Business and the Fear of the Social Media Monster

Even with all the statistics and information on the world wide web showing how great and important social media marketing is, companies still fear it.  After giving this some thought, I decided to confer with a few of Silicon Valley marketing professionals and CEOs in an attempt to get an answer to my question.  I came to the conclusion that their reasons were weak and could be solved easily.

Here is the list and my resolution to each problem:

#1  Companies lack experience and unfamiliar with social media marketing and don’t know what to look for in a person that fills this job.

Resolution:  This was the most difficult problem to solve for a variety of reasons.  There is no degree  for social media marketing, and it is hard to track what business is generated as a result of having a social media marketing campaign.

There are  a few sites  on the web that will help you measure the traffic that comes across your social media platform.  Comscore.com and quantcast.com both measure traffic.  While it is tough to attribute success to your social media campaign, this is better to have one than not.  A case can be made that social media helped get President Obama elected.  Data shown by Trendrr.com, an online statistic mashup tool, shows clearly that President Obama’s lead  was partially attributed to his using technology to connect with all audiences.  John McCain tried to make use of social media marketing, but started later than Obama and was still able to capture a large market share of social influence. 

#2 There is a fear that employees will waste time doing their own social media marketing.

Resolution: Many companies go through the work of blocking personal email and social media networks, like Facebook  in an attempt to keep employees from wasting time.  What they don’t realize is that most people have smartphones that are capable of accessing  these very same sites.  Remember, there are 29 million smartphones in the U.S.   You can’t stop people who are going to waste time.

#3  The fear that angry customers will damage the brand.  That is, they will say negative things about a product and hurt the integrity of the product.
Resolution: The fact is, the haters will hate, but if you have a strong  social media network, your network will come to your defense.  Also, your Social Media Manager  will take the opportunity to work with the angry customer to thank him for his comments and do damage control. Also, the complaint can be passed along so that changes can be made where necessary.  Starbucks has started to do this by creating its own social media marketing campaign. They have taken a huge leap into the social media market and have also created their  own online community. This online community has helped Starbucks improve their company and survive brand attack.

4.  Social media marketing is not cheap or free.
Resolution: I know several  social media marketing managers that manage hundred of accounts by themselves.  This cuts cost by having a single person do your social media marketing and gives companies the opportunity to move away from traditional print, television and radio ads.  These old marketing tools are going the way of the milkman.  The potential to save money and reinvent/reinvigorate their marketing plan is with social media marketing.

5.  Companies  fear that the company brand will be lost and that corporate secrets will be divulged.
Resolution: The truth is, anyone with a computer can post their opinion and make their voice heard.  If you are afraid of corporate secrets being divulged, the solution is to start using different hiring methods.

By Rand Owens