By Thomas Rozof - (Revised & Expanded 3-3-09)
Over the last 5 years a slow but now certain trend has taken shape in the field of business organization and marketing. This new trend is making way for a new critical role and thus the largest new job opportunity in corporate America since the turn of the century. We predict it will quickly become the number one most needed position for any company dedicated to growth. Can you guess what it is?
Before we share the exact nature of this new employment opportunity let’s set the stage for how and why our research led us to this conclusion.
Most CEO’s and business leaders are aware that the world of traditional branding and marketing is changing. They are also aware that one element at the heart of this change includes the fast emerging field of social media technology. What they fail to realize is that they have little idea of the massive changes that are already in play, and coming much sooner than anyone imagined.
At SocialMediaScience.com we have documented this for some time with mountains of reliable evidence. Here is how it’s taking place. As more and more people use social media tools, systems and processes to communicate, plan, and enhance their business and life, the more we are seeing this “social interaction” transform both the formal business networks and the informal social relationships that are attached to them. Business and life are becoming one.
In this first report we’ll look at the two major areas where social media will have it greatest impact in the corporate setting. After this we will look at the why and how this social dynamic will forever change the business of business and why the new role of Social Media Consultant will be the most sought after skill in the corporate context for many years to come.
If companies large and small could comprehend the impact of this social force on their bottom line they would have hired this person already or began to train someone in house to assume this new and vital position. Our research suggests that there are a few companies who are already ahead of the pack and acting as pioneers, very few, while others are almost totally in the dark. Let’s take a deeper look into the two areas where these social media skills will be needed most.
1. INTERNAL IMPACT:
The first impact of social media will be an internal organizational impact. The corporate context has always been more about WHO you know than WHAT you know. Many in these social settings are fond of lamenting the “Good Old Boy Network” that drives decisions from top to bottom. Over the last five years, however, something has happened that will transform this and every other “human business network” of its kind. But here’s the twist: Instead of obliterating these once detested “In Crowds,” we are expanding them and opening them up for more people to participate in the discussion, thus destroying much of their power for evil and enhancing their capacity for good.
Yes, social media and social skills in general will be used to transform the way a business community functions internally, within itself. Why? Because we have long known that the effectiveness of a business to produce profits is almost always a direct by-product of a healthy internal business community. We are not here just talking about “getting along” but about being emotionally and mentally invested in the company vision and in the products and services tied to this vision.
Jim Collins in his landmark book, Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap And Others Don’t, documents the kinds of companies who are able to execute the transition from adequate, to good, to great. When you catalog his findings you quickly see that the WAY a company operates internally, from top to bottom, is a key factor in determining both productivity and quality.
Every day evidence mounts to support the need for companies to transform the way they operate internally. For the most part this is no longer even a matter for debate. Too much social evidence has already accumulated on this subject. Therefore the next step is one of implementation.
Believe me when I say that many people will resists this process in the same way that many will whole heatedly embrace these internal social changes. As with all other professional consultants, the Professional Social Media Consultants who are called in to assist with this task must develop a proven track record before they will be welcomed in mass. If this conjures up images of the old style psychological applications like Transactional Analysis you have missed the concept completely. No, these new internal behaviors will be guided and forged by the application of new communication tools and objective social processes all aimed at something much larger than just helping people feel good about their current level of powerlessness and disenfranchisement.
Good social media consultants will stay away from any attempt to impose their understanding of what comprises perfect company relationships. Their goal is solely to put into place the social media channels and systems that will allow the corporate community itself to communicate, reward, suggest, ask questions, offer solutions, raise issues, list complaints, and other engagements designed to produce a company united in vision and purpose. At the heart of the consultants regimen will be the goal of empowering every worker’s “company self image” so that he or she is mentally and emotionally invested in the business at hand. To accomplish this the consultant will institute things like:
1. Regular online internal business forums.
2. Impromptu surveys to solve problems and gain consensus.
3. Online town hall meetings with the CEO or President of the company.
4. Idea pools that are read and taken seriously by those in charge.
5. Reward systems that allow fellow employees to advance in stature and position based on community recognition and accomplishments.
6. Access to the CEO’s email address.
7. CEO’s who begin blogging and writing specifically to company workers.
8. Photos of new employees that are randomly assigned to eat lunch with a new person in their department each week.
9. And several other effective social processes…
The list goes on and these are only suggestive enough to give you an idea of how social media mechanisms might soon impact more companies, not just in the U.S., but around the globe.
