The Emperor Has No Clothes?

Regarding social media: …marketers need to bring a little balance to the justifiable demand for performance accountability… when you’re in a competitive market that demands innovation, you have to get in the trenches to help innovation along, instead of just throwing up knee-jerk stop signs to every project that doesn’t come with a business case tied up in a neat bow. from Social Media Metrics The Marketers Consortium

Let’s say you have invested a lot of time in ramping up your social media presence for your business.

Let’s say that you have heard a lot of arguments for doing this, including endorsements of aspects of social media by celebrities and other people of influence.

Let’s say that you are in real estate, and your broker wants the agents involved (or doesn’t), or you are in customer service and have read a couple of places that a social media presence can make it easier to solve problems before they get big. Then let’s say that you are watching Late Night with David Letterman. He has Kevin Spacey on, and you expect an interesting show. Oh! They are talking about twitter! But wait…

Letterman says that it’s a waste of time, and what the HELL is Spacey doing with twitter that could possibly translate into increased business? So what does this mean? Is the emperor naked after all?

Probably the most telling article that I have read lately that reinforces that the emperor is, indeed, clothed is this one at internetnews.com. The title is Social Media Marketing Makes More Money, and, really, isn’t that what you want to hear? There are lots of anecdotal reports about the number and demographic of people involved and how social media has benefited certain individuals- all interesting, but is it going to help your top line?

This article cites a study of the top 100 most valuable businesses. 21% of their advertising dollars are being funnelled into interactive marketing- perhaps a better handle than the term social media. The companies that have invested the most heavily in social media are reaping a large return rate than those that are not.

It is possible that the companies who invest the most in social media are just that much more progressive in general and that contributes to their increase in business, but I will stand on the side of progression any day.

It has been said that social media is the least expensive way to fail. Well, I for one do not plan on failing, and it is nice to see data that supports what I believe.

By the way, twitter.com/davidletterman is available as of now. Go for it, Dave!

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