AttentionMax - Latest Comments in Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

maxkalehoff — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:08:24 -0000

Thanks. The barrier to entrance to social media marketing is almost
non-existent. Good communications skills help, but there's no major secret
sauce. In fact, most individuals today market their own personal brands to
some degree, and therefore have very hands-on personal experience. The
barrier for agencies, particularly advertising agencies, is they start from
the wrong place. Instead of marketing to people, they market to "audiences",
or worse. They are less interested in delivering value, and more interested
in delivering interruptions and impressions. They are less interested in
long-term relationships, and more interested in short-term campaigns. And so
on and so fourth.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

facebook-874340397 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:19:38 -0000

Just found this and I couldn't agree more. Great analysis, Max. Just mentioned this article in a blog post at http://BuzzMarketingDaily.com comparing the work of 1 month from college students to the work "agencies" are passing off as social media marketing. Classic.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

maxkalehoff — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:30:36 -0000

All, thanks for your comments.
- Pete Blackshaw: Consistency makes sense. Organizations can't talk out of two sides of their mouths at the same time.
- Jay: right on! Relationships with customers can't be campaigns.
- Adam: Yes, during Advertising Week most agencies were not doers, they were talkers.
- Pete Kim: Social Media Advertising Council sounds kind of....no comment.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

peterkim — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:24:39 -0000

So I assume that you think this thing called the "Social Media Advertising Council" is a bad idea?

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

AdamSinger — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:48:33 -0000

What would help is if these people were active bloggers and social media users. In many cases they are not, they merely READ about bloggers and social media in trade pubs or see a conference. That's not enough.

You have to live and breathe it!

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

sudhani — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:58:43 -0000

These "me too" crowd consists of SEOs and internet marketers. They don't understand the social media angel. They only wonder about the links.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

pblackshaw — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:17:52 -0000

So spot on Max. This is precisely the way we should be thinking about the social media space. We also need to be more diligent on the consistency front. Too many brands don't know what the other hand is doing, and it's creating a major credibility gap. Major fast food brands, for instance, are talking up a storm about social media -- even blogging -- but shunning consumers when they try to provide feedback or suggestions on the brand website. We need to drive more consistency.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

Jay Bryant — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:25:19 -0000

Great stuff here Max. It is so much beyond having a campaign based mentality that you see from most marketing folks. This fundamentally is about how a company becomes transparent to their clients. Zappos is a great example of how to embrace this and grow to grow significantly in revenue in 4 short years.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

maxkalehoff — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:35:21 -0000

Thanks Dave. There are too many "me too" clueless people throwing useless
tactics around! With that, key disclosure: I don't know that much, but I
know what keeps me up at night. And I know this: I'm a humble student.

Re: Most Agencies & Publishers Fail To Offer Real Ways To Embrace Social Media

evansdave — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:31:59 -0000

Right on, Max. Your key insight -- "The imperatives lie in deconstructing and rebuilding their cultures and attitudes toward customers and the marketplace" -- sums up the challenge. It's no longer about spin/push/control but rather listen/pull/participate.

Simply using a social channel - posting TV spot on YouTube in the hopes that it "go viral" - is not all what social media is about. Instead, it's the re-engineering of the organization to first listen, and then act in unison across operations and marketing to deliver on what was learned from the marketplace collective.

The agencies that do this will be the long term winners.