The Japanese car manufacturers have long functioned with a much higher degree of internal community than their USA counterparts. It is cited as one of the top reasons for both their productivity and quality. We in the West have tried for decades to learn from Japan so that we too could produce cars that would rank just as high in consumer satisfaction reports. Unfortunately we learned everything we could about how they applied modern machinery and unique assembly line techniques to the car making process, but little about how they formed and developed the intrinsic “spirit” of the company itself.
This is what we are missing in our companies today. Most have no true company spirit. In addition to qualified and experienced social media consultants we will need courageous leaders who are not afraid of being transparent, open, and who will adopt these new methods because he or she knows they are indeed good for DISCOVERING the spirit of their company. Therefore, these new social consultants are more needed than ever to help us realize our American business potential.
Although our public school systems are not 100% comparable to a CEO led company, there are enough similarities that I felt the story of Mark Gross could be illustrative. He’s the teacher who developed School Loop, which he defines as, “a collaborative system that helps teachers, parents and students share information without strain or pain.” Mark is a former ninth grade teacher who had a long standing dream. In this own words again he says, “I had a dream of knowing my students personally, of earning their trust, of basing my work on their individual needs, of providing immediate feedback and encouragement, of connecting with their families and of working with my peers to help them.” Mark sees School Loop as the application of social media tools to an area of pressing human need. He’s right.
Personally, I think this is exactly what is needed in corporations as well. When you consider that the modern day company is, in many ways, the outgrowth and manifestation of our institutions of high learning, then perhaps we could agree that all businesses need their own Company Loop to reach their fullest potential.
Whole books will soon be written on this one aspect of applying social media to promote stellar corporate formation. In the meantime we are here to either warn you or rejoice with you depending on how you view this inevitable social dynamic.
2. EXTERNAL IMPACT:
The second, and even more challenging role of the Social Media Consultant will be external, in the field of branding and marketing. What we are witnessing is the utilization of every form of communications technology to enhance our social connections with one another. This is not just an Internet phenomenon. It involves ALL forms of audio-visual communications, radio, TV, and especially telecommunications. The increase in SMS text messaging is not happening just among youth. The dynamics that are part of the computer based Internet world are exploding outwards and attaching themselves to every field of communications.
At Social Media Science we have long predicted a rather catastrophic outcome with regard to the impact of social media on the business world in general. It is a fact that companies who do not comply, adapt, and learn how to leverage these new social dynamics will no longer exist within the next 10 years, mainly because they will be replaced by those who do. It’s that simple and it’s that final.
Slowly the whole world is becoming our neighborhood and our neighbors are no longer limited by time or space. The impact of this on the traditional Fortune 1000 company is so immense that it’s created a mad rush to both understand and to somehow benefit form this new global metamorphosis.
We now know almost exactly how this new world order will emerge. Since space does not permit a complete review let’s consider just one major way this will unfold. Currently we have found that between 70% and 80% of all people who seek advice for the purchase of a product count the opinions of friends and other non professionals to be more important than any other form of advice, even that of a recognized expert. This trend had continued to increase slowly over the last five years. Why do you suppose it’s increasing? We suspect that it’s because gradually over time these “shoppers” discover that those closest to them and those with little or no financial incentives are the ones who give the most honest and accurate recommendations.
Guess what? These kinds of communities are growing…a better word is proliferating, spreading like a dandelion shedding thousands of seeds into the air soon to embed themselves in another location…on and on. Now look into the future with us. Each year form here on out these “authentication communities” will multiply. Soon we expect to see things like: “Coppertone Sunscreen, voted number one by the Twitter community.” Now consider all the 5,000 plus social communities on the horizon, each focused on their own little segment of the world, and each capable of empowering millions and eventually billions in sales over their lifetime. If I owned a traditional company I would be planning TODAY to position my products or service so that they meet the exact needs of a select number of social networks.
Now think of all the businesses that support the current marketing world. As these “authentication communities” render the traditional branding process more and more useless we will see writers, graphic artists, printers, sales forces, public relations agents, and others attached to this industry less and less needed. Believe us…the die is cast.
This new reality has created, almost overnight, the need for more experts in the field of social media marketing. Although it may seem obvious that these unprecedented social communication networks need to be mastered and harnessed to unearth their meaning and potential…it’s not that easy. For one thing, the level of confusion, disagreement and flat out inaccuracies are making it hard for business leaders to hire “experts” in this field.
