Is Social Media Marketing Necessary?

I confess that when Twitter first made the scene, I personally could not understand its importance as a marketing tool. Fortunately, my agency’s Web 2.0 marketing team did “get it”. This is because they had been implementing social media strategies for our clients before it was popular and saw the possibilities Twitter offered to marketers long before I did. Now I “get it” too.

According to Forrester Research, social media marketing is projected to grow at an annual rate of 34% in 2010, faster than any other form of online marketing. A recent eMarketer study found that the Fortune 500 companies that are not using social media dropped dramatically – from 43% to 9% last year.

However, many marketers, especially at smaller companies or larger, more conservative establishments, are still wrestling with how exactly to use social media to help them meet their marketing goals. To make things even more confusing, although 75% of Fortune 1000 companies have implemented an online social media program for marketing or CRM purposes, at least 50% of those campaigns will fail to produce the results expected, according to Adam Sarner, an analyst with market research firm Gartner.

As marketers start seeing weak or non-existent results, they will either give up on this tactic entirely because it “doesn't work” or they will start looking for partners to help them navigate through this channel if they haven't been completely turned off.

If marketers decide to engage a partner, but don’t really understand what social media marketing can and cannot do for them, they can easily fall prey to agencies who claim to be fully Web 2.0 literate, but actually have no idea what the latest trends are, how develop a social media strategy, or how to measure and track results from it. Given that social media and the Web 2.0 landscape is constantly changing, it is essential full-service advertising agencies are either staffed with experts who understand how to integrate social media strategies into clients’ marketing communications plans or who have partners that do. Smart marketing communications vendors will also have developed mechanisms for measuring results from these types of campaigns.

Social media marketing, done correctly, can provide important metrics, such as numbers of new users, unique visits, page views and time spent on the site as well as providing marketing research opportunities such as opinion polling. It can also be used for direct marketing. For example, LinkedIn recently launched “Faceted Search” a new feature that makes it easier for marketers to reach out and engage specific market segments. Twitter's microblogging service is developing a feature that will link individuals to various brand websites allowing them to contribute to the discussion. Social media features that work to support marketing efforts are constantly evolving.

Marketers searching for social media marketing partners need to choose wisely. I'm sorry to report that there are ad agency sharks who will take advantage of advertising and marketing managers who believe they need to invest in social media marketing because "everyone else is doing it", but who really don't understand its role as part of an integrated marketing communications strategy. Marketers who get taken in by these shark types are likely to get less than optimal results.

In addition, marketers sometimes make the mistake of expecting the agency partner to provide all of the content for their social media outlets, or they assign a low-level person at the company to do this. The best content will come from brand stakeholders at the company who know and understand the brand attributes and the principals of creating a strong level of engagement between potential customers and the brand.

The most effective way to employ a marketing communications partner is to have them create the social media marketing strategy based on marketing goals, business challenges and target audiences. Advertising agency partners are best utilized as trusted advisers who work closely with a company's internal social media manager to provide strategic direction, analyse results and help optimize the programs.

It should also be noted that social media marketing may not work for every brand and target audience. Social media strategies that work well to engage and motivate one group, may be totally ineffective for another. The best marketing approach is always going to be the one that will be most likely to generate the results desired by the marketer. Tactics should be developed based on the marketer's goals and take into consideration budget, target audience, geotarget, timing etc.

To remain relevant, marketing and advertising agencies need to make an effort to learn and understand when and how to use new media tools effectively and when not to pitch social media as part of an integrated marketing communications plan. They also need to be ready and willing to educate clients and prospective clients on best practices for the medium.