Don't expect sales to result from social media

I know - digital marketers love it when I bash social media. It's not that it's bad. I participate myself. The issues arise in basic expectation management. Companies are expected to spend upwards of 25% of their marketing budgets on social media in the next few years... because anybody who's anybody knows that social media is THE future. We have to get our strategy figured out. Hire a 18-year-old, determine our twitter handle, get our tumblr page and investigate out reddit strategy.

Easy, tiger. 

While it's clear you need to go digital or go home, what isn't clear is where that road is going... or how it will affect the bottom line. 

Consider this: Coca-Cola, the largest player in the social media space has announced that there's been no sales impact from their social media presence. Your eyes aren't playing tricks: THEY SAW NO INCREASE IN SALES.

And so I ask you, why are marketers involving social media in their strategies? If it's purely a brand play with the sole idea to engage customers with the brand, that might be arguable... but in the last month I've had half a dozen people ask me how to turn off promotional posts in Facebook. Unless you're Harley or Apple that has a dedicated following where people are willing to tattoo your brand identity on their bodies - your consumers don't want to be your friend. They will come to you when they need something. Not hang out at the mall. What it can do is offer a platform to provide better understanding of what your brand stands for - just don't expect it to be a true 2-way conversation. Especially one that will end up in increased sales.

When was the last time you used Facebook to decide what car to buy? You wouldn't. You post pictures of your kids, kitties, or palm trees to make your friends jealous of your vacation - social media is an escape, a platform to preach whatever you feel you want... but you still go to the reputed sources to make informed purchase decisions. 

I'm not saying social media is stupid and shouldn't be included in the mix. Not at all. What I'm saying is you need to understand how it's used and manage your expectations of what it can deliver.

For PR and public affairs it can have legs. The trouble is in how "easy" it is to measure. Or how deceiving it can be. 

For those of us who are interested in doing things that actually affect the bottom line and impact revenue, we might want to think seriously about the fact that social media is... social. In other words, people interacting with people. No one wants to be sold to, but they will buy. If they think it's their idea.

Forcing ideas onto people or being in a space in a way that's not in line with the brand personality is like when your mom started saying "chill out" or "rad." It's wierd. Know your place. Know what it can deliver and always remember your brand attributes.

Other than that, happy posting. Oh, and your kids' pics, inspirational quotes and pictures of your dinner are awesome. I keep forgetting to mention that.