Social media should demand 'significant resources' from marketers, survey says [Marketing News + Notes]
According to recent survey from TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony, almost 50% of marketers believe social media should be monitored at an executive level, with "significant resources" thrown at it.
I'd tend to agree. Social media can be used to draw eyeballs, and once you have them, engage your customers in one-to-one conversation. We're talking about blogs, videos, forums, wikis -- everything.
I'd tend to agree. Social media can be used to draw eyeballs, and once you have them, engage your customers in one-to-one conversation. We're talking about blogs, videos, forums, wikis -- everything.
What can social media be used for? According to the report:
- 37% of marketers think social media can be used to gain consumer insights.
- 21% think it could be used to build brand awareness.
- 18% believe social media can increase customer loyalty.
81.6% of companies are either either experimenting, expanding or integrating social media into its marketing efforts, but many marketers think the agency world is being left behind. Marc Monseau, Johnson & Johnson's director of corporate communications, is quoted in the report as saying, "They're not doing a very good job at all. At the moment most agencies still view social media tools as just another vehicle for driving their messages."
Ouch. So if you haven't put in your due diligence for social media, now is the time to start.
- 37% of marketers think social media can be used to gain consumer insights.
- 21% think it could be used to build brand awareness.
- 18% believe social media can increase customer loyalty.
81.6% of companies are either either experimenting, expanding or integrating social media into its marketing efforts, but many marketers think the agency world is being left behind. Marc Monseau, Johnson & Johnson's director of corporate communications, is quoted in the report as saying, "They're not doing a very good job at all. At the moment most agencies still view social media tools as just another vehicle for driving their messages."
Ouch. So if you haven't put in your due diligence for social media, now is the time to start.
Comments
As an owner of an agency, I couldn't agree more with Daniel. Most agencies have been left behind on this. I have seen several WOM agencies pop up with great success. Social media is a great tool for gaining insights into your markets and customers. The blogging community can smell "PR" a mile away. Bloggers are interested in having a real, authentic conversation about you and/or your products. The wealth of insights into the market and those that influence the markets are worth the investment.
Posted by: Scott Murray | March 3, 2008 1:58 PM
Scott - Thanks for the reply! Why do you think agencies have been left so far behind? I'm not just talking about bigger shops, either, but boutique digital joints as well!
Now, the question is: How much of one's interactive marketing budget should social media receive? Any thoughts?
Posted by: Daniel | March 3, 2008 2:06 PM
Our PR agency continues to work to become not only well-versed in social media, but also experts in its implementation and execution. Social media has grown out of a single department and now demands the attention of everyone. However, its been difficult juggling the new tricks with the old practices.
Posted by: Kevin | March 3, 2008 5:04 PM
Agencies are being slow to catch on because the mindset for influencer marketing is 180 degrees from typical marketing instinct. (PR agencies are trying to get in to this and are failing miserably because they try to do traditional PR things such as talking points and scripted communications.)
The key is to think blogger first. What are they interested in? What do they want to write about? Find the intersection between your goals and theirs. Treat them as people, not media outlets. You can't buy your way in. Build the relationships one by one with the bloggers who matter to you. Bloggers want access(to your clients), information and content. PR agencies want to own the relationship and agencies just want to buy ads on their sites. It's "social" media. Not a one-way hype cannon.
On the budget side of things, we've found it costs about 1/10th of a total marketing budget to work with bloggers and to make significant impact. And that's not buying media at all. And it's not doing pay for post either. The key is to build a relationship. Which neither PR nor marketing agencies are set up or staffed for.
Posted by: Geoff Nelson | March 3, 2008 5:35 PM
Since we work with healthcare clients, we've picked up a fair amount of work due to the dissatisfaction of our clients with those larger agencies.
There's huge difference between the need to create a tv commerical, radio spot, print ad and website, never mind search marketing or social marketing. For agencies, it's a genuine problem -- they can't focus on something which is so small and which they likely outsource. If you're making 15% on a $40k sale, you're not going to fight hard to make the business excel. Or care if a client finds a better solution.
So unless agencies get high quality, industry-specific partners, clients will continue to source their needs elsewhere.
Posted by: Paul Griffiths | March 25, 2008 12:31 PM