For me, the most significant development is that brands have already discovered it, be they social networks, blogging or micro-blogging. That said, while social media may be deployed, I don’t believe it is anywhere near the point of being embraced as a core, every day marketing vehicle. While many brands are using these social media platforms, many are not. Most brands are still too afraid to try something new or risk being in an uncontrolled environment, and those that do usually treat it as “experimental” instead of mainstream.
We won’t achieve “embraced” status until brands allocate their media spend to the levels that their customers allocate their media consumption time: first, with the internet getting the allocation of overall ad dollars proportionate to time spent online; and second, with social media allocated the ad dollars within the online media budget that is proportionate to time spent social networking, reading blogs etc.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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I agree! We are just at the beginning stages of companies embracing social media as a core marketing tool. With the way it has grown in just a short period of time, I expect that it will be more mainstream in the near future. Consumers have a new voice because of social media, and I think companies are realizing its importance more and more.
ReplyDeleteActually, that fear of UGC is pretty healthy. I think it's more appropriate to say that brands need to find ways to work with UGC and social media in a way that's tempered by this fear.
ReplyDeleteActually, that fear of UGC is pretty healthy. I think it's more appropriate to say that brands need to find ways to work with UGC and social media in a way that's tempered by this fear.
ReplyDeleteTo your point, managers would do well to discover where their brands are already (unwittingly?) engaging with consumers via embedding in UGC, and capitalize on those experiences.