I’ve spent years listening to clients who want me to help them with social media. And, across brand after brand, time after time, Id try to ask them about what their marketing strategy was, so I could tell them how social can fit in. I finally gave up asking that, because I found that what they really wanted was (pick one) a Facebook fan page/Twitter handle/blog/something even dumber. It’s not to say that every client was clueless about marketing strategy. Many in fact, especially the larger ones, could indeed answer the question. But then they circled right back to asking me if we could put up a Facebook fan page. But, recently, I’ve seen a growing change.
Social media marketing just might be growing up.
Three separate clients this week started a discussion on social media strategy with their outcomes. “We want to increase registrations on our paid content” or “We want an increase in buyers for this product” or something equally strategic. (My heart nearly fluttered as each one spoke.)
This has been coming for a while, but I am now seeing a strong change in conversation about social media marketing. It doesn’t make sense to try to increase your Facebook fans if you aren’t going to do anything for them–and if you can’t find any way for your fans to spend more with you.
It’s not always easy, and Lord knows there are numerous brands where social media isn’t measurable in any stronger way than TV advertising–can you show that surveyed brand awareness went up? If you’re Coca-Cola or Skittles or any number of brands that have smart social media presence to raise brand awareness, that’s fine.
But most companies can make a more direct tie to revenue–online or offline–and they haven’t been doing it. Until now. More and more, I am seeing the same approaches e-Commerce companies have used for years starting to show up in many other places–even B2B companies that once were fairly unsophisticated about almost any kind of marketing.
Direct marketers rejoice! Now it is time to be more social.
