Gluttons for punishment, that CMO Council. Releasing another survey ripe for a Lairig Marketing smackdown.
This one is titled “Variance in the Social Brand Experience,” a clumsy turn of phrase for two reasons. First of all, “social brand experience” is nothing more than breast implants for “social media marketing,” but that’s a discussion for another day.
Secondly, the title implies that consumers are experiencing varying levels of satisfaction from what brands do on social sites. Not at all. This survey actually exposes a vast difference between marketers’ perceptions and consumers’ reality when it comes to social media.
To wit:
“According to marketers surveyed, customers like or engage because they want to be heard (41% chose this vaguely worded reason), or are looking for news or information about products (40%)…”
Versus surveyed consumers, who said they became fans of brands on social sites in order to:
“…Be eligible for exclusive offers (67%), interact with other customers (60%), play games and contests (65%).”
Surprise! The Crest brand manager thinks you’ve become a fan of his Facebook brand page in order to learn exactly how aluminum hydroxide works, when you really just want $1-off coupons.
This discrepancy should be enough to knock every social media practitioner down a peg or two, but it’s hard to see how it will when a CMO Council spokesperson spins like this:
“The social brand explosion has created a wave of loyalty among social consumers who are eager to show their support and share their experiences with others online, but this loyalty comes at a cost—from savings to games—that consumers see as their social currency…”
Ugh. Gag me with a coupon. Here is a better interpretation, without the buzzwords and B.S. – “Just give ‘em free sh&t.”
Too bad, because there is a tiny bit of wheat with this chaff. Only 17% of marketers in the survey claimed to have integrated social media into their other marketing tactics.
Humble opinion, but achieving full integration is the ultimate hurdle for social marketers. The low-hanging fruit is just about picked clean.
With that, then, here is some free advice for Facebook, as it rushes to get its IPO done before either or both Greece and Groupon default. During the investor road show, pitch how you are going to help companies achieve the vision of fully integrated marketing.
Because social networks cannot live by banner ads alone.
