One of the questions I often get asked when I meet a new client is "should we replace traditional media with online marketing or social media?" and more often than not my answer is no. Why? Because the role of marketing and communications is to strategically align our businesses with our consumer, brand supporter and stakeholders, and let's not kid ourselves, people have lives away from in front of their computers.
Need proof?
According to a survey by Synovate, 58% of adults surveyed in 17 countries (Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the US) did not know what social networking was, with only 26% of respondents belonging to social networking sites and 36% of social network users losing interest in online social networking altogether. 78% of social networkers, specially in Central and Eastern Europe, further agreed that people would be better off doing outdoor activities than spending time in front of a computer all the time.
Personally I have to agree - blame it on being Portuguese
However it's about balance. Online marketing - especially one that is socially driven - is an important, targeted communication strategy for consumer-facing brands, specifically with the survey pointing out that 37% of all people from the UAE, 35% of South Africans and 29% of Taiwanese having more friends online than they have offline. What this means is that while social media and online marketing is not a mass communication tool, the Internet can and should be used to complement and extend a brand's offline activations and marketing efforts by speaking to niche and/or targeted communities for the purposes of building relationships, reputation and support.
David Griner asks the question "is social networking (social media) shrinking?" My view is that people are becoming more experienced and as with most things in life the novelty of social networking is wearing off, especially across developed markets. With this comes the fact that those who remain on social networking sites are genuinely interested and active users of same, which affords companies the opportunity to look for measurable, value-based methods of penetrating this "ecosystem". This is a good thing.
What do you think? Is social networking shrinking? Should companies pay it any attention?
