You’ve probably seen it before. You’re going along minding your own business when you read a book or a blog post that says something like,
“…some ways in which you can convince the management team to reduce traditional marketing.” from Hubspot
or maybe you read this post by Scott Stratten where he notes that before questioning the ROI of social media, the ROI of other more traditional aspects of marketing should be questioned.
Or maybe you read Likeable Media like I did and had a similar feeling that there was a set up dichotomy between Social Media and traditional marketing.
Whatever the case, you’ve almost certainly encountered the idea that with the onslaught of social media, you really don’t need to do anything else. Traditional media is either dead, too costly, out of touch with the 21st century, or any number of other colorful descriptions.
Of course, the problem is that killing off everything except social media can create rather huge problems for your company.
The message you stop sending
Let’s talk about advertising first. A lot of people who are social media evangelists have a field day attacking advertising. Take, for example, this infographic called “Stop Advertising, Stop Doing.” Lots of undercurrents to that message, huh? Then of course there are the arguments about how advertising is too expensive, it can’t be tracked, it doesn’t work, blah blah blah.
Factually, advertising can be pinned down rather accurately if you know what you’re doing. Using a publication that has an audited circulation can tell you what job positions and industries you’re reaching, how many people are actually requesting the publication, and more. An effective ad tracking device will assist you in filtering leads down even further. You just have to know what you’re doing.
But let’s talk about what happens when you stop advertising.
Let’s say you’ve been advertising six times a year in the same publication for years and years. Suddenly you pull the plug completely because you’re doing the Twitters now. Let’s say you’re doing this while the economy is shaky (like it has been for the last 5 years, say). What are your competitors and customers likely to think? Even if they notice you’re doing more in social media, it’s going to be easy to think that you have made that move because you’re short on cash. Is that a good message to send out? Couldn’t that cause your social media presence to be tinged with a bit of shade?
I think so.
By the way, one might note that this exact same logic applies to other traditional marketing tactics. What if you suddenly don’t show up at a trade show you’ve gone to for years? What if you suddenly stop producing the really high quality pieces of literature your company has committed itself to in the past? It doesn’t matter what you’re doing on social media if your audience is used to finding you in these channels. If you abandon them without warning, they can only assume that the tough times got to you.
That’s letting PR get out of control in a bad way.
The possibilities for integration are endless
The really sad thing, as I’ve mentioned many times here, is that the possibilities for how to integrate traditional media and social media are almost endless. We are just at the beginning of exploring the possibilities. Television ads are leading to Facebook pages. Print ads are promoting Twitter hashtags. QR codes are leading to YouTube channels which lead to a blog. All of these tactics can be braided in different and exciting ways to create really interesting new marketing campaigns for your company and/or brand.
If we keep painting a this/that, black/white choice between traditional marketing and social media marketing, and particularly if we continue to do so while maintaining that social media has no measurable ROI, companies are going to find themselves in really big trouble, and they may not have the first clue how they got there. That might sound severe, but I believe it 100%. Everything in marketing is measurable. Everything has an ROI. If nothing you are doing seems measurable or if nothing you are doing seems to have a good ROI, social media will not be the silver bullet you’re looking for.
Your thoughts?
Of course, this is just how I see it. What’s your take on whether social media is all you need these days? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlieeclark/5985024438/ via Creative Commons
Margie, it is my most fervent wish that all my company’s competitors buy into this silliness. So please do me a favor: stop mythbusting! The more my competition spends on social, the easier my job becomes.
@Bob James Sorry Bob. Don’t mean to work against you. I’ll keep it a secret from all of YOUR prospects. I promise 🙂
Marketing is like good cooking. The ingredients can come together to create flavorful and satisfying combinations. Ignoring traditional, classic techniques will produce culinary duds that, while filling, won’t be very memorable.
@BobReed Great analogy, Bob, and well said. I couldn’t agree with you more!