Here’s what we predict will happen. Over the next several years traditional online marketing companies that now focus on SEO, PayPerClick and other proven online marketing strategies will (and many already have) develop a segment of their business that develops social media marketing campaigns for companies who can afford them. However, in recent studies conducted by Marketing Sherpa and Marketing Experiments there is a VERY uneven and often contradictory approach that these companies use to provide social marketing solutions. What this means is that social media marketing right now is more of an art than a science. The science is unfolding and will eventually be verified, but in the meantime: Buyer Beware.
As we have researched this new field of study and tracked the philosophies and tactics of those purporting to be experts we have found a vast level of pure ignorance on the one hand and genius on the other. For one thing, there is a wide variety of ways to tap into the social media space. There’s also just as many ways to gather, channel and utilize social traffic.
For example let’s look at some of the challenges associated with the task of becoming a Social Media Marketing Consultant:
1. Although sites like YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, eBay and LinkedIn are in the news often, did you know that currently we have cataloged over 5300 social media web sites that are large enough to catch the attention of the search engines? We know there are hundreds and perhaps thousands more that are destined to either be discovered and grow, or fade into the background and die. It is a full time job just monitoring the existing and newly forming networks, anyone of which could become the next huge source of online traffic.
2. All of these social media sites must be cataloged and segmented. In our lab we have already identified close to 50 ways to filter and dissect the focus and content contained in each site. These results will certainly grow, change and even morph into more segments. Like traditional data segmentation these sites can be sliced and diced in a variety of ways, and should be, and even more so if social media takes on the place in marketing that we predict.
3. Social media comes in many forms. Each of these expressions tell us something about the specific needs they were designed to meet. These needs will likewise inform us about the kinds of customers that use these sites. All of this information is critical when creating a custom social marketing blueprint for business applications. You quickly see some of these differences in the Social Media Types List below:
- SOCIAL NETWORKING: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Ning, LinkedIn
- SOCIAL NEWS: ReadIt, Propeller, Fark,
- WIKIS: Wikipedia
- SOCIAL BOOKMARKING: Digg, Delicious
- BLOGS: Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad,
- VIDEO SHARING: YouTube, Hulu
- PHOTOSHARING: Flickr, Photobucket
- PRESENTATION SHARING: Slideshare.net, Issuu, Scribd,
- And Another 15 PLUS TYPES Of Social Media Expressions
4. What many SEO and online marketing companies have yet to digest is that the evidence increasingly suggests that social media is destined to change every facet of their business and even put an end to some aspects of their marketing menu. What we predict is that social media will be the foundation and starting point for All online marketing. How a company adjusts to these facts now is just as important as what they do with social media specifically.
5. If you examine the many ways that business professionals have attempted to use social media to further their goals you find a dizzying array of methods, most of which, unfortunately, have not succeeded in the ways they expected. This has led to confusion and competing methods that often work at cross purposes. It is only through extensive testing and research that order and clarity will arrive in this field.
This list is suggestive only, as it represents the most obvious challenges, but it’s in no way exhaustive. These challenges are all part of the new job description for this very unique and important emerging role in the business community. Just as in the early days when other forms of online marketing were being discovered, we believe that a very similar sorting out process will take place as the market identifies the best and brightest of this new breed of social marketing experts.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: As with any form of marketing, companies will support it only so long as it works and produces an obvious benefit in the form of profits.
To accomplish this the new experts are going to need at least five
things:
1. They will need intense hands on training conducted by people who can verify their results from objective testing and research and who have a long string of successful campaigns under their belt.
2. Their training must be more than theory and concepts. They must learn how to conduct campaigns from start to finish and produce results.
3. They need software tools that will automate and empower their efforts, knowing that both speed and increased effectiveness will set them apart from what will soon become a very competitive market. In fact, we predict that SOFTWARE will play an extremely critical role for any company or person who takes on this challenge/opportunity.
4. They must know how to design campaigns that meet the unique needs of their clients, knowing that no one method will produce the same results for all. CUSTOMIZATION will therefore be a hallmark of this industry.
5. They must have ongoing support so that they have someone to consult with when they encounter difficulties or are met with a challenging circumstance. We see a few top social media GENIUSES emerging who will in turn begin training schools with certification programs for their students as a way of disseminating their tested and proven methods.
Perhaps by now you have begun to understand both the benefits and the challenges associated with the role of the Social Media Consultant. What I have covered above is truly a cursory overview. Anyone interested in seeking this position would be well served to read some of the many books springing forth on the subject and to dig into the social media world first hand. If after this you find you are drawn to this new vocation the next stop is to enter some form of training program designed to equip social media students.
