For a number of months I’ve been trying to counter the enthusiasm and zeal of marketers who are insisting that if you aren’t marketing via social media (twitter, facebook, etc), that you are doomed. I’ve suggested that, in fact, what is happening in social media venues is that marketers end up trying to sell to others trying to sell, leading to pollution of hte social media habitat, and, well, no sales.
A study recently announced supports the contention that marketing via social media is not effective, and for a simple reason: People who are participants in social media want to find and connect with people, and almost nobody uses social networking sites to help them make buying decisions. Period.
Here’s a brief quote which summarizes the issue and the findings:
Participation in social media is indeed widespread among those 13 to 54; but when Knowledge Networks asked users whether they regularly turn to these sites when trying to make a purchase decision, the highest percentages among nine categories were 4%, for travel and banks/financial services. Responses for clothes/shoes, restaurants, mobile phone services and five other categories ranged from 1% to 3% (see table).
The press release for the study is available online by clicking here. I’m not sure whether the entire study is also available.
I would love to hear you comments on this, and I’ll be adding a poll for small business related to the topic.
#1 by John Reddish, GetResults on August 29, 2009 - 12:31 pm
Catchy headline, but reads like “National Enquirer,” when you get to the story. First of all, the headline is an umbrella catch phrase. You quote 1 study and there are many (with contradictory results, so from my vantage point, at the moment, research is inconclusive as to whether social media marketing is ineffective for marketing (all) small businesses.
The study comes from a viable source, but the sample is from its members, not tested across a number of lists. And while it may have elements of accuracy, it may be accurate only for the moment.
It reports that less than 5% look to social media sources for “guidance on purchasing decisions.” This is likely since there is no established marketplace there, unlike the web where vendors and ratings services abound (but that may be changing). It also states that “16% of social media users say they are more likely to buy from companies that advertise on social sites.”
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, similar discussions were ongoing about direct response advertising, many referring to it as “junk mail.” Those who got in early, embraced the concepts, experimented and reached out, made billions. Those who didn’t were left behind. The same may be true here.
Where are we on the marketing viability curve, where the role of social media will be defined? I’m not sure. I know it’s an effective marketing tool for some, an grand experiment for others, and probably a non-starter for some, as well. Such is the nature of marketing – each company/brand finds its most effective media slurry to best present itself to its customers and prospects.
With 83% of the 14-54 year old internet population using social media, is there any doubt that marketing insights will follow? Rumors of SM’s ineffectiveness and “marketing death” may well be premature.
#2 by Robert Bacal on August 29, 2009 - 5:49 pm
I’m not sure I agree with the details in your comment, but the general notion that we don’t know if social media will deliver a return on investment for small business is one I believe in. It sounds like you do to.
I note that you seem to be talking about what will be in the future, rather than what exists now. I, and the study, are talking about NOW. I’ve lived too long to try to predict where something will end up in one or two years.
The reality is that users are NOT using SM to make buying decisions. The reality is that the effort and resources needed for a small business (with no pre-existing brand popularity) to even get close to the point where enough customers and potential customers will follow them, is simply huge.
Some things simply don’t work for marketing, no matter how many of the population use it. Look, we don’t put advertising on many things. For example:
Chicken wings
lettuce
shoes (well there IS the swoosh)
To me right now, investing to make SM work for marketing is like investing to advertise on lettuce. You can do it, but it’s hard work. You can do it, but people prefer to eat their lettuce, rather than read the ads on the lettuce.
Hey, maybe I lack imagination.
#3 by Phillip Shriver on August 31, 2009 - 7:53 am
Robert,
I totally agree with the study but its the way it’s worded. I think the key word is “networking” in social media networks. One great example I think of is the Chamber of Commerce. Our business is a member of our local chamber of commerce and we attend Business After Hours events for the networking. Most recently I went to one that was hosted by Dr. Dennis Harper of Harper Chiropractic. While I was there I learned that the annoying back pain I had felt for the last several months could be something more serious than I had thought and sure enough x-rays revealed a herniated disc. While I was also there I was chatting with the local Yamaha dealer and as the conversation progressed I realized that my son could use a motorcycle (which he loves now and actually participated in the Lewiston, ID Endurocross.) I bring this up because I attended this function not with the thought of going to see about why my back was nagging me or perhaps I needed a motorcycle for my son. I went to promote my business. I don’t turn to the Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours for buying decisions.
I believe the same is true for social networks. I don’t think people go to facebook to find out which consulting company to use for their migration from Sybase to Oracle. However, I recently had a phone call from a man who asked me about my company and our services. When I asked him how he found us he said he had found an article we had wrote on this type of migration which we had posted on our facebook page that showed up with SEO in a google search for him. This is going to be a 6-8month project for us thanks to facebook?
So our client wasn’t talking to his friends about his purchasing decision for this migration, but he was able to find us. That is the power of Social Media.
#4 by Alex Romanovich on November 7, 2009 - 8:20 pm
“People who are participants in social media want to find and connect with people, and almost nobody uses social networking sites to help them make buying decisions. Period.” – Wrong! Just look at a number of relatively small businesses who use Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to convert leads into sales. elf Cosmetics, M&J Trimming, and many other small and medium size Retailers are swearing by it. Social Media should never be singled out, instead, it completes an already successful integrated marketing campaign and compliments. So, the facts are: if Small Business wants to do any marketing, Social Media is better be in the mix.
#5 by Robert Bacal on November 7, 2009 - 8:31 pm
Alex, you are repeating the same empty language almost everyone else is, and it’s bullshit. You guys cite the same five or six companies as successes. Golly gee.
SHOW ME THE NUMBERS that demonstrate people are making money this way.
If you folks are too stupid to understand that to demonstrate the usefulness of something for business, you have to get to the NUMBERS, which have $$$ on them, then nobody can help you, but I wish you wouldn’t suck time and money out of the pockets of more gullible small business people, and this particularly applies to those that make a living by doing so, and parroting the same garbage.
SHOW ME numbers, stats, average ROI properly computed. If not show some integrity.