Totally agree Margie! If you really think about about, social media is a form of advertising. “Smart” marketers integrate offline and online campaigns, using similar keyword to build brand recognition. If the push is to decrease traditional marketing efforts, then brands should (like most already are) mention their social profiles. But yes, cutting off traditional advertising all together is not the smartest move.
@AndreeaC_T Right. I’m not really sure why we live in such a “this or that” world these days. Life (and marketing) gets interesting when you look at that broad area of grey. Of mixture. Of “this AND that.” It’s a whole new world (apparently)!
“It’s all high school” la la la!!
That is what strikes me, Margie. If you aren’t “doing” the new best thing, AND trashing the old, well, you are doing it wrong… Right? Hmpf.
Wrong.
I work on this “stuff”…our business, our lives, for probably an average of 90 hours a week. (Yeah, I know, I’m a slacker) All I want is for it to work. What ever it is, just work. MAC? Do your job. Band width (so I can get online), have enough for me to do my job. Wireless? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Work. Work. Work!
I liked going to the Sport shows, but ya know what? They were obscenely expensive. Magazines and TV? Camera men are a HUGE pain in the nether regions. Interview, interview, interview, fugelsnot. (Can’t people just shush?) Our presence on line? LOTS of time and juggling. I am willing to do it all, I am willing to give it all.
Keep on, keeping on…that is what I mumble to myself as my butt falls asleep sitting in front of my computer…AGAIN. There are always people who are gonna want to squash you if you are doing it right, wrong or sideways. Sounds like high school.
@girlygrizzly I’m so glad I created the word fugelsnot for you. Turns out it has come in quite handy.
It is kind of like high school now that you mention it. “Oh my gosh Becky. She is totally not doing as much social media as us. What a loser.” Gosh, that just makes it even more depressing! Thanks a lot, fugelsnot! (see that rhymes!) 🙂
If I stopped doing community networking and relationship building I’d be sunk. Social media is NOT the end all be all, nor does it have to be. Not so odd is that those who proclaim that social media is all that, are people who make their money consulting and selling social media. So there you go. Know your source.
@susangiurleo that’s true, but even if you make money on social media, does that really mean that people can’t *also* do other things? In fact, I think people could really differentiate themselves these days by making suggestions on how to creatively combine different marketing tactics. That would make them *more* money. Cuz, ya know…more platforms, more advice to give…ya know? …… 🙂
margieclayman Thought provoking post – I like when I see”traditional” advertising integrated with social media. The branding looks more professional and cohesive. I wouldn’t get rid of any form of marketing/advertising – but times are a changing and so must our views on how we market. Thanks again for your post.
@TanyaLavoie Thanks Tanya. It can look professional and cohesive if there is actually a plan behind it. One must make sure that the social media hand is giving the same signals as the traditional marketing hand. Otherwise you can end up with a big ole marketing mess. But yes, generally, if you do it right it shows a modicum of thought, which is always nice to see 🙂
Margie, I agree with other commenters. The only thing I’ll add is always always always start with target audience and never with the tool. Let the audience dictate the tools, processes, words and so on.
@JoelFortner Yep, it’s the people, not the platform. 100%.
Social Media is just another aspect of marketing. Why people believe social media needs to be a stand alone aspect of business development is foolish. Entrepreneurs who are making money out of the social media bandwagon have a vested interest. They make a living from promoting social media. However when you take away all the sound bites and really listen as in listen you will see they don’t advocate it as stand alone process. Advertising is also another element of the marketing mix. Business theory and practice changes constantly if it did not there would be no new products, services or perspectives. You can measure anything except insight without insight allied with understanding and knowledge people are unable to identify what they should be measuring. ROI is one of those concepts that people like to voice that they understand. The reality is different. Experienced marketeers get it wrong constantly. It is comical to see and hear some of the social media comments. The truth is businesses and specialisms will always go through transitions and phases and social media is just one of those phases until it has been fully incorporated into business culture there will be people who cannot see the wood for the trees and even then it may be debatable if some of them ever will. 😛
@Grit08 Kenny! So nice to see you hear, m’friend!