I’d like to close on a very positive note. Those who do not resist social media but embrace it’s inevitable consequences will be the winners…and there will be LOTS of them…LOTS. We are at the very beginning of a new social order that has never existed since the beginning of time. Heroes will emerge, billions will be made, new companies will blossom that will look nothing like the corporations of the past, and best of all EVERY small company will stand a genuine chance of making it big…IF they fully embrace this amazing new organizational and marketing medium.
If you would like more information about our social media technologies, our training programs, or desire a custom campaign for your business, please look us up at: SocialMediaScience.com or call Tom or Charles at 316-640-0486 or 316-684-1466.
Thomas Rozof, tom@SocialMediaScience.com
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46 Responses to “The Number One New Job Opportunity in Corporate America For The Next 10 Years”
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Just in the last year, it seems expenential growth of online social media marketing has rocked the planet. I am amazed. What a great article.
About 2 years ago I began my study of SEO, and from that have achieved amazing results with my website. But, the time has come for me to expand my knowledge from SEO to SMO (Social Media Optimization) and social media marketing.
I believe, without a doubt, that this is the new frontier of online marketing. In fact, this frontier is so new and so big that many people simple do not know where to begin and not to long ago I didn’t know where to start with my social media efforts.
Want to hear the good news?
The same people who affordably and effectively trained me in SEO are now offering SMO services — and they are SocialMediaScience.com. I, for one, am dedicating my time, money and resources to the exclusive study of their information (blog posts such as this one) products and technologies.
In fact I have so much faith in the information and technologies that they are offering about Social Media that at this point I fully ignore all marketing efforts from others trying to sell me social media marketing information (usually at a much higher price and probably quite less effective, too).
Thanks for offering such useful, practical and effective social media information and technologies.
You guys rock!
This is a great article, and right at the right time for me to read as well. Just recently a business partner and I have been putting together our own first Social Media site, based around a element that seems to be growing virally just from a presence we have already established online.
Although, I can’t guarantee it will have the success we are hoping for, it certainly does make me feel good that we are in the right time to be attempting to establish a presence in Social Media.
This is a very helpful read..
Thanx so much,
Davin Ogden
On the one hand, I completely agree. What’s been happening with Social Media is outrageous and, clearly, if you know how to use it, you have a rare and valuable skill that should last you for a while.
On the other hand, I worry about predicting the future. In the same way that nobody could predict the rise of Social Media (and the fall of other forms of search engine marketing as a result), I can’t help but think there will be another unpredictable change that will have a similar effect, rendering Social Media obsolete in the face of something we can’t even imagine.
So, maybe Social Media experts have a 10 year lifespan. Maybe less. Maybe more. Suffice it to say, it’ll be interesting to watch in unfold!
This concept of social media content syndication is very powerful indeed. We are looking forward to hearing more, not only for our own sites but how we can make a business of this offering these services to our existing clients.
Great article. We’re hoping ImaNicePerson.com catches the wave. I stumbled so hopefully others can find this article. Thanks for sharing. Have a NICE day!
For what it’s worth, I have yet to meet a social media expert–for the very reason that Steven comments above me: technologies are changing every day, rules are being rewritten, and nobody knows what’s going on. How can you predict X will occur in the future?
And while there are ~5300 social networking sites, how many of those have been sustainable for more than two years and growing at progressive rates? There’s a reason we hear of certain sites more than others, and I don’t mean because of the number of people using them. Rather, because the sites are sustainable.
Wikipedia and Amazon and Craigslist and eBay and Blogger.com have existed as long as they have for a reason. Digg is starting to see the ends of its life. Even SocialMedian was bought out and relocated to Europe.
The times are a’changing for sure, and the concept of social media, whatever the future will call it, isn’t going anywhere. But monitoring every SNS shouldn’t be anyone’s role; why bother? If a site is going places, it will find its way to you. And if an expert is truly in the know, then the future wouldn’t be up to predictions but to facts.
People are what make up the web. It only makes perfect sense that Social Media will play a big role in any online presence. Of course , I’m sure there will be abuses as well…but for the dedicated, as this article explains, I see some major advantages.
After many years working in the Life Assurance industry, I have found that the best customers/clients are the ones who were introduced to me by a mutual friend/client. Those are the ones that sustain my business through the highs and lows of financial fortune.
Businesses and people will need to recognise that “advertising” in the traditional sense requires far more than “one way shouting”.
