A study released today called 'An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World' stated that of people who identify themselves as social media marketers, 65.5% have never posted an update on Twitter....
Like some others, I find this is slightly odd.
An excerpt from B&T's top 50 marketing bloggers shows that some key figures in digital marketing believe that it's essential to be part of the landscape that you are promoting to your clients...
Iain McDonald, managing partner at Amnesia (whose blog ranks 17th), had taken the unusual step of asking all staff to get on to Twitter in September 2008.
"We've immersed ourselves in social media," McDonald says.
"We believe that the only way to really learn is to get your own hands dirty. We follow the debate and having the debate is healthy as far as I can see."
I am a firm advocate of immersing yourself in your craft - do you agree?
FACT: You can't truly understand the social web unless you're in it
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8 Responses to "FACT: You can't truly understand the social web unless you're in it" (Leave A Comment)
June 12, 2009 at 3:05 AM
With you 100% on this one. You're not allowed to be consulting, recommending or even given advice on tools you haven't been working with yourself.
And realistically, you can still write a blog but if it doesn't have readers or comments then that might not be that relevant either.
June 14, 2009 at 7:27 PM
For years advertising agencies have sold advertising to their clients, yet very few have ever advertised in their own right. So this type of approach is hardly new.
However, one of the reasons to actually get your hands dirty is that the constant innovation and change that happens online teaches you to be resilient and resourceful in ways that are hard to understand without participation. It is by working with the different tools and platforms that you are able to find learn what works, when you should use it and why.
June 14, 2009 at 7:36 PM
I completely agree...
This 'new marketing' requires a very different approach than traditional media channels have previously demanded.
There are numerous trends, platforms and systems popping up every day, to truly understand the value (or lack thereof)of each for our clients, we ideally need to be participants of the social web...
June 18, 2009 at 4:36 AM
zoe - agree with your point. people should have a solid grasp on the tools that are relevant to their role and I think the ad/media industry have generally done this for a long time.
on the flipside, there's maybe an argument that if you get too immersed in these tools you start to lose a grasp on how joe schmoe views and uses them. personally i think this happens as we generally overestimate the importance and wow factor of new things without being as diligent/impartial as we could be.
gavin - interesting first point and one i tend to sway on a bit. you'd only advertise if you felt it would bring you new business that was drawing enough revenue to make the ad investment worthwhile and i'm not sure it really would.
we have done tactical advertising during pitches aimed at prospective clients - sometimes it's noticed, other times not so much.
June 18, 2009 at 6:04 PM
@Ben
I totally agree that us marketing geeks can get caught up in blogs, twitter and social media cliques.
We can and do lose sight of the fact that not everyone is on Twitter, not everyone writes a blog or reads one reguarly and social media, for joe schmoe, doesn't mean anything...
But i still think understanding how a tool works inside out (such as Twitter) can give you a valuable insight as to whether or not it's the right platform, has the right functionality and right audience for your client...
June 18, 2009 at 8:09 PM
totally agree :)
June 22, 2009 at 12:32 AM
I wouldn't get sex advice from a virgin. Same applies here.
June 22, 2009 at 12:36 AM
@Nathan I love your analogy....i should have written that one sentence and left it at that...!
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