We’re very focused on the ROI of social media right now, the measures of success and proof of its legitimacy. Rightfully so, we’re determined to make sure that our efforts deliver or create value, mesh with our business goals, elevate our brand and integrate with our communication and outreach strategy.
But does every initiative have to succeed to be valuable? I say no.
There are plenty of examples of epic failures in social media like the Wal*Mart fiasco, and probably hundreds if not thousands of examples of smaller, quieter failures. Not all of them exploding in a fiery inferno of crashtastic glory, but just the meager whimper of defeat. Without failure, can we really ever define or appreciate success?
Failure teaches us several things, like:
Perspective. When you are the steward of a brand, its champion and sherpa, it can be really easy to avoid seeing the forest. Failing at something makes you shift your viewpoint and see things from a different angle.
Perseverance: Sound social media strategy is a long term commitment, scary though that may be for some. Getting knocked down tests your mettle, and separates those who are in it for the long haul from those who are in it for instant gratification.
Reflection. By far the hardest part of owning up to failure is the question “why?”. It’s hard to take a pragmatic stance and critical eye, and turn it on yourself. Especially if your initiative was your “baby” for a time, it can really sting to admit that you had something wrong. The best part is that in order to right the ship, you have to take stock of the real reasons why something didn’t work, and fix them. (And yes you guessed it, that in and of itself takes time, effort, and dedication.)
Engagement. Ah, the irony. I put this here because I firmly believe that many failed social media initiatives were hatched in a fishbowl, without giving a fig for the people who might actually be – *gasp* – the target of said initiative. Instead of looking at these endeavors through a different, more transparent lens, we marketers and communicators may try to use a two-way mechanism to push out a one-way message. By failing, we might look to our community for feedback, and uncover some valuable learnings.
Culture Shift. By having a candid conversation about all of the above, you may discover that there are changes you need to make to your very culture in order to allow social media to thrive. Breaking down silos, for example, or empowering and trusting people outside your communications department to forge connections with your customers.
The Definition of Success. You may have thought that driving traffic to a site was your measure of success, but when that doesn’t happen, perhaps you’ll discover that your customers want to hear from you differently. Maybe you’ll find that while downloads of your video were initially the goal, the feedback you got in the comments was enough to drive product innovation. Simply put, sometimes failure is defined by the goals you set out to achieve in the first place, but hidden successes are there all the while.
Do you think that we have to keep failing in order to ultimately triumph? Does a failed social media endeavor mean that social media itself is irrelevant or inappropriate? Can we learn to better measure success by analyzing the shortfalls? How have you dealt with something that didn’t go the way you planned? I want to know what you think.
There is no social media silver bullet. The metrics for measurement are in it’s infancy but evolving.
It is a long term commitment and people/brands need to understand that. Evolution and pushing the edges and finding what works best for your brand is the key (and a process). Not all are the same nor will work with equal success depending on a lot of factors; the least of which is relevancy and the eco-system.
Cheers!
There is no social media silver bullet. The metrics for measurement are in it’s infancy but evolving.
It is a long term commitment and people/brands need to understand that. Evolution and pushing the edges and finding what works best for your brand is the key (and a process). Not all are the same nor will work with equal success depending on a lot of factors; the least of which is relevancy and the eco-system.
Cheers!
You make a lot of great points. I’m glad we met last night; I’ll be tuning in to read more.
Kim/hormone-colored dayss last blog post..New Food Review at Scrambled CAKE: Hana Asian Bistro
You make a lot of great points. I’m glad we met last night; I’ll be tuning in to read more.
Kim/hormone-colored dayss last blog post..New Food Review at Scrambled CAKE: Hana Asian Bistro
Bringing up the “Wal-Mart Effect” reinforces something that has been integral to my approach since I entered this field: transparency. They would never have suffered the backlash that they did if it were not for the duplicitous stance of trying to disavow connection to the PR company.