After all, SMO is no more and no less than old fashioned “word of mouth” recommendation - and business may ignore that at its peril.
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…”
Great article providing a bird’s eye view of the social media landscape, its tremendous impact on the private and business sphere and most important of all pointers about how to prepare ourselves to harness maximum benefit from this inevitable trend on a personal and business level. For me the subtle but vital takeaway is the fact that the success of social media optimization resides not in re-inventing the wheel but to use to establish quality private networks for personal and business benefit . Syndication as a form of business and social organization, whether in the form of old boys clubs, Rotary Clubs, professional guilts etc has always existed and will continue to exist. What has changed is the blurring of the lines between the business and personal on the one hand and the scale and global reach of the phenomenon on the other hand. This is due to power and miniaturization of processors of the reduction in the cost of communication technology in our digital society. The relatively modest cost of organizing such virtual private social networks as evident from the thousands of twitter and identi.ca clones attest to this fact. Richard Branson and Virgin are demonstrating with their Virgin FaceBook Application beta launch the direction in which businesses will integrate and deploy these social media optimization in the business sphere
Hi reader’s posters social networking fans … Strange as it may seem we are all in this social networking time online as pioneers within social networks friendships connective-ness, it seems like years ago now I tried my hand at forum connectedness but it didn’t work out for me simply because I did not understand how important it was to get to know every one before I shared what was buzzing me at that time … now in today’s connective-ness as pointed out with this post … folks seem to be a lot more cooler receiving everyone’s links, blogs, posts, etc etc …
So with that said there’s never been a better time online to build upon our socials relationships and connections as stated below
”At SocialMediaScience.com this is supported by mountains of evidence. Here is how it’s taking place… As more and more people use social media tools and systems to communicate, plan, and enhance both their business and life, the more we are seeing this “social process” transform both the formal business networks and the informal social relationships that are attached to them.”
All my best to you & what-ever your buzz is!
Phillip skinner
Hey Steven (and the rest),
Thanks for your comments and thoughts. I agree with you in part. We all remember what the famous baseball great, Yogi Berra, said, “It’s always difficult to predict things, especially about the future!”
Once you work with social media as a way of life and dedicate yourself to understanding it’s trends, movements and directions the way we have you begin to be rewarded for your efforts. These come not so much in the form of being a “Social Prophet,” as they do in being able to chart predictable trends, identify social axioms, and test and re-test social marketing theories. The value of this is not that you can claim to be the smartest kid in the class, but in the joy it brings in helping your fellow human beings, many of whom have often been led astray because they were sold marketing strategies that were never tested or proven in real life in the first place. I love finding things that work. I likewise enjoy seeing people take this information and experience levels of success that they may not have every experienced for themselves.
The predictive aspects of our business are to us not really predictive at all. After four years of intense research we are simply sharing what we consider science…(i.e. we can back up these predictions with FACTS). There is a real difference. If you think we are eccentric in our predictions wait till you hear from some of the pioneers who started this journey before we did. They will soon be making us look like Charlie Brown standing next to the Joker. I’m serious. Go grab our Syndication Revelation series at SocialMediaScience.com and read it all until you get to the new version 2 of the document. In this we share some of these outrageous claims. We, of course, agree with them. After all, you will never lead your industry by being timid or by displaying a false sense of confidence. We welcome the challenge. That’s how you learn and grow.
What’s even more fun is having an ever growing community like you great people who share our passion for learning how to succeed in business by applying these new and extremely powerful social marketing strategies. So hang on to your hat. We have just released some of our newer results and they are very exciting indeed. Dive into Syndication Revelation and let’s discuss it.
Thanks again for taking the time to dialogue with us.
Let’s to make history…together!
From what I have seen and heard . . . If someone can show positive results using these channels where they have:
Created groups of responsive people
and expanded brand awareness in these networks.
With that being said, this person has to show actual results.
If you can do this, I believe major companies are scrambling to find experts who can do just this.
You make some very perceptive points here Thomas, there are far too many business people who think it’s all about flooding social media sites with low quality content and thinly disguised marketing.
I made the point recently about quality versus quantity on a social media site recently and was fairly abruptly put down by the CEO of a well known online business community, who said it was all about quantity.
It will be interesting to see who is right in the end, to me quantity is fine but without quality it’s not worth a lot.