Yeah, I think that social media is heading to a place where it becomes more like a phone and less like a silver bullet. I hope we are heading that way anyway. Maybe my hope for that change is making me see things. It wouldn’t be the first time 🙂
@margieclayman No you are definitely not seeing things. You are way to smart and insightful.
You know how to generate a conversation, communicate a viewpoint and interpret the insight to form a systems theory approach to data aggregation . 🙂
You get me in that last sentence. I am starting to sound like a social media consultant. 🙂
Big data gives people a false sense that they are in control. Being able to see what people “do” on social media channels as opposed to where they linger in newspapers, magazines, direct mail gives marketers a false sense that they know SoMe has more impact. Lack of evidence of engagement is not proof of a lack of engagement. This short piece on Lululemon http://www.iccds.com/lululemon-it-cant-be-that-simple.html summarizes a recent WSJ article on them. If you watch the video, you can see and hear the arrogance of the “experts.”
When people talk about new technologies killing off old ones, it is a bit stupid. All they need do is take a look around them. Old technologies exist alongside new one everywhere.. Right now, I have a paper journal, a pencil, a few DVDs, a ZIP Disk (!), post-it notes, a MacBook Air and iPhone sitting on my desk a this very moment. I use all these tools. Go out into the world and you will see modern glass and steel buildings existing perfectly fine with stone buildings on cobblestone streets. Nowhere is this more evident than in older cities in Europe where buildings that have stood for hundreds and hundreds of years co-exist perfectly with cars outfitted with GPS units.
Here is the simple litmus test for why I think anyone who predicts the future or declares this or that old technology dead: http://www.dogwalkblog.com/how-i-know-anyone-who-predicts-the-future-will-be-wrong.html
@dogwalkblog Great point, Rufus. Video didn’t really kill the radio star. The internet didn’t really kill phones. Heck, there are still people who ride around in horse and buggy. It just all comes back to that “this or that” attitude that seems omnipresent across all society. Why can’t we hold more than one idea in our heads? It’s baffling!
Margie, what strikes me about the “X is dead” perspectives is it always seems to come back to two points:
1) The cost of X.
2) The limited visibility into results from X.
As you point out, visibility into results is, in part, a factor of knowing how to track traditional media. The other side of this coin is that digital and social media don’t necessarily provide great insights into real business results. Most digital reporting connects activity (clicks, tweets, etc) to activity (purchases, leads, …). Unfortunately, it doesn’t establish cause or get to lift. Those are much harder to measure, are far closer to a measurement of the business impact, and are more commonly used in traditional (ie the hard to measure) media. You can do it in digital and social too, but it isn’t easy.
The cost arguments have some merit today, but are mostly fleeting. When new channels emerge, they frequently don’t get the investment they potentially deserve. Marketers are reactive, they wait for their audience to move. Marketers that can move quickly can get a brief cost advantage. But media and marketing are about return and the return is, in part, a function of those media costs. If social media is really more cost effective, the costs will come back into alignment over time, and then the next “new” thing will all of a sudden be the cheaper option!
Alright, a mini-rant and nearly a blog post, I’ll wrap up at that! 🙂
@Wittlake Gosh darn it. I hate it when my readers write the post better than I did!! You should flesh this out into a full post of your own though, sir. I think you make much better points than I did on a deeper level. Thanks for commenting!
Hey there! Thanks for the link to my blog. In no way have I ever said that we should stop marketing in other areas though. I actual think social media isn’t really a good place at all to market on behalf of a brand. Social is a great place to build a network and have others talk about your brand.
@UnMarketing Thanks for clarifying and coming by, Scott. Your book kind of made it seem like you favored social media marketing over other platforms, so that kind of colored my comments!