I blog for several organizations, some on long term contracts, and refuse to do so unless there is a notation somewhere on the site that I am a hired gun. Its all part and parcel of the need for honest dialogue. Conversation, not sales pitch.
In addition I have had the opportunity to show them how admitting and owning up to a bad call call be better in the long run because it is a sign of integrity. In my view it is integrity of interaction that is the appeal of socmed. If you do not have it you will rapidly get discounted as SPAM.
I suppose that my view is a little different from most people in this field. I stumbled into social media and blogging during Hurricane Katrina when they became the means to both contact missing friends and also fight for a proper rebuilding of our city. It is merely my good fortune that I seem to have enough of a knack for it that I can make a living.
Cannot wait to see what the rest of your readership has to contribute to this discussion!
Bringing up the “Wal-Mart Effect” reinforces something that has been integral to my approach since I entered this field: transparency. They would never have suffered the backlash that they did if it were not for the duplicitous stance of trying to disavow connection to the PR company.
I blog for several organizations, some on long term contracts, and refuse to do so unless there is a notation somewhere on the site that I am a hired gun. Its all part and parcel of the need for honest dialogue. Conversation, not sales pitch.
In addition I have had the opportunity to show them how admitting and owning up to a bad call call be better in the long run because it is a sign of integrity. In my view it is integrity of interaction that is the appeal of socmed. If you do not have it you will rapidly get discounted as SPAM.
I suppose that my view is a little different from most people in this field. I stumbled into social media and blogging during Hurricane Katrina when they became the means to both contact missing friends and also fight for a proper rebuilding of our city. It is merely my good fortune that I seem to have enough of a knack for it that I can make a living.
Cannot wait to see what the rest of your readership has to contribute to this discussion!
Amber, Good Morning, There sure is a lot of yak right now about ROI. At least in our industry I challenge the executives I speak with to first measure what you are current doing, because asking to see the ROI on Social Media is only an excuse to stay away from it but…..as with most marketing, you can’t measure ROI accurately. Does the sale come from where we are marketing or is the marketing where the sale is. Marketing an more an art and is not tangible and even if you don’t subscribe that it can’t be measured, it is difficult at best.
For that reason, in order to really test out this Social Media craze we ceased all traditional marketing three years ago at our little boutique business. So…., I feel like I have a deep knowing it works, because that is all we use. This may not be prudent for all business types for sure, but until the executives making that marketing money decisions are willing to let go of some the old ways that really, really do not work, helping them understand will be a slow process.
Perhaps the most significant piece of the Social Media marketing that we have encountered is that we have made connections to our residents that never exist under traditional marketing. The value of that is just off the chart.
Eric Browns last blog post..Brand Checkup; What do They Think?
Amber, Good Morning, There sure is a lot of yak right now about ROI. At least in our industry I challenge the executives I speak with to first measure what you are current doing, because asking to see the ROI on Social Media is only an excuse to stay away from it but…..as with most marketing, you can’t measure ROI accurately. Does the sale come from where we are marketing or is the marketing where the sale is. Marketing an more an art and is not tangible and even if you don’t subscribe that it can’t be measured, it is difficult at best.
For that reason, in order to really test out this Social Media craze we ceased all traditional marketing three years ago at our little boutique business. So…., I feel like I have a deep knowing it works, because that is all we use. This may not be prudent for all business types for sure, but until the executives making that marketing money decisions are willing to let go of some the old ways that really, really do not work, helping them understand will be a slow process.
Perhaps the most significant piece of the Social Media marketing that we have encountered is that we have made connections to our residents that never exist under traditional marketing. The value of that is just off the chart.
Eric Browns last blog post..Brand Checkup; What do They Think?
Amber, it seems to me that we must continue to remind clients that there is no silver bullet. There are many, many failures in traditional marketing as well. How many times have we recommended an ad or direct mail campaign that flopped? Your point about perseverance may be the most important. This is ONE strategy in a long-term plan–to have unreal expectations is to invite discouragement. Thanks for your post. Great insights.