I agree completely that this is the new wave of effective marketing. I am just a newbie, but it is through posts such as this that confirm that I am on the right path. Things are moving so quickly from the time when having a website meant you were on the cutting edge. Now the speed at which the marketing (online) world is growing is mind numbing and social media is at the forefront. The difficulty in my opinion is, as you mentioned, being able to know enough about the tools that are available to effectively market different clients with different goals. Also, how does the marketing professional most effectively utilize their time amongst the vast array of social media products that are available and popping up daily?
Social media is a monster. No, make that a new form of bacteria. It’s growing and mutating faster than any bacteria we’ve ever seen.
And like any bacteria, there are good kinds and harmful kinds. Some of the social media we’re seeing IS pointless. It’s merely a way for people to get attention. But social media can - and does - do a lot of good. Like it or not, I agree that it is the future of global communication.
It’s also a different kind of world for the “expert.” In the past 50 or so years we’ve seen a lot of specialization - in medicine, technology, and just about everything else. We’ve seen specialization in the world of internet marketing as well.
What we’re seeing with social media is less of a need for the specialist, and more of a need for the traffic cop — someone who has a good sense of direction, can quickly grasp which direction the traffic is flowing, and then tell us which way to head.
Things change too quickly - trends come and go too fast. In a way, specialization will be the quick road to failure.
Great post. I’ve been interested in learning about social media for a long time. Been reading quite a lot about it. Like you said, there are probably hundreds or thousands of these social media sites and I just don’t know which one I should join.
In the beginning, I ended up joining most of them only later I ended up using only a few of them. Then I found that I wasted a lot of time using these social sites. Now I only use DIGG and two or three more big ones.
Though social media has been around for quite some time now, I still find that for those who get on board early will definitely benefit from this greatly.
I’m still learning about this and found this article to be very informative. Thanks and cheers!
-Juzaily-
Great article, and interesting bunch of comments. You’ve clearly hit on something that gets people’s attention.
I was struck by your comment that business and life are becoming one. I have been extremely fortunate in experiencing this for decades already. There is a huge satisfaction that comes when your own business reflects what you care about and what you have to offer society.
(Of course, there can be a downside of this, as being a workaholic can get out of hand. I remember one wintry midnight when my husband and I were in our hot tub on the enclosed porch, snow was drifting down, and he said “I’ve been thinking we should change our shipping charges.)
Back to social media — I use several of the ones you list, and my largest problem is time! That and not doing them at prime times of day when my creativity is high.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks and great article. We saw the power of social bookmarking in the Obama presidential campaign. Social bookmarking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube played a large part in bringing in the large crowds as well as asking the average Joe (no not Joe the Plummer) to give a few dollars. I’ve noticed the GOP just recently produced their first YouTube. The GOP and most companies are playing catch up. As you noted in your article this is a new market for SEO and communicating with the public. Social bookmarking is not going away and certainly will play a larger part in the political arena.
Very interesting and informative post.
It is amazing for us \Boomers\ to see how fast things change when it comes to computers or the Internet. Several months ago, I decided to increase my skills so that I could get content \noticed: on the Web but instantly focused on learning basic SEO. After a few months and considerable experimentation, I was finally seeing marginal success in driving traffic to content via the search engines. When I started to compliment (and somewhat re-focus) my previous efforts using social media sites, the results were substantially better and at least somewhat less sporadic. Though the potential was more than obvious, the use of social media to drive traffic seemed a little \artsy\ to me.
To me, one of the highlights of this article actually occurred in Charles’ response comment when he pointed out that the data are being analyzed and evaluated for trends. Careful analysis should allow for adjustments to SMO efforts in an ever-changing \Web-scape\.
Thanks,
Jim Hickey
I hope (and also hope not - but that’s a selfish thought, not a social one) that this article goes far and wide. The more aware business leaders become of this, the more it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is the interesting promise of SM. Speak it, and — if it makes sense — it will by creating it’s own momentum, come true. I’m glad to be a part of that momentum.
Richard Shatto
I especially love your comment about social media being more art than science, due to the difficulty of tracking.
What I’ve found works best in my business is doing social media, on top of the direct response style marketing, because when someone gets a marketing piece from me, they will do their research.
I’ve found that my direct response conversions have increased as a result of my vast social media presence. It’s a like a direct response safety net.
-Ferny
The internet and social media marketing are brave new worlds of communication. Many people are scrambling to gain an understanding of this phenomenon because its emergence and growth as a marketing medium are undeniable and potentially lucrative. No doubt, many new jobs will be created in the future for social media experts in the corporate world. Much like the wild west, there are several sheriffs laying claim to authority in this relatively uncharted new frontier. And now just as then, there is a wide range of quality among these self appointed authority figures. Everything from true gurus to jokers stapling tin foil stars on their lapels. As Tom puts it, “For one thing the level of confusion, disagreement and flat out inaccuracies are making it hard for business leaders to hire “experts” in this field.”
