense of that day said that you have to sell online. Well, the internet did change the way we buy some things, but not everything and not to the degree promoted by the hype. Here we are 10 years later seeing the same thing with social media marketing. Will it change the way businesses deal with customers. Yes, for some, but not for everyone and not as much as the hype would have you believe.

@Suzanne
Spot on. It doesn't have to be either/or. Marketing is one arena where it's ok to straddle the fence.

Great post with some solid questions about support...

2009-10-20T08:14:22.152-05:00

Great post with some solid questions about supporting data. I look forward to seeing any data you come up with. Social media, like any marketing tool, has to be viewed in context of the individual organization. What can they do and how should they do it and who are they reaching out to? No, I don't want to have a "relationship" with my plumber but I may appreciate my primary care provider offering Twitter updates on flu shots or a blog post about H1N1. Each organization will have to develop their own strategy and determine their own metrics to test the tools they are using.

And...it isn't an either/or issue. A medical practice may discover more traditional promotion along with social media elements works best while that plumber may find a website and directory listings serve their organization the best. It may take some testing to get it right.

Another consideration to factor in is the benefit of market intelligence. In more traditional forms of outreach, there is no capture of prospective customers likes/wants/needs while social media tools do allow for good listening and two-way sharing that helps develop and enhance services.

I cheer your inquiry into data and I second your reminder that we need to be thoughtful about our organizations and determine what the goals are and then develop a strategy in context to those goals. And, of course, measure, measure and measure for results.

Jay-- that's one of the most thoughtful blogpo...

2009-10-19T20:30:44.414-05:00

Jay-- that's one of the most thoughtful blogposts I've ever read.
The truth is somewhere in common sense land, a land that seems farther and farther from reality these days, not in hypeland. There are no metrics yet, just gut feelings. It's so big, we think it has to mean something.
But if sales persuasion is still supposed to be at the heart of what we do, nothing says that standing in a crowd of people, persuades me to do or buy anything. It still takes an idea to open my eyes or change my mind or put me in motion. A million voices without an idea is still just noise.

Jay, very interesting post. George & I have at...

2009-10-19T20:19:33.389-05:00

Jay, very interesting post. George & I have attended many "social media for business" seminars that fall short of actually talking about strategy. People are encouraged to just set up accounts on FB, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc. You are right. You need to think about YOUR strategy before diving in. How much time will it take? What are my desired results? In which social media will I find my best prospects? Yes it is free. Yes it is a good place to be. No it isn't for every business.

Jay the problem is really that we track hits/membe...

2009-10-19T16:45:43.789-05:00

Jay the problem is really that we track hits/members etc because we can. The obvious missing link is sales, no?

Rich, I enjoyed getting to meet you in person at B...

2009-10-19T14:59:20.691-05:00

Rich, I enjoyed getting to meet you in person at BlogWorld. Great dinner at The Stirling Club!

If you have the data, please share, I'd be happy to link to it. I'm looking for data that verifies or disproves the notion that social media marketing is superior to other forms of marketing.

Jay, See that. I knew we didn't have enough ...

2009-10-19T14:47:25.598-05:00

Jay,

See that. I knew we didn't have enough time together. We have verifiable numbers on several social media efforts.

The ones I tend to share incorporate three different strategies designed around their specific goals, which included becoming a subject matter expert, supporter engagement, and B2C movie marketing.

The only element I am missing right now on the B2C effort is exact DVD sales.

All my best,
Rich