The real truths about social media marketing

by Richard

Enough is enough !  That’s how I feel about all the BS that is being written about social media marketing.  I actually read an article yesterday that said that ROI is not important when implementing social media marketing.  Can you imagine someone asking for more budget dollars and people to implement something that has no proven ROI ?  Talk about job and career suicide.  Here are the truths about social media marketing from my POV.

The Truths On Social Media Marketing:

1ne: Pulling dollars from other digital marketing initiatives into social media is a stupid idea.

There I said it.  Regardless what the people at Facebook would have you believe your branded website, online search and online advertising is a hell of lot more important than your social media pages.

2wo: The number one reason people follow a brand on social media is to get promotions/discounts.

Think that people are going to follow your brand because they really want to have a relationship with your brand ? Then please stop drinking that Kool-Aid.  There are very few brands that people think are cool and want to be part of.  Brands like Apple, Starbukcs and Trek are far and few between.  It’s not cool to say “Tide is my detergent and I love doing laundry” or “I love Barilla pasta”.

3hree: If you can’t connect brand/business ROI directly to social media then why the hell would you invest so much money in it ?

Yes, maybe you do need a social media presence but if you can’t at the end of the day connect ROI and show management how the dollars you are investing into social media is actually driving ROI than you’re trying to drink Kool-Aid in a cup without a bottom.

4our: Even when companies are on social media a majority of them do not listen to consumers

70% of Companies Ignore Customer Complaints on Twitter and more than 50% of companies on Facebook don’t respond to peoples posts.  This sends a message that either you’re not listening, which pissed off consumers a lot, or that you don’t really care.  The number one reason this happens is because the person monitoring social media for your company is only doing it part time or they don’t have the authority/marketing skills to talk for your brand.

5ive: “Likegating”, requiring someone to Like you before they can interact with your brand on Facebook is both ignorant and is clear indication that you just don’t understand the basic principles of social media.

Enough said if you have to ask why then you really need to spend a lot more time with consumers and less time in the office.

6ix: Too many social media “experts” are great at telling you what you should do but when you ask them what they have actually done their resumes are blank.

They like to write books or promote themselves as speakers at social media conferences and when you ask them what they actually did for brands/companies, beyond vanity metrics such as number of “Likes” or “engagement” you get a blank stare.  These are people who don’t understand that marketers today are under increasing pressure to to show real results with their budget dollars.  Going into management and saying 25,000 people Like us on Facebook while sales are tanking is pissing on an electrified fence.

7even: There are only three reasons to implement social media marketing; to reduce costs, increase sales and improve profitability.

You can spend hours talking with people via Twitter or Facebook but if they don’t become a customer or choose your brand at the store than why in the hell would you spend so many resources on them ?  Oh that’s right because they MAY have  better impression of our brand.  Well today it’s more about price for a lot of products and people are trading down and dropping brands to save money.

What I am really trying to say here is that we as marketers need to get closer to our customers and consumers to understand just how important our brand is in their lives.  How much thought is really going into choosing a salad dressing brand or detergent vs. a computer or appliance brand.  Where are the key decisions being made and how can I as a marketer be there when they are making these decisions.  This is probably the most important skill any marketer can have.