Image via WikipediaIs there anything good to be said about the plunge in equity markets and the deep freeze in credit markets? I think, yes. Bad times will motivate company after company to finally pull the trigger and start using social media for branding, marketing, public relations, customer service, and sales. I see a whole confluence of factors finally coming together to make this long overdue adaption take place.
Reason 1 – TRUST Financial collapse has destroyed whatever credibility big business had in the mind of the average consumer. The adspeak and corporate jargon of traditional corporate marketing has always been read with a jaundiced eye, but going forward, no company will get the benefit of the doubt – neither from customers, employees, suppliers, or strategic partners. People will want to know what other people think, how other people have experienced any particular company. That information is exchanged on social media, so companies had better engage. And they will.
Reason 2 – COST When ink flows red, companies cling to cash like a life preserver. Social media, compared to traditional media, are a bargain. Building a group of consumers around a FaceBook page or a blog community is less costly than a series of focