Before you jump on the social-media bandwagon, read this
If I had a nickel for every time a client said, with gleaming eyes, “Well, we need a Facebook/Twitter/MySpace/ presence and a blog, right?” I’d be a wealthy gal. Okay, maybe not, but I’d definitely have a lot more nickels.
Seems like everyone is hopping aboard that social-media bandwagon these days. And there’s definitely a place for it — IF, and it’s a big IF, it’s done as part of a thoughtful content strategy and not simply as a “me too!” afterthought.
But it’s not the magic bullet so many marketing folks think it is. If you don’t put in the time and effort in being responsive, interesting, relevant, you’re not going to see much come out of it. In fact, notes Tom Pisello, “the ROI Guy,” basic content marketing is more effective than social media and blogs. He draws that conclusion after reviewing a MarketingSherpa and IDG survey. According to Pisello:
Social Media and blog content lag considerably behind other marketing tools, particularly promotional and education content, tutorials / demos, competitive comparisons and buying guides, free research reports and peer best practice / benchmarking tools.
Those other tools are the items most likely to result in clicks. News articles (so dear to my heart as a former journalist!) and interactive peer-comparison tools are also pretty effective, according to the survey. Bringing up the bottom of the barrel? Blogs and social media, respectively.
Something to think about — and some potential ammunition the next time someone tells you they absolutely, positively feel the need to tweet.
Read the full post: Basic Content Marketing Trumps Social Media and Blogs
C.C. Holland 