Comments on: Social Media Marketing: Is it really worth the effort?

By: rhooda hurwitz

rhooda hurwitz — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:32:58 +0000

Darren,

You laid out the pro’s and con’s really clearly. Helped me understand the issues and cut thru the hype. thanks!

Rhonda

By: Cindy Lindenbaum

Cindy Lindenbaum — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:07:49 +0000

This is the first article I’ve read that outlines the pros vs cons of SMM in a concise, simple, understandable and strategic way. Well done! I especially like your point about “blogs don’t write themselves” – there are many marketers who don’t follow thru (amazingly enough!) after launch of an initiative and expect that a one hit wonder will carry the campaign and fulfill objectives/goals. Then wonder why it didn’t perform. Anyone getting into SMM as another channel for the brand must consider it another level of relationship building with the consumer – continuity and consistency are key and I think will prove itself over time.

Thanks for the food for thought!

By: Patricia Davidson

Patricia Davidson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:25:09 +0000

Hi, I’m in the lifestyle e-retail arena and also run a web directory. I was asked by the BBC to go on Breakfast TV about Twitter, which I did and then started to get hooked.

Twitter has put me in touch with several senior execs in my area, it keeps me in constant contact with retailer I have written about and it is sending a great deal of traffic to my website.

Having spoken to major retailers where Twitter is in the top six of their customer referrals there’s no doubt in my mind that you can’t afford not to be there.

Concerning spam you have to be careful who communicate with and yes, it’s time consuming, but so are most things that are worthwhile.

SMM is without a doubt the new wave – learn how to ride it and it will work for you, bury your head in the sand and you’ll be left behind in the same way that retailers who are still ‘thinking about going online’ have already been.

By: NJorman Levin

NJorman Levin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:42:28 +0000

I feel like an Old World prophet of doom, wearing sackcloth and declaring, “The End is Near”. Social Networking is most of all, “SOCIAL”. I can not see any substantive business increase from Tweeting. Does anyone buy a new soft drink or pair of sneakers because the company that makes it is sending out smm’s? One cute YouTube works dynamically and exponentially because it’s viral (try “spiral”, by the way, which has no negative connotations and which should replace “viral”: remember, you heard it here first – but that’s a whole other smm!). Imagine a tweet that says, “hey, I just got me a new pair of cool Widgetators!” Are you going to buy them if that message came from Widgetators Inc? Twitter is not the Holy Grail, it’s simply new. I wonder if this is not just a case of the emperor’s new clothes.

By: Anne Erasmus

Anne Erasmus — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:28:05 +0000

Just what I needed – thank you! I am presenting a campaign proposal to a prospective client, and wanted to add social media to the mix. Although fairly new to it myself, I am learning daily, and definitely seeing more hits on my website. Although it hasn’t translated into business just yet, I’m working on some ideas to give that side a bit more impetus. Your article puts the pros and cons so simply, I now know exactly what I need to say to this client! Thank you!

By: David Brennan

David Brennan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:35:49 +0000

Interesting post, and I agree with most of it BUT I am disappointed that most of the discussion is about SMM as a separate silo, to be evaluated alongside ‘traditional media’ (whatever THAT means!). Two obvious things to point out – people don’t inherently want to have conversations with brands – conversations with friends are much more fun and satisfying. Secondly, conversations don’t happen in a vacuum – it is activity via push media which often forms both the basis and the context of our brand experiences. But when brands get the integration opportunity, social media can be effectively used to accelerate the buzz and – an often neglected part of the process – as a great research/feedback tool. One excellent example from the UK – Aleksandr the Meerkat – from comparethemarket.com’s TV campaign – has more UK Facebook fans than the leaders of the 3 main political parties combined…but then, that may be more a comment on the state of our political parties!

By: Darren Hughes

Darren Hughes — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:12:17 +0000

Hi Quentin,

Many thanks for your comment. It’s always encouraging to hear how a small business can leverage social media to create success. It’s also great to hear that you are passing on your knowledge, beliefs and your skills to help other business’ make the most of social media marketing.

Looking forward to hearing other success stories.

Regards, Darren

By: Quentin

Quentin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:02:43 +0000

I started a new business marketing site on the 19th of May 2009 and by just posting and using Social marketing I am now getting over 100 visitors a day and have a page rank of 3.

This is just over 6 weeks so whether you think it works or not the proof is in the results.

We help small to medium sized businesses do the same and their results are the same.

Now we have very limited resources and started this as a test to see if it would work. The secret is really about adding content and not getting to hung up with the fad side of things.

Once you create the content get it out there through all the mediums available. It is your digital real estate.

Its not about doing a lot but doing a little each day. We teach our clients to post every second day and then promote every other day. There are so many great tools for businesses to automate much of this that time should be only say 1 hr a day to get great results.

Que

By: John Blossom

John Blossom — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:54:27 +0000

Lauren,

Good points, especially about having poor quality products and services. People are talking about them anyway, so you had best learn to listen to social media. It’s your customers, after all.

The ROI on social media can be a powerful argument for using it to reach highly targeted markets more cost effectively. In the long run, of course, this puts pressure on mass-market brands that then have to compete more with niche brands and marketers that can use social media effectively. Perhaps that’s the way it should be.

By: Lauren Lekai

Lauren Lekai — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:26:15 +0000

I appreciate many of your points especially that social networking will not work for companies producing poor quality products and services. Your customers will clobber you! Which brings up the concept that in this new marketing environment, Web 2.0, companies’ true colors will be exposed. This is good news for the consumer and companies who consistently deliver great products and services.

Another point you bring up is that it’s important to consider exactly who you’re looking to target, how you’re going to target them, what you’re hoping to achieve and how you will measure success.

We have an SEO method using video that generates targeted leads on the web using a very specific process that embraces Social Media Marketing. Why pay for TV commercials that are shown infrequently, are expensive, when you can have your videos, podcasts, etc. available 24/7 as your highly effective sales force that reaches your targeted audience where, when and how “they”, not the TV station, decides. This is so new that I have not updated our website…hope to make progress this weekend. Anyone else notice that there are not enough hours in the day?