Francois Gossieaux is pointing out over in Emergence Marketing a new study by the Marketing Executives Networking Group that many marketing executives are done with hearing about “Web 2.0″ and are now turning back to traditional marketing strategies and tactics. I can’t access the study, but it’s a great read because Francois directly explains why he thinks this is happening.
He states that “Many web 2.0 programs are not connected to core marketing business processes and are not measured the same way as you would measure the impact of any other program on those processes. And when the economy hits the skids, the first things to go are those with soft returns or those that fall outside of the core business needs.”
He’s right. And he blames this on two factors. One is “bad advice”. Meaning half-assed consulting from so-called social media “experts” who aren’t experts at all. It’s basically fault-laden advice given by traditional agenices that don’t know what they’re talking about. They’ve created social media capabilities that probably have no voice. Instead, tradtional marketing tactics are shoved down social media channels.
I wrote a whole series on this a while back. How Social Media Will Get Screwed. Most marketing execs come out of traditional backgrounds. They work mostly with traditional agencies that have yet to develop social media capabilities. Or if the agenies do have capabilities, it is haphazard…hiring someone “young” to handle the shoving of traditional tactics down social media channels.
From my standpoint, these agencies – and their respective marketing execs in companies – are causing great harm to social media. The agencies don’t know what they’re doing, they lie and say they do, they try to protect ad dollars by keeping the budgets coming to them, they do things wrongly and “on the cheap”, and then they are ineffective.
Ignorance kills business.
At this point, Francois’ second point kicks in. Fear. Marketing execs are afraid of the unknown and afraid of admitting that they don’t know what they’re doing. So the easy thing to do is say you’re frustrated with social media and it’s hype and then take out the scapel in budget cutting time.
Most senior marketers have to use strategies and tactics that they know can produce…or at least know that they’ve produced in the past. They also don’t want to appear to not understand current trends. They also don’t want to let go of control. Fear is forming a perfect storm against social media.
Fear kills business.
