brandcottage
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Congratulations Sean! Really an exciting brand and opportunity.
@dannybrown I'm also getting worn down by people who built their twitter following with good content and now have basically become brand spokespeople and every tweet is a promotion for a different brand. This feels like bait and switch.
@AmyMccTobin I guess my point is you can't have it both ways. Play by the same rules. And act like grownups for chrissake.
For all the preaching that is directed at Brands about what to do and not do with social media, I find it hypocritical to see Personal Brands (especially SM people) expecting a different set of rules. The SM "experts" who attack Brands when Brands over promote or use trending hashtags to get in the conversation, should follow the same rules for their respective twitter feeds.
If a Personal Brand does not live by the same rules of the corporate Brands (trying not to over promote products/deals, over -using advocacy hashtags, using news trends for self promotion) then maybe the entire notion of Personal "Branding" is of little real merit. Maybe people really shouldn't be Brands.
@fhuszar it has taken 40+ years for Brand Marketers (I'm talking national sophisticated consumer brands) to get the deep learning they have to use TV advertising with optimal effect. TV works and we have volumes of ROI tracking and data to keep us investing more, even though alot of digital people like to claim TV is dead for marketers....which is furthest thing from the truth. Social media is in its infancy and I applaud any researcher for trying to develop credible and reliable tools to help brands connect with consumers in meaningful ways. All of these tools will evolve and get better. I agree it's far too easy for people to criticize what is lacking instead of helping to improve and innovate to the next level. Most brands are pretty damn smart and are willing to test and invest. They also kill iniatives quickly if they don't bear fruit.
Bingo Sam: "I’m talking about the power to influence the purchase decision of a prospect, not the power to amplify a generic message to a loosely identified group of people."
In our work with Brands, what they consider to be "influencers" are not random noise makers; but rather, brands want to find their "top customers who are vocal on social". Those people are true evangelists for the brands. When I see a social media heavy users pimp every brand that gives them any incentive, it's a total turn off. Eventually, credibility is an issue. Most brands are interested in buyers, not just random likes and followers. Look forward to reading the book.
Thanks Andrew for stopping by! I appreciate your comments. Twitter is becoming a true search force. Same thing is true for YouTube. It’s important for marketers to realize that social content can drive a lot of search results. Also, engaging with customers is key to keeping them interested.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Patricia
Thank you Gary! I'm always learning from you! Happy New Year.
Thanks for writing this Sam. It's true marketing budgets are often the first to go. In my experience, this is often because marketing accounts for a large percent of budget and is easier to cut than human resources or some other fixed expense. Marketing budgets are highly flexible and can be short term vs. long term. The biggest shifts in budget are often to short lead, easy to cancel iniatives like digital and social versus longer commitments like sponsorship, print, TV, etc. Regardless, marketing spend cuts are one of the biggest indicators of economic troubles ahead.
Thanks for writing this post. I studied journalism almost 20 years ago and have been working in media for almost as long. My son is now an aspiring journalist in college. My belief is that fundamentally a journalist's role is to report an unbiased view of information and to keep check on those in power to ensure they don't misuse power against those who have less power. This is the foundation of a free press. This was something our founding fathers believed in strongly, especially Thomas Jefferson. Freedom of the Press is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and is vital to our country. I believe it will be around forever, albeit in different forms. I think citizen journalism has its place (reporting first hand accounts) but it does not displace a professional journalists' abilities to report with facts, balance, and perspective.
Cable networks have watered-down journalism by becoming biased and admittedly so. The press has always been liberal. I have met very few conservative reporters in my years in the industry. Fox News came about in response to this left-leaning media marketplace. Not all media is journalism. Much of it is entertainment, debate, conversation, stated points of view. But true journalism is UNBIASED, BALANCED, and FACTUAL.
Enjoyed the post Sam.
