Marketers Still Struggling With Social Networks

Posted on August 22, 2007 Written by 3 Comments

AdvertisingAge article this week spoke about how marketers have started to use CRM advertising on social networks instead of ads. It seems that marketers have woken up to the fact that social networks work a little different than traditional advertising, and that throwing up ads without engaging in a conversation will not work.

As Debra Aho Williamson, analyst at eMarketer says:

“What’s been a challenge is figuring out a model that expands the beauty of social networking,” she said. That’s partly because it’s easier to buy display ads and sponsorships than to create completely new programs; it’s also not exactly clear how to monetize a role as a long-term, relationship-building tool.

It is the lack of control over the marketing message that is hardest for many marketers to handle. The fact that the most successful social marketing campaigns are viral and grow organically is even harder for them to understand. For example, Nikon has been extremely successful withb their social media campaign where owners post photos they’ve taken, answer each other’s questions about techniques and offer tips for getting the most out of the product.

That kind of affinity and attention is not something marketers can buy, warns Chad Stoller, executive director of emerging platforms at Organic. “Groups will form if there’s interest; they will not form from an ad buy,” he said. So how should a marketer react when groups form around their brands? “Often the first reaction is to spend against it,” Mr. Stoller said. “The first reaction should be to listen to it and figure out how to make that group better.”

The conflict that traditional marketing executives have with social media marketing is summed up in Chad Stoller’s quote. When groups of people get together to talk about your product and offer each other tips for getting the most out of your product what is the gut reaction from a marketing or brand manager? To spend against it. That gets my vote for quote of the year.

David Wilson

I have been in providing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services to clients for the last 8 years. I believe that SMO is where all the online services are going to converge over the next 18 months.

More Posts - Website

Filed Under: Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization

Trackbacks

  1. Coffee Break - August 23, 2007 says:
    August 22, 2007 at 10:39 am

    [...] Marketers Still Struggling with Social Networks – David Wilson at Social Media Optimization [...]

    Reply
  2. Så övertygar du din chef att börja med “Social Media Marketing” « PR 2.0 says:
    September 4, 2007 at 5:35 pm

    [...] Så övertygar du din chef att börja med “Social Media Marketing” Filed under: kommunikation, social media, citizen journalism, Corporate blogs, PR 2.0, webb 2.0, Public relations, new media, Marketing, web 2.0, media, PR, communication, blogg, PR2.0 — dojan @ 10:35 pm Martin Lindvall konstaterar i sin blogg Slumpnavigator att marknadskommunikatörer generellt sett har svårt att utnyttja de sociala nätverken tillika media i sitt kommunikativa arbete. Och menar att det delvis har att göra med kommunikatörernas rädsla för att tappa kontrollen över budskapet. Och med det antar jag att han menar att kommunikatören gärna själv vill bestämma vilka som ska få budskapet för att sen pusha ut det till målgruppen ifråga. Martin refererar till bloggen Social Media Optimization som driver samma tes och bl a skriver följande: [...]

    Reply
  3. PR, reklam, integrerad marknadskommunikation - spelar det någon roll? « PR 2.0 says:
    September 9, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    [...] PR, reklam, integrerad marknadskommunikation – spelar det någon roll? Filed under: social media, Public relations, kommunikation, citizen journalism, PR 2.0, webb 2.0, new media, Ads, web 2.0, Adsense, Marketing, media, communication, PR, PR2.0 — dojan @ 8:31 pm Richard Gatarsk skriver för några dagar sen på sin blogg (weconverse) att det är dags att “ifrågasätta begrep som reklam och PR”; ett inlägg som fick sin inspiration från Fredrik Wackås bloggs inlägg “Sociala medier kräver samarbete mellan reklam och PR”, som I sin tur hänvisade till Martin Lindvalls bloggs inlägg “Sociala meder allt viktigare kanal”. Som in sin tur hänvisade till bloggen Socaial Media Optimizations inlägg “Marketers Still Struggling With Social Networks”. [...]

    Reply

Speak Your Mind

*