Change is Hard; Social Media Implementation May Be Harder

I friend sent me a Harvard Business Review tip of the day. The "tip" was adapted from David Armano's book Debunking Social Media Myths and centers around the perception that social media is fast, easy and cheap to implement, which is timely and mostly true. There are numerous examples of social media going on in the Rx/Dx space.

 

You hear all kinds of opinions in and out the industry on whether Rx/Dx can be effective at social media. I would argue that with a resounding yes, but you have to fundamentally change your outlook on marketing. The traditional "campaign" mentality that if you build a campaign and run it for a duration of time is no longer true. The notion that social media can be turned into a campaign-like effort is flawed. 

 

The fundamental question that needs to be addressed is whether an organization can change their outlook on how you reach people. I think the idea that people are tuning you out is hard to take for many marketers and they think they can still engage with them in the same way--only better this time--is absolutely flawed.

 

So here are some truths I have found:

 

1) The way you did things before will no longer work

 

2) Campaigns are dead, consistent and ongoing efforts to provide value are in.

 

3) People fear what they don't know and kill what they fear.

 

4) Many people say they understand; few really do.

 

5) Marketing is suffering everywhere due to the inability to adapt.

 

That's my take, what's yours?