Social Media: Is It An Opportunity or Perhaps an End?
Sunday, June 19th, 2011With the entire buzz encircling social media marketing and the trappings of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, is digital networking a means to an end – or is it the end itself?
Just ponder on this closer. Numerous millions of marketing bucks traditionally reserved for radio and television have been redirected to the Internet, where the new titans of media stay. Facebook, by way of example, has 500 million users nowadays and according to some estimates, it accounts for 40% of the online traffic all over the world.
Sounds like a pretty good spot to direct a couple of advertising dollars then, right?
Of course it does. And any well-shaped internet marketing strategy for any business, regardless of size, will incorporate the use of social media networking. But once such a company identifies the options that exist in places like Twitter and facebook, does it need to start off shaping a “social media strategy?”
Believe it or not, the answer is no.
Your organization doesn’t have to have a social media strategy – it needs a marketing strategy which uses social media as part of the program.
Put another way, longstanding manufacturers like General Electric, Ford Motor Company and Exxon Mobile all got their start prior to computers or television were ever created. When TV’s and PC’s arrived, you can be assured that successful companies everywhere were considering using the new technology to further improve their marketing campaigns.
But did they drop anything else they were dedicated to in advertising?
Not by a longshot. The truth is, they simply found ways to integrate new media methods into a currently powerful overall marketing strategy. And that’s the way it needs to be for today’s equivalent – social media networking.
Perhaps Mr. Chris Kirubi said it best:
“You don’t have to have a social media strategy. You need a brand strategy that utilizes social media.”
Karubi is the Chairman of Coca Cola Nairobi. We figure he may know a few things about successful incorporation of social media into a currently productive marketing and branding program.
The key downside in all of this is fairly obvious. Social media marketing is really a means to a finish, rather than the end itself.
Does your organization contain social media networking together with its overall marketing strategy? Or is the tail wagging the dog instead?
For more information on Social Media Marketing and its advantages and disadvantages, go visit http://xtiburon.com/category/marketing/.