So how will business leaders tell the difference? Tom answers this clearly with,”It is only through extensive testing and research that order and clarity will arrive in this field.” And he is right, extensive testing and research are the only ways we will be able to determine what really functions in social media in a reliable and repeatable marketing process. An objective, thorough, scientific approach is critical to determine what works and what to teach experts before they go into the workforce claiming to be real gurus and not just stapled tin foil star wannabes.
We need something to tie social media together and make sense of it in a dependable, effective manner. We need social media science.
I totally agree, social media is going to morph into something extreme within the next few years and create a surge of internet marketing experts that spin off from the current technical search marketers. It’s exciting to know that a new website with fantastic content can go viral within literally days of it being up.
As the internet becomes more social we should expect a new wave of web 3.0 technologies also which gives communities such as Digg or YouTube a lot more control from a users perspective.
-Andrew
Good article. Big potential. However …
Huge problem.
You’ve talked about this at length before, but this problem is not going to disappear anytime soon - if ever. I don’t see it referred to in this post. It is a 100% deal-killer for anyone using social media. I see it on a daily basis, because I see so many blogs. It may be obvious, but it needs to be mentioned again, because it’s so predominant:
Not a single one of those Social media forms you listed is a sales platform. Every last one of them is a relationship-building platform.
After all this time and all the education you and others have provided, a huge percentage of social media pratitioners - from 1-person operations to huge corporations - still don’t get it. As soon as they get a visitor, they frantically stick that big red “BUY” button in front of them. And people who are looking to be educated, entertained or enlightened click away in droves.
NOBODY wants to be sold to on a social networking platform.
No matter how advanced Social Media Science gets, that will always need to be part of the message.
Richard Dennis
Great article. It was a lot to digest, but it was certainly an interesting read. There are so many who jump on the latest social media bandwagon thinking it is their ticket to the all elusive golden egg.
I am certain that for many the short term gains of using the popular medium of the day to drive traffic might be worth it. However, we do need to start paying closer attention to the long term implications of using social media as a marketing tool rather than a business building tool.
I think as far back as you can go, great business have been built on maintaining solid relationships with out customers and clients. Its not about finding the next best way to reach them, but rather finding the most effective way to keep them informed and up to date. I think the sales and the increase income will come naturally.
I believe it’s just a question of time and social media marketing will be #1 for most of the business worl. Even now - real estate, insurance, finance products - all these have to stress marketing effort on the web serivec, or they are out of the game…
I agree that this is the next major frontier in marketing. Already there are large players who can create online and offline buzz for a hefty price. I believe that the next step in evolution will make these techniques available to the smaller enterprises.
As an independent consultant I have clients who ask me to provide SEO services and other online marketing services. I’m competent and comfortable in traditional SEO, and I’m adding study and practical experience in social networking.
one thing that amazes me is how many people are willing to tag themselves with “Social Media Guru/Expert/Consultant” simply because they spend time on twitter or facebook. it takes more than a presences to pull together a good campaign so i’m glad you brought this up from the professional angle.
As a financial adviser I have now been using social media to generate a substantial amount of business. Over the last 6 months alone I have found and done business with at least 5 new clients. From initial enquiry in some cases right through to business submition everything was done online.
Using my Facebook group I have managed to communicate and keep potential new clients informed of market changes and potential opportunities. Allowing them to participate in online questionnaires and refering friends to me is also a lot more cost effective and efficient than any other means.
I am sure over the next few years social media marketing and the marketing consultant will be a big part of big business.
Hi Charles,
I agree with you. This however can be very scary for a company to do, as they really need to be able to trust this person to do the job. It’s the company’s reputation that is on the line. If whomever they hire does a crappy job representing the company, it may take a company years to recover from that.
A company needs to set very clear rules along with code of conduct.
Great (long) post. Very interesting take on what could be a very profitable niche to enter provided one can repeatedly and systematically get results from their efforts. I think it’ll still be a few years before there are people who can make those two things a reality across a broad spectrum of businesses…as you say, still too much art and not enough science.
Thomas, your article about social media technology is very beneficial for me. I’m a small business owner, marketing online in a narrow niche (bipolar mental health). I’m learning how to implement social media technology in my own small business as we speak.
