Social Media Advertising - Where does the trend go next?

I have become a great fan of the social media advertising phenomenon as a business tool. I have the good fortune to speak to a lot of business people and organization representatives about their marketing goals for the future. “Visibility” is always in the top three and more often than not, the number one objective.

As we in the business community are not Hollywood Stars, where “any publicity is good publicity” it is imperative that we exert well-thought-out control over the methods and ‘success’ of our visibility campaigns. In our efforts to go from relative obscurity in the business community to “well known-well thought of-well recommended”, it is important to move carefully along the World Wide Web information highway. That doesn’t necessarily mean slowly, it just means carefully.

Although Social Media Marketing may be around for a long time, this “phase” of visibility marketing will likely have a measurable effective lifespan similar to “faxing”, “direct mail”, “billboards” , “bus bench ads” , “door hangers” , “guerrillas waving a sign on the street corner”, “skywriting”, “emailing” , etc. We have seen many of these come into vogue and go out of vogue in our lifetime.

I recommend using the same value vs. investment evaluation criteria in Social Media Advertising for your organization using the personal and professional experience you have from the previous “hot new ways to market” campaigns.

* How do you feel about getting spammed with a multitude of emails? Are you impressed and now ready to buy?

* Do even have a fax machine/number anymore? When was the last time you sent or received a fax on a separate machine, not on your computer?

* Quick, when was the last time you saw a bus bench ad and what did it say? Could you or did you contact that organization for their services or product? Could you see and retain the message and contact information as you drove by?

* Do you give considerate thought and value to unrequested direct mail pieces or does it go in the handiest round file?

* When was the last time you saw a skywriter message that wasn't Jeff asking Sally to marry him?

* After about the third time you see a new billboard ad on your regular commute, do you even notice it anymore?

* How much profit did you realize from your last direct mail campaign? Did you measure it?

Do you even know how to measure Return On Investment in any advertising campaign? Before you hire someone or invest resources (TIME - being the most valuable) in a Social Media Advertising campaign ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the hard cost (count your/or employee hourly wage/value) for time and dollars invested? Does Facebook suck your time away like a bad gambling habit?

2. How do you put a ROI (Return on Investment) measuring tool in place?

3. When do you expect a return? How much is enough to justify your efforts?

4. Where do you focus your marketing efforts? There are lots of choices and trends change with the wind.

5. Why are you even doing this? Do you think this is magic and marketing miracles will happen if you just sprinkle enough magic dust on the web? Did your other media advertising campaigns succeed or fail? Why? Why did you stop? Was it operator error through failed planning (why would web marking be any different?) or did the medium wane in the eyes of the consumer?

The point is, all these marketing mediums had their day as the current and most cost-effective means of creating visibility and driving revenue for your project, campaign, business or organization. Even proactive emailing and texting, although current and relatively inexpensive vs. direct mail or billboards, are running into legal and effectiveness roadblocks and are losing value.

The social marketing advertising curve is still going up. History, however, indicates the current version of social marketing and advertising will have its day and eventually wane in the face of a newer magical "hula hoop" of marketing.

I am not recommending that you not jump on Social Media marketing and advertising bandwagon now, but to use it wisely and measure its value vs. your irreplaceable time and expendable resources.

I suggest that social media advertising, is not the miracle "solution" to gaining long term visibility no more than the "hot trends of the past" faxing or bus bench advertising were.

There is no substitute for creativity, outstanding customer serviceand real satisfied customers making personal recommendations and even "face to face"  time with your customers and being ahead of your competition on the new curve, whatever it may be.

rlw