5 Reasons why social marketing is a mess ! via @davidmerzel’s BLOG

Interesting article in resultcount blog

There are at least 5 reasons why social media continues to be a “mess” in marketing:

1. Perception of “Free” While social media has been free or at least low cost, the resources required to execute are extensive and growing.  To be “heard” and to continue to connect with consumers now requires extensive, multi-social media execution, not just signing up for a free fan page or account.
2. Too many cooks – Social media marketing grew out of many groups just doing it.  As a result, social media initiatives are spread all over the organization.  Often social media are not managed as part of the overall strategy or media marketing mix.
3. Few benchmarks – Social media is so new, there are few benchmarks for execution.  There are also few benchmarks for budgeting and incorporating social media into overall media strategy and processes.
4. Fewer metrics – What’s a “fan” or “like” worth?  There are few systematic or standard metrics for measuring impact of social media.  To be legitimate, social media needs metrics like other media for both efficiency and effectiveness. 
5. Results Count – In the frenetic days of launching social media, it has been all about numbers of connections or followers.  That is analogous to reach and frequency of other kinds of media.  The general lack of measuring sales uplift and ROI does not help to legitimatize social media or budgets with the CMO.

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