So how can disconnectedness be a gift?
Our job as communications experts is to navigate the landscape without the tried-and-true road maps. We’re essentially updating our own GPS and going off-road. But we have data and analytics to back us up; we aren’t merely pushing forward on intuition.
Keep your eyes open and be ready to try new approaches: marketing in the digital age has its strengths and challenges. The skeptics can begin to see social media marketing as a gift… And even the “cons” offer us a chance to excel.
The Pros
Marketing efforts don’t have to break the bank.
If you have a few minutes each day and skilled team members, you can create content marketing and execute social media plans that cost you only time. Writing a blog post, curating content on Twitter or posting company information on your Facebook page allows engagement to continue with your audiences without a big-budget campaign. Denny’s Beets tweet used humor to capture attention in the wake of Apple’s Beats acquisition while spending exactly zero dollars.
Mobile audiences are available all the time, wherever they are.
Audiences can see your content all the time! But if your company is tied to the traditional marketing culture, it might be your job to shake things up. Your website should be optimized for mobile devices, and if you offer training for employees or products to consumers, make sure mobile users can access your material painlessly and elegantly.
Rules are so pre-social media.
If you’re creative and thrive on carving your own path, feel free to break the rules in your marketing plan. A certain amount of experimentation with new tactics can work in today’s marketing world. While analytics are available to guide you, and executives expect strong ROI, the best results have come from wildly creative approaches. Red Bull, for example, continues to sell a lifestyle, a story, a brand… and the drink/product itself is a bonus.
The Cons
Audiences tune out your message; marketing is ubiquitous.
Remember back in the ’80s when Reese’s Pieces appeared in E.T.? Product placement changed forever. Today’s millennials were born in a post-E.T. world, a more cynical world that saw opportunity in every piece of code of the new marketing venue, the internet. So millennials, their parents and their grandparents have become gifted at tuning out the marketing clamor. Your opportunity is to rise above the noise by offering the unexpected, whether it’s essential content, a product that will change their lives or even a dose of humor.
Social media often doesn’t translate to new customers.
So why am I creating new content on a social media platform? Because I believe that while each tweet I post does not bring a new customer through our doors, the ongoing content creation and relationship building that we pursue piques the interest of one more potential customer who didn’t know us before today. And when an Australian car blog post can set off an international feminist conversation about South Korean female drivers, well… it just goes to show that your (accurate) content has potential to reach an audience, too.
We’re expected to do more with less.
Post-recession, many marketing departments and communications executives are still expected to produce superlative results with smaller budgets. Think of this “con” as an antidote to boredom. Marketing plans today aren’t set in stone with a few Yellow Pages ads and a billboard. Budgets may now include professional online videos, ongoing social media presence, TV commercials, event placement, print materials and a range of other options. Marketers today must diversify and analyze the results of their choices to make the best decisions going forward. Each company’s marketing plan will (and should) look different.
Connectivity isn’t a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty scenario. You, as a clever marketing guru, can put the pieces of the puzzle together in a creative way that doesn’t match anyone else’s result. The creative voice, tone and message you share to represent your organization is yours and yours alone.
But beware: the process of navigating the changing marketing world may make an optimist of you, too!