Recently I came across someone who had written a brief piece about the 90% failure rate in social media marketing programs, and 7 rules businesses should follow when undertaking such programs. I don’t know where the writer got his data (statistics were not documented), and I will not mention his name as I’m going to criticize the article a bit because I feel it misses the mark
First, at the end of the article, the writer called social media marketing the “meet and greet on steroids” which I believe is a naive statement. If you see marketing as a meet and greet, then you need to check your eyes. Sure, you need to meet and greet people, but it doesn’t stop there. Social media marketing is a symbiotic vehicle fueled by you and driven by your consumers. Many companies use social media, and not just to say, “Hi, I’m <insert business here>. Thank you for visiting.” Businesses use social media to boost awareness, drive sales, engage an audience, gain feedback directly from consumers, entertain, and more. Some interesting social media statistics and information can be found here and here.
The writer also gives 7 reasons why social media marketing efforts fail, and they are as follows:
- Failure to understand the channel
- Failure to develop a strategy that includes direct measures for brand/business drivers
- Failure to use necessary resources [simply building a Facebook page and waiting for results.]
- Using an intern as your brand’s social media voice
- Your content is not magnetic
- Posting too often or too little
- Expecting immediate results
I do agree with points 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7, and mostly agree with 2. I completely disagree with point #4. I’m not going to talk about the points I do agree with, because I feel those are quite obvious. Feel free to ask me if you need clarification or elaboration. The second point, though, can get a little fuzzy. In many cases it can be difficult to directly measure business drivers (ROI, market penetration, brand awareness, sales) from a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Foursquare account, or Twitter feed, as they don’t offer most of the tools needed to adequately measure such drivers or allow you to directly convert a lead into a customer. I regularly speak with and have met many so-called “social media experts” or “gurus” and none of them have been able to show me a concrete way to measure ROI from social media.
And point 4 is completely out of line. If you can’t use an intern to be your social media voice, then you have the wrong intern. A marketing, social media, advertising, or PR intern worth his/her salt should have a grasp on what your brand is, what your company is about, and how to communicate that. If they don’t get at least that much, advise them to pursue a different career path. The reason interns don’t work out for this is not because they are incompetent, lack knowledge, or aren’t capable. The reason is related to the single biggest reason I believe most social media marketing programs fail – people fail to grasp the meaning of social media, namely the word SOCIAL.
Attempts are made in social media to market a company or brand, and there is a tremendous failure to realize that people are social, and most businesses and brands are not. People can’t or don’t want to interact with a logo or with “Business Corp Solutions, LLC.” People want to interact, and interact best, with other people. Social media marketing programs about keeping people engaged and participating. They are about communicating. Communicating not with a company or a logo, but with a representative of that company who is engaging, communicative, facilitating, and most of all, social. Use social people for social media. And if you happen to have an intern who is social, by all means take advantage of that to further your brand. Your intern will enjoy it and you’ll have an engaged, responsive, and active social media following. The results of your social media marketing programs will be more successful.