Despite some public cynicism about social media marketing, companies have been quick to embrace the potential of this new medium. As with anything, there is a learning curve (as companies like Domino’s have discovered), but an increasing number of companies are seeing plenty of opportunities in the social media marketing (SMM) universe.
When SMM Goes Wrong The Impact is Far Reaching
The Domino’s case is an interesting one. For those who haven’t heard, two employees of the company posted a video on YouTube that showed them doing disgusting things with food before putting it into a sub. According to the Toronto Sun, the two employees have been fired and there is no evidence the food was served to customers. But the damage has been done.
The company should be cut a little slack here. There is no way it can control the silly actions of a couple of employees. While some observers may be somewhat sympathetic to their plight, many have noted how Domino’s – an SMM user – failed to use the SMM tools it knows so well to respond favourably and quickly to this PR disaster.
While I am not here to criticize Domino’s, their case shows the challenges of using social media for PR and marketing. By using these tools but not understanding them, the company has demonstrated why some social media users view companies’ efforts to communicate with suspicion.
Although Domino’s tried to communicate through social media, most observers felt that the company did not engage in any genuine manner with its audience. Their scripted video apology appeared insincere and self-serving and made a bad situation worse.
There is a clear lesson to businesses here. SMM is not a cakewalk. There are risks associated with using these tools incorrectly and with taking a superficial approach with your audience. As Domino’s discovered, bad news travels fast – one small misstep will be broadcast around the globe before you know it.
The Upside of SMM
Even though there is the chance of a backlash from people putting too much marketing spin into social media tools, companies are planning huge increases in their spending on social media marketing.
The website www.socialcomputingjournal.com posted an article with some statistics from recent studies by leading research firms Forester and Aberdeen. The numbers paint a very rosy picture of SMM, despite the economy and despite cautionary tales like the Domino’s story.
Forester surveyed 114 social media marketers at companies with 250 or more employees. They found that only 5% planned to decrease spending on SMM. While 42% plan to continue spending at current levels, 53% plan to increase spending in this area – even if the recession continues for another six months.
Aberdeen polled “best-in-class” companies around the world and found that 63% plan to increase social media marketing spending in 2009.
While these numbers don’t tell us the reasons why companies plan to boost spending, some MarketingSherpa stats cited in the article tell us the many benefits of marketing on social media: increasing brand awareness, improving search engine rankings, influencing brand reputation, and increasing website traffic. The vast majority of respondents (87-92%) felt that social media was somewhat or very effective in all of these areas.
So, if your company has been hesitant to hop on the social media marketing bandwagon – perhaps out of fear of doing it wrong – take a lesson from the numbers shown above. Many businesses are embracing this technology and far more are succeeding with it than failing.
Please check our Social Media Pricing, Reputation Management Pricing and Social Media A La Carte Pricing to choose the right social media strategy for your profile or business.