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.

Tweet This Post