The problem with buzzwords is that they some time become an excuse used by people to show work. What’s there to be done anyway, you create a social network profile, follow users on Twitter, go comment on blogs and we are done. The client knows this is work because it is a buzzword and though they mgiht not know it, they probably wouldn’t mind playing with it.
All this is good, until you see the results of these social experiments. The other day I was aghast to see a case study on social media for a medium to large sized brand based on a celeb ambassador they have. 2 digit followers, following nearly 300 and 1 update.
We can forgive the follower/following ratio it’s not easy getting it right, but one update and then putting a screenshot of it on a presentation showcasing SMM is blasphemy! The client in all probability might have gone home happy thinking about how they adopt new technology and media so well. However, it has left a gaping hole in their brand’s perception of customers and no celeb video can help them patch it.
One probably can’t even blame the agency perhaps. Great social media marketing unless it is by a big brand hardly gets noticed and even if it is, it is not accepted as performance until replicated for a bigger name. That’s how it should work really, if anyone needs help with social media anyway it is the bigger names.
Anyway, one can’t blame the agency because the client might have come to them asking to them to pursue social media. It doesn’t work that way but agencies are not in a position to dispute. They have numbers to meet and whatever adoption corporate India shows is better than a blind eye. This is exactly why I wrote why SMM might never achieve its potential, marketers poisoned in the convenience of traditional media’s protective realms bring the same old approach to newer channels. In the process they corrupt the channel and their own brand and then move on to kill some other brand.
The point is this – Don’t jump into social media because everyone else is doing it. There is value in social media for everyone, however it needs to be studied, it needs to be observed and patiently awaited to give you its full value. Maybe you don’t need a Facebook group, maybe you don’t need to go comment on every blog to get people to visit your blog, what worked for your competition will most definitely not work for you. More than any other medium social media requires innovation at every step because of a discerning audience. And innovation doesn’t come around every weekend for anyone to make your brand social, it takes time so give it.
quite agreeing with you Maneesh