Brands struggling with social media

The Internet has had a bigger effect on communication than any other technology including       TV.  However marketers are continuing to struggle with the Web because it’s still evolving and requires more resources than just a few people sitting in front of their computers entering some lines of code.   

There is a lot of money that is being wasted by brands in online marketing because they are taking short cuts or they don’t understand digital marketing.  Even today, some corporate websites still suffer from online brochure syndrome and very few marketers actually know the ROI of their search marketing efforts.

When it comes to social media the two-way nature of conversations in social media channels presents a fundamental shift in how companies communicate with their customers. Now they can talk back to you. Nothing in the history of marketing has let us consumers communicate with our favorite brands in so public a manner.

This is the part that freaks out a lot of businesspeople: the idea that their customers can and already are talking about them. They can’t quite get comfortable with that idea, and will hide from, squash, ignore, abuse, or even sue the people who do it, because they’re so afraid of the power their customers have.

Social media didn’t change marketing from a monologue to a dialogue—it changed it to a multilogue. Now, companies can talk to customers and customers to companies, but customers can also talk to other customers, prospects, and the public in general.

Online marketing is no longer in its infancy. It would be premature to call it fully matured—online marketing, like all other marketing channels, is still evolving and will continue to do so for years to come.

You can’t treat online marketing like TV, newspapers, or billboards. More is not better and you can’t and shouldn’t use off line metrics like impression and reach to measure online marketing.

When it comes to social media the biggest challenge facing marketers is that they don’t have the resources to both implement social media and measure it.  I would also argue that too many are too busy preparing Power Point‘s on what to measure than actually measuring it.

Another study indicates that marketers don’t even understand what it means when someone like their Facebook page.  When people like pages on Facebook, they expect exclusive offers and timely customer support, but they consider themselves loyal customers and are not as interested in a brand’s content as marketers think they are, according to research from The CMO Council.

According to the report, 57% of marketers surveyed believe when a customer likes their page, it means their content is agreeable. Only 30% of consumers indicated they like brands on Facebook because of the content they share. Marketers seem less assured of fans’ loyalty, with only 24% of survey participants believing people like their pages because they are loyal customers. But 49% of consumers surveyed said they liked brands for that same reason.

The study also revealed some expectations people have about interacting with companies through social media. Fans expect to be eligible for exclusive offers, likely because they consider themselves loyal customers. They also expect “great customer support” and answers within 24 hours.

Sorry for the long post but these trends are disturbing because they all can be easily corrected with resources and people who understand Internet marketing while also having business savvy.  Too many brand treat digital marketing like an “in house agency” but digital marketing has to be fully integrated if it’s to work and provide a great brand experience for customers.