Social Media is Dying by admin
I had this realization earlier this week when discussing “what’s next in digital” with a former colleague of mine who was just launching a client’s Twitter presence.
Before you rush to the comments section to hash out a reply, let’s first agree what social media is in its current generation. Social media is a path to engaging consumers, purchase influencers and other audiences through compelling content and dialogue. Engagement is often the sole objective, right?
More and more however, that’s just not enough. We’re entering the era of social marketing where organizations must begin to find ways to monetize these channels. The novelty of buzz and viral is wearing off and being replaced by questions from finance about bottom line impact. The content will still need to be engaging, but it needs to pay for itself.
It’s the natural cycle of any new communications channel as companies seek to find ways to more effectively and personally communicate with consumers. The printing press didn’t immediately churn out coupons to the nearest pizza place and carpet cleaners. Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone call wasn’t to switch Watson to another long distance company.
Welcome to the era of social marketing.
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Good post Jeff. I would agree and it’s been something that we’ve been telling to our existing and potential clients for a while now. Social media isn’t a shiny new toy. In fact, it’s not new. It’s old. We’re in the been there done that phase of social media and we’re not doing our clients justice if we’re not developing programs that have some sort of bottom like impact. What if’s are acceptable any more. It’s now about the why not’s.
Excellent point, Jeff. I think that its very interesting to see how this continues to evolve. I think the real test will be keeping a “social voice” relevant when everyone is trying to talk/engage to the same targeted groups.
Don and Gene – couldn’t agree with both of you more. It’s a constantly evolving field and the huge opportunity for all of is that it’s still in its infancy. Companies perceived as laggards can quickly make up ground and become industry leaders if they focus on the right impact and keep the right voice.
So what will social marketing look like, practically speaking?
When somebody figures out how to monetize a social media presence consistently, please let me know. I keep plugging away because I know there’s a payoff out there somewhere but show yourself already!
Great post Jeff, I couldn’t agree more…
Actually, I’d flip it on its head and state it in a slightly different way – all media is becoming social media.
Whether that’s TV incorporating sharing/commenting/ranking through tools like Yahoo! TV and Boxee, radio going social through the new wave of sercices, or (what we used to call) print now living alongside Facebook on the iPad – its all converging into a sharable, user driven experience.
Content gets the conversation started, the masses become the media, and the “social” bits that seem so new and fresh now will simply get taken for granted as it all converges through unified devices and services.
Agreed that there’s more focus on the bottom line/results. However, the title “… is dying” is a little over-dramatic and not quite true. I think it’s transforming, all the time in fact. But I get it – that’s not as compelling a title.
What clients REALLY want/need is “inbound marketing” – content, social/engagement and SEO working together to (a) get discovered on the internet, and (b) more effectively influence purchase behavior.
“Social media” alone, outside the bigger inbound marketing context, does not accommodate this.
@Dave – You got me! It’s indeed a tad dramatic, but probably got a few more views versus “social media is evolving!”
@Paul & @Jerry – The “what’s next” truly is the most compelling question. A two-time client and someone I think really has their pulse on social media just tackled this in her blog at http://www.theartofsocialmedia.blogspot.com. Her parallels to the dot-com era and inevitable hangover are what we’re seeing now as companies look to monetize it.
So how do they do it? Customer service to reduce COGS, call center voume. Active cultivation through dedicated hyperlinks to measure ARPU, revenue, conversion, etc. It’s closer than we think!
It shouldn’t be dying, and better not be because I’ve got a lot riding on it, but it does need to be treated with knowledge and structure much like any other marketing vehicle. Social media can be a very powerful tool if it’s not used to just keep screaming messages from the hill tops. With that people will run away faster than an advertiser can say “Tweet me”. The mix of information is important, the human factor is important and there has to be a way to make social media more selective. I keep coming back to “Here comes everybody” by Clay Shirky. It’s great to have the voices now lets turn them down to a dull roar or people will tire.