ComScore’s latest data
about advertising online shows that social networks are garnering ad
dollars from pretty much everyone except big brands. Social networking
sites now account for one out of every five ads people view online.
Data from Equation Research’s 2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report shows that within the next year an astonishing 82 percent of brand marketers will be using social media to promote their brand.
A UK recruitment company, Major Players, warns that this rapid
growth may be stunted by a lack of social media knowledge in the talent
pool. Candidates with social media experience make up only 2% of the
talent pool, says Mark Begley, Major Players’ head of digital and
creative. “An increasing number of companies have expressed
their need to find highly skilled people to help build their social
media capabilities and provide effective return on investment.”
Companies need to invest in social media training advised Begley.
The situation in the U.S. is no different: The PRSA
Counselors Academy recently identified mastering social media skills as
one of the top 3 issues for PR professionals in 2009 and 2010.
“Mastering social media skills is definitely a priority
requirement,” said Betsy Berkhemer of Berkhemer Clayton, a retained
executive search firm based in Los Angeles that handles senior level
assignments in corporate communications, marketing and public affairs.
“There is a demand for these skills and executive level individuals are
scrambling to get up to speed. And social media is evolving and
changing so rapidly it’s a bit like getting onto the onramp to the
Indianapolis 500.”
Companies may have their eyes on the social media prize, but the
“2009 Edelman Trust Barometer” found that as a source of company
information, a company’s own website is seen as more credible than
business blogs, personal blogs, social networking sites and advertising.
The Digital Readiness Survey from iPressroom, Korn Ferry and PRSA,
notes that the fact that organizational communicators see social
networking, micro-blogging and blogging as more important than actively
managing the content at their own corporate website – particularly when
people find company websites more credible than social media channels —
may indicate a fundamental gap in judgment with respect to online
communications planning.
Is it an either-or-choice? It shouldn’t be.
There is ample evidence to show that the majority of people are
active on social media sites and that they expect companies to interact
with them there. So mastering social media skills and developing a
social media strategy is necessary. But understanding the importance of
the corporate website is just as important.
Understanding search engine optimization (SEO), how to
develop a web content strategy based on listening to your customers and
watching your analytics, should be included on that list of skills to
master in 2009 and 2010.
You want your site to be seen as the originator of your content. For
example, if you distribute a social media press release through a wire
service you should publish it on your website first. That way the
search engines credit you as owner of the content – you get the ‘Google
juice.’
A social media newsroom (on your own domain name) is one way to
integrate and gather all your social media content on your website. It
makes it easy for a site visitor to find your social content, your
profiles and the places they can interact with you online.
Content that sparks conversations in social media sites is very
effective for brand building; much more so than advertising. It’s not
about the click through rate – it’s about how people perceive and talk
about your brand.
Social media is best done by people within your company – your customers want to talk to your employees.
The Cluetrain Manisfesto said it best:
Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the
breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked,
smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.
Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want
to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate
firewall.
We are immune to advertising. Just forget it. If you want us to
talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a
change.
This Equation Research study reiterates what several others have
found: the biggest barrier to a company starting a social media program
is a lack of knowledge.
Social media training is vital to your marketing success in 2009 and 2010. Become educated on the subject of social media marketing and add it to your list of priorities for 2010.
Sally Falkow is a Principal and Social Media Strategist for
Expansion Plus, Inc. She is the author of The PRoActive Report, a
leading blog for PR professionals. She is a senior fellow of the
Society for New Communication Research and speaks at industry
conferences and corporate training sessions on how technology affects
the practice of PR today. The importance of social media in business
today is another point of interest for Sally. She urges businesses and
individuals alike to attain the social media training necessary to
succeed in this new area of digital media. For more information, please
visit