Social Media vs. ROI – Clash of the Titans

A bit of history

When digital marketing first emerged, two groups quickly developed. The first group included those who embraced it willingly because they saw the opportunity that change brings, while the second group fought against it as they saw it as a threat to the way that they did business. In the first camp you had disruptive technology, typically younger individuals, and people who were more comfortable with the rise of the web. In the second camp you had traditional printers, ad agencies that have operated the same way for a long time in the same fashion and people generally worried that the ground was changing under them. These two camps warred for years until digital was so common that the concept of “Digital Marketing” was antiquated and people viewed it as just “Marketing”. The way that the war was won between these two camps was using a simple tool of ROI or Return on Investment.

Marketing online gave marketers far more insights to the patterns of their prospective customers. Concepts such as click flow patterns 20 years before could not have been applied to physical ads. This was the ammunition that the digital marketers employed to prove themselves in a traditional marketing world. This caused huge disruption to the agency and marketing world as people had to adapt to this new world. Due to being able to clearly understand customer patterns through newly revolutionized digital funnel metrics, the case was made for a more evenly distributed balance between traditional marketing (ads, direct mail and events) to digital media (websites, email and webinars). Now, many view these indivisibly from each other rather than as individual types of tactics.

Enter Social Media

Disruption came yet again by the hand of a 20 year old Harvard drop-out – enter Social Media into the mix. As a result of a project conceived within a dorm room, marketers scrambled yet again to thrive in a new world that they once thought was flat. In an effort to stay ahead, marketers learned some lessons from the last battle between the digital and traditional world but forgot a critical one, ROI.

Ironically, ROI  is the biggest missing element from the way that the majority of marketers have approached social media. ROI had been the instrument that helped convert traditional marketers, but marketers got caught up in the buzz of social media and abandoned two of their core principles: does it advance the brand, and does it make money. One could argue that since it is early days, one needs to make a land grab for this virtual space. The same argument could be used for people spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars for virtual islands in Second Life in the fear that they will miss out and be relegated to a bachelor apartment in a bad neighbourhood online. This fear of being “left behind” often causes even the most stalwart marketers to abandon their core and guiding principles.

Does ROI Matter?

I always argue that ROI matters – why, do you ask? ROI doesn’t always mean profit although many just boil it down to that ultra-simplistic bottom line. I would argue it is more about meeting your objectives. The concept of ROI transcends all professional or marketing rationale, I don’t want to waste my time or energy on something that just doesn’t work or doesn’t  help achieve my goals or objectives. This isn’t an indictment of trying new things, but rather a caution to ensure that new things are not jumped into blindly.

There is a generational issue as well as a tactic divide at play here. Now, you have a generation of Gen Y individuals who have been socialized with social networks and an older generation that doesn’t totally “get” the technology but doesn’t want to be caught flat footed. There is an inherent bias against the new from the older generation (gross generalization, I know).  As a result, they wade carefully in this newer medium. Many of those individuals still have scars from the last clash of tactics with traditional and digital marketing. The newer generation, to their credit, are fully versed in the technology and able to pivot and create something quickly. They do not carry the scars that some of their colleagues carry (for better or worse). What is in desperate shortage is people able to effectively bridge the gap between the experience and lessons learned in the last tactics clash and the youthful exuberance and skillset of Gen Ys.

Finding a Sherpa to get you to the top of the Social Media Mountain

Brands are desperately looking for a Sherpa to lead them up the mountain of social media. Now, here’s the part of the article where your jaw drops and you tweet your colleagues: There is no such thing as a Social Marketing Sherpa! That’s right I said it! Why then, do you ask, do so many people put on the clothes of a Sherpa, with the boots, hat a warm coat and pick axe in the hand and are ready to accept your money to “get you to the top”?. Well, an outfit does not a Sherpa make. I would argue that no one has really been to the top of the mountain therefore cannot sell a guided tour to that summit. That is not to say that people wearing a Sherpa’s clothes can’t get you to the top of the mountain. These marketers may well have the skillset, resources and raw ability to accomplish the feat – they just haven’t been there yet.  Some of these marketers argue that because they run these campaigns for large brands, they are therefore are doing it better than everyone else. All this means is that they are amplifying a message (perhaps the wrong message?) to a much larger audience than those that are failing on a much smaller scale with fewer resources.

The OldSpice Example – Again?! I know I apologize.

Using the Oldspice ad campaign as an example (which everyone uses by the way), is a good place to start. The “glass is half empty” individuals will automatically point to the fact that sales went down immediately after the campaign. On the other hand, the “glass is half full” side will point to the fact that they have recast the brand for a new generation. Aside from the case study benefit of this campaign, marketers may argue that since it was directed to women, who are more often than not actually purchase that product, it was probably a shrewd move. That said, time will tell whether this produces the desired impact and actually makes money. Axe Body spray has already come out with a competing ad stating “Axe is for men who’d rather be with a woman than on a horse”. I say let the games begin.

Just in case you have been living under a rock – OldSpice Guy Commercial

Axe Body Spray Response – Consumerist Article

Summary – Lessons Learned

We are still in the early days to see how this medium will be used by marketers and agencies(yes, I divide these two groups. I will explain in another blog post). People are getting closer, and they will continue to tinker to make this work. The Battle for Middle Earth is in full swing (shameless Lord of the Rings reference for the uninitiated) and it will likely that an unlikely Hobbit will accomplish this quest rather than the bravest warrior blinded by other ambitions. This adventure is far from over, there will be battles won and lost but one thing is for sure as soon as this adventure is over there will be a new one to start.

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