In my business, we have marketing clients who, for the most part. are classically trained and well-versed in research disciplines. The challenge for them is finding the comparable currencies in which to measure social media nad digital as they've developed for other media and marketing metrics. It took 10 years to truly understand how TV impacts sales and profits and social media metrics will not be defined overnight. There is still much to be learned and tested.
I agree with you tthere are far too many "new marketing experts" who frankly are not marketers at all. Tweeting and blogging does not make a marketer. 300,000 twitter followers does not make someone a social media expert.
Sophisticated clients know this and will vet people they hire. In the wort cases, they will get burned but will quickly figure it out. Buyer beware.
Ben Kunz. So true. CMO's care deeply about media channels. Somehow creative departments still think creative is all that matters. Media, budget, ROI ...how well we engage with consumers....those are the biggest questions from CMOs.
Love this Jay! Real customers who advocate for the Brand are the only advocates that can truly influence.
The exception might be in the teen market where celebrity endorsement has long proven successful.
Another movement that seems a bit disturbing at the most and disheartening at the least are influencers who tweet about almost anything. At the end of the day, consumers (not just the insular twitterati community) see through this shallow brand "advocacy". These so called "influencers" lose credibility very quickly. Reach means nothing if the message is diluted by promoting a lot of difference brands.
As the old sayng goes: buyer beware.
Thanks for writing this great blog post. It is spot on.
I give free advice often and enjoy helping others. The key is to know your boundaries and when "advice" crosses the line to actual "work". I think it's very important to share with others. It's one of the best ways to build a relationship beyond just looking for a quick cash payout.
I have gotten so much advice over the years but never asked anyone to work for free. If someone asks me to do something I normally get paid to do, I try and give them a taste of an approach, without giving them the whole plan. Surprisingly, they almost always decide to work with us an pay for the plan.
Your honesty and vulnerability are very endearing and frankly very rare. You stand far taller than most people in the world.Hope we have a real life meet-up someday. Also, I am thrilled my son is going to college in the midwest. I LOVE the values of people in the midwest. You represent those very well Ms. Margie. xoxo
Bruce, I will share these with my son, who is my first child to go off to college in August. You provide some great wisdom here, I've tried to instill some into him as well. I believe a lot of kids today have not been allowed to fail and therefore have not been allowed to learn some of life's most important lessons. I certainly don't want my kid to fail at the big stuff, but I encourage my kids to make choices and live with consequences. We are only guiders now. The path belongs to them. My husband and I have provided a beacon of light for him and now he has to chart his course.
Godspeed.
Many people who are working with larger brands do not have hours to spend online bashing other people.They are busy working. That's my observation. While the social media "gurus" were debating how Ogilvy PR would handle the Koman situation, Ogilvy was busy handling it. It's Ogilvy. They are not amateurs by any stretch. It's like anything in life: taking the high road is always the best road. The work will speak for itself.
girlygrizzly Thank you. Interesting subject.
douglaserice when the act requiring forgiveness is large and the pain caused the victim deep, it is extremely hard to forgive. I would argue in those cases forgiveness is not handed out easily. It takes work, time, and an amazing will. And more times than not , reguires the person asking for forgiveness to earn it over time.
Dr Petit told Oprah that it is impossible to forgive the men who killed his family.
'I don't think you can forgive ultimate evil', he said.'You can forgive somebody who stole your car. You can forgive somebody who slapped you in the face. You can forgive somebody who insulted you. You can forgive somebody who caused an accident. I think forgiving the essence of evil is not appropriate.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337167/Connecticut-home-invasion-survivor-Dr-William-Petit-talks-Oprah-Winfrey.html#ixzz1kOzfpklt
How would you feel if you went to sleep one night and two evil men broke in your house, raped and murdered your wife and kids?
Margie, maybe there are some crimes just too horrible to forgive. But maybe through working on forgiveness (if the other party works on earning it) is the only real path to healing oneself.
Then forgiveness would be worth the price. A chance at a peaceful life.