Social Media Isn't Free - A Rant
So I've been catching a lot of grief lately, particularly from my associates in the social media consulting industry. They're telling me that my recent posts and twitter comments make it seem as if I'm against social media for business usage. Nothing could be further from the truth.
However, lately I've been inundated with spiels touting the "ROI" of social media, and in virtually all of them they represent social media activities like twitter, facebook, etc. as being free. Free?
Let's get a couple of things straight right off the bat.
Nothing you do in your business is free. I don't care if you are a multinational company or a one-man basement operation, your time has a value. I disagree with the old saying however that "Time is Money", it should be "Time is Potential".
Let's take an activity like twitter. It's a free medium to use right? But, where did the time come from to use it? Where are your marketers stealing time from so that they can be active on twitter? What was the value of that other activity? Was someone hired to cover that function? And hopefully you didn't just jump on twitter and start typing right? Hopefully you spent *time* planning your usage, your tone of voice, your objectives, individuals responsible, usage guidelines, etc. Hopefully you established tracking mechanisms and baselines ahead of time so that you can actually prove that what you're doing is worthwhile? Oh yeah, you may need other content to push people towards as well, you know, something of value that makes following you worthwhile. Guess you'll need to go spend time digging that up as well and forming opinions around it.
Wait, this is starting to sound an awful lot like traditional marketing planning isn't it? Do you consider all of that time free? Ah yes, but let's not forget, unlike a traditional marketing campaign this one will never end, and it's done in realtime. You won't have 3 revision cycles for getting your copy just right, one big screwup here and you could cost the company bigtime. Oh, did I just say cost? There can be quite a bit of it buried in there. In larger companies it can be even more disruptive because these organizations are used to outsourcing much of the advertising and marketing spend and focusing instead on big picture program management...but social media is more likely to be kept in house and some of those big picture roles are going to end up doing very hands on tactical work.
I'm not a fear mongerer, but I'm also not going to make ridiculous pitches to my clients telling them that these things are free simply so that I can make it easier to display a "ROI". Website traffic, brand mentions, positive reviews, etc. are all wonderful things. But they are NOT a return on investment, they are the *potential* for ROI. Social media sits somewhere between the traditional worlds of advertising and marketing. Advertising is generally about creating potential, Marketing is generally about realizing that potential through some call to action. Social media can play in both worlds, but be sure your client understands what they are buying and more importantly, its true cost. The only way to do that however is to build a platform to truly measure its effectiveness, and that scares the hell out of some consultants. If you're one of those I suggest you either get over it and become confident in your ability to deliver for your client or get the hell out.
Harsh? Maybe. But consultants making these quick sales based on poor upfront strategies and preparation will only serve to produce failed executions. Those failures will cause organizations to doubt the power of social media, and especially doubt those consultants who are espousing it. And that dear reader can do nothing but harm to those real consultants out there trying only to do best by their clients. So am I against social media for business use? Of course not. I'm against the current vagueness surrounding social media being used to exploit businesses for a quick buck, or inexperienced parties calling themselves experts in social media yet not having an ounce of business strategy in their backgrounds. Understanding what something is, does not mean you understand how best to apply it.
Soapbox surrendered, you can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Matt Ridings - @techguerilla
2 Comments
People are obviously confusing the concept of free media with the notion that everything that goes into obtaining “coverage” is free. But it’s not all that complicated to explain. Social media marketing is essentially based upon the same business model that public relations always has been. It’s about “earning” mentions by building relationships and having a worthwhile story to tell (and hopefully repeat). The media is free. The time to make it happen is not.
The big difference between social media and traditional PR is that the tools and platforms have made marketing more DIY and scalable for small businesses and internal communications departments. You can dip your toe in the SoMe water a little bit at a time and build up slowly. You no longer need a PR firm with a finely tuned press list. But you DO still need many of the same skill sets PR pros have. Unless you’re a natural. And a few people are.
@CarriBugbee
Social profiles: CarriBugbee.com
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