In your article, you teach that the \in crowds\ that have been prevalent in the coporate business world, will be expanding in a good way. I can understand what you’re presenting as the internal workings and external (marketing) workings of social media technology within the corporate framework.
I especially enjoyed your mention of CEO’s who will begin blogging and writing specifically to company workers. And I know some already have.
Another person, like yourself, who teaches business people to relate very personally and transparently to their co-workers and their employees is Seth Godin. Do you follow his blog? You and he both agree that most companies have no true company spirit.
Thomas, you mention a few top social media GENIUSES emerging who will in turn begin training schools with certification programs for their students as a way of disseminating their tested and proven methods. I’m proud to admit that I’m a part of such a training school and certification program: SEO 20-20. I highly recommend it: http://members.seo2020.com/
\We are at the very beginning of a new social order that has never existed since the beginning of time. Heroes will emerge…\ I intend to be one of them, Thomas. Thanks for your encouragement and teaching with this article!
social media makes marketing sense. much on the net is not aimed at the right market. in other words prospects with a need.
I am a carpet cleaner in the UK and i can say that i don’t any others that are focusing in on this. writing information that helps people will lead to sales.
underestimating what social media can do will do for you can be a big mistake. looking out for experts that can help you get a handle on how to control your empire is a must.
It’s not only about America - I believe business professionals in the USA have already learnt some things and understand importance of social media marketing. But Europe and especially some parts of Asia have minimal experience. when the supply of professionals in the USA will be filled, demand will jump in those regions…
Take care
Jay
I have resisted the the whole social media tidal wave, partly out of fear of the unknown, partly from information overload, partly from self sabotage, partly because its outside of my comfort zone, the list goes on…
What matters is that I can see that it is going to do nothing except become more important as time goes on, and I have finally jumped in.
I am becoming the social media consultant in my own business, and when I have some experience under my belt, I know that just like my seo experience, it will be a valuable skill to include in any future online/offline marketing consulting opportunities.
What I am seeing is that most people who have businesses have no idea about seo, and even less about social media as an avenue to increase their visibility. That makes this stuff very powerful knowledge.
Great post! When you think of how many businesses there are ‘out there’ that will need expertise in this social marketing phenomenon, the job potential can be off the charts! Of course, the same goes for home businesses that want that social marketing presence as well (and for those wanting to be their own boss!!).
The Good To Great Reference is spot-on. Average companies do what other average companies do and right now average is a losing game. Businesses need to rethink their culture and ask of themselves “is what we’ve been doing really working for us.” As business transparency increases through the use of social media, I believe we’ll experience only benefit.
Excellent article. I think that most companies aren’t truly aware of the huge impact that Social Media is already making on the business world. When businesses try to hodge-podge a strategy, it will backfire on them. consistency is key! Your guidelines are spot-on.
Great Article ! Many companies are trying to use social media to promote either themselves or their products. Some of them do a great job, but most would do well to read this article.
They have people who don’t understand how to use the social sites to thier full potential, just like many individuals.
It is amazing what is available once you learn and understand how powerful sl media can be. ocia
@Richard Dennis
“NOBODY wants to be sold to on a social networking platform.
No matter how advanced Social Media Science gets, that will always need to be part of the message.”
This is an on-going problem that has yet to be solved.
The corporations that own some of the Social Nets still have not figured how to properly ,monetize the insane amount of traffic.
However as time evolves and the experts emerge, a proper model may develop.
As Thomas said” You haven’t seen anything yet”… paraphrasing..
Thanks for your response, Richard Dennis.
I agree with you 100% on the \Hit and Run Marketing\ problem. You make the comment that no one wants to be sold in the social media landscape. This is true to a large degree. I would say it a little differently: no one wants to be sold but everyone loves to BUY.
My article was on another topic, that of a trend in corporate America and their need for help with social media education. Perhaps we should tackle the issue of HOW to approach sales within social networks another time. I find making a sale in social networks much easier than direct sales these days. But your absolutely right, the methods have changed dramatically. Share with us sometime what you have discovered on this topic.
Hi,
Yes, I belong to several social sites such as facebook, twitter, digg, & better network marketer…only to be overwhelmed with how to use it to connect people to my business.
Now I just ignore it, until I have found someone to help me steer these ships to the ‘mother ship’….
I do see a huge potential, still trying to seek out the opportunity.
Interesting!
I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. Good marketing means which can convert the leads into sales. The only marketing that has moved me in the last couple of years is Social Media Optimization.