Social Strategy & Design by @KarlLong

Mar 5, 2008

Social Media Biggest Shift In Marketing Strategy Since Television?

Hyperbole? I don’t think so. I believe that social media is reshaping the business landscape and is changing, or requiring change from every aspect of the business, from business strategy, to product development, to marketing, to human resources (hey, even Microsoft is taking notice see this FT article “A revolution is taking shape”).

The Newcomreview.com just posted on a report from TNS media intelligence/Cymfony that found 50% of Marketing Executives Believe Social Media Is a “Vital Component” of Corporate Communications, that’s a pretty huge shift if is really representative of marketers across the board.

I really like the way they seperated between “wait and see” folks who are just dipping their toe in with social media and and “revolutionaries” who have embraced the change.

The survey reveals that the early adopters (“Revolutionaries”) are more advanced in their understanding and execution of social media marketing initiatives than more cautious marketers (“Wait-and-Sees”). First, nearly five times as many Revolutionaries are already implementing social media in their organizations and three times as many Wait-and-See companies are only at the learning stage. In addition, Revolutionaries are far more optimistic about the future of social media with 81% saying it will grow in significance over the next five years. Only 33% of the Wait-and-Sees agreed with this outlook.

and even more fascinating and how do they approach marketing differently?

When asked about how they would use social media to influence their marketing initiatives, Wait-and-See companies put more emphasis on using social media for new types of marketing campaigns such as viral marketing and videos, while Revolutionaries focus more on listening to consumer and bloggers’ points-of-view. One area where they were in accordance was that both Revolutionaries (95%) and Wait-and-Sees (60%) are eager to connect with other colleagues to study consumer feedback and learn from

In other words the wait and see folks are still hooked into the “campaign” big bang fire and forget model, and the revolutionaries are “participating in the conversation” and building deeper relationships with their customers. Hmm, I wonder what has a better ROI.

So which one are you? Wait and see? or a revolutionary?

8 Comments, Comment or Ping

Mack Collier

So what you’re saying is, being a geek is finally going to pay off?

Mar 5th, 2008
Karl

Yeah, it really is. I would say the last year or so the idea of social media has really started to take off and become a lot more mainstream. Any marketers falling into the “revolutionary” category that are using social media to build deeper relationships through genuine dialog with their customers are going to be the big winnners. Soon this will not be a “missionary selling” activity to sell this into companies and it will just be part of doing business.

Mar 5th, 2008
Grant A Johnson

Karl,

And the key is the ROI payoff. It still amazes me how the “old” media model, the “big bang fire and forget model” as you put it is still so prevalent.

Notice I did NOT say relevant.

Today marketing is about accountability, measurement, and that begins with relevance and dialog. Quickly, tell me, right now, what super bowl commercial you recall and which one made you buy?

It’s hard to do. Why?

Those ads are produced under the “killer creative” philosophy and typically do not work — drive sales.

Thanks for the blog.

Grant A. Johnson

Mar 8th, 2008
Toad

Problem with Social Media, of course, is that Your Brand Is Not My Friend™ - and so you have to be extremely careful how you operate in that space. And not every brand is regarded the same way. There are a few Prom King brands, brands people want to be friends with, and then there are all the others.

(In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve written about this extensively.)

Mar 17th, 2008
Karl

I totally agree Toad, I actually think the biggest opportunity in social media is for companies to understand their customers are part of a complex ecosystem where customers are actually able to create value and meaning.

Mar 17th, 2008
Tom Cunniff

Social media is important. But, because it’s so personal, I worry it is already becoming self-important.

Bigger than TV? Really?

No matter how high-impact a single customer service moment is, we should always remember it is still an individual moment.

Here’s a sobering thought: Most big brands today drive 25% or more of their sales through Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart demands speedy product turns. If you don’t sell fast enough, you’re off the shelf, forever. Once you lose that 25% of your business (imagine a bullet wound that takes up 25% of your body), your product is fatally wounded.

No matter how brilliant a social media moment is, or how many of those we can perform, or how big the ripple is from each of those positive actions, the reality is that social media alone cannot drive the billions of individual product sales that big brands require.

Good TV advertising — which we’re so quick to relegate to the dustbin of history — is one of the few mediums that can drive significant volumes of product while still building some emotional connection to the brand.

I’m not saying social media isn’t important. What I am saying is, let’s keep its role in perspective.

There’s a pretty ginormous difference between being an important thing, and being *everything*,

Aug 19th, 2008