Jack Hadleys last blog post..What’s in a name?
Amber, it seems to me that we must continue to remind clients that there is no silver bullet. There are many, many failures in traditional marketing as well. How many times have we recommended an ad or direct mail campaign that flopped? Your point about perseverance may be the most important. This is ONE strategy in a long-term plan–to have unreal expectations is to invite discouragement. Thanks for your post. Great insights.
Jack Hadleys last blog post..What’s in a name?
@Rodney No silver bullet indeed! I fear that sometimes we throw a bunch of darts at the board in hopes that one will stick. If we take the time to truly understand what our customers want from us, our chances of success increase tenfold.
@Kim It was my pleasure to meet you too, and look forward to more fun with SMC.
@George I love your point about owning up when you screw up. It happens to everyone, but the transparency of saying “yep, we should have done that differently” can go a long way to building trust. After all, who do you respect more? The guy who tries to make it look like he never screws up, or the guy who screws up and owns it? I know my answer. Thanks for your great perspective!
@Eric You, my friend, are indeed unique, though I love what you’re doing. Social media can work hand in hand with traditional marketing – and for many companies it should – but it is indeed a commitment that requires as much of a culture shift sometimes as an operational one.
To me, the trick in finding ROI is by not trying to measure the relationships themselves, but by meausring the *effects* of those relationships. Customer loyalty, brand affinity, enthusiasm, and retention are all good ways to know if the relationships you’re forging have staying power. 🙂
@Jack You got it! Boy I remember a few ill advised direct mail campaigns for sure. But it seems to me that social media isn’t treated with the same sense of acceptance that traditional techiniques are when they fail. Direct mail as an accepted form of traditional marketing gets a “break” when a campaign bombs sometimes. But social media in many circles is still seen as some kind of adolescent internet junk, and it doesn’t have the same credibility to withstand a flop or two. In my experience, companies are much quicker to throw the baby out with the bathwater in social media then they are in advertising or direct mail, since those media have credibility on their side – regardless of whether or not they deserve all of it.
Amber Naslunds last blog post..Failure As A Teacher: Why Social Media Doesn’t Always Have To Work.
@Rodney No silver bullet indeed! I fear that sometimes we throw a bunch of darts at the board in hopes that one will stick. If we take the time to truly understand what our customers want from us, our chances of success increase tenfold.
@Kim It was my pleasure to meet you too, and look forward to more fun with SMC.
@George I love your point about owning up when you screw up. It happens to everyone, but the transparency of saying “yep, we should have done that differently” can go a long way to building trust. After all, who do you respect more? The guy who tries to make it look like he never screws up, or the guy who screws up and owns it? I know my answer. Thanks for your great perspective!
@Eric You, my friend, are indeed unique, though I love what you’re doing. Social media can work hand in hand with traditional marketing – and for many companies it should – but it is indeed a commitment that requires as much of a culture shift sometimes as an operational one.
To me, the trick in finding ROI is by not trying to measure the relationships themselves, but by meausring the *effects* of those relationships. Customer loyalty, brand affinity, enthusiasm, and retention are all good ways to know if the relationships you’re forging have staying power. 🙂
@Jack You got it! Boy I remember a few ill advised direct mail campaigns for sure. But it seems to me that social media isn’t treated with the same sense of acceptance that traditional techiniques are when they fail. Direct mail as an accepted form of traditional marketing gets a “break” when a campaign bombs sometimes. But social media in many circles is still seen as some kind of adolescent internet junk, and it doesn’t have the same credibility to withstand a flop or two. In my experience, companies are much quicker to throw the baby out with the bathwater in social media then they are in advertising or direct mail, since those media have credibility on their side – regardless of whether or not they deserve all of it.
Amber Naslunds last blog post..Failure As A Teacher: Why Social Media Doesn’t Always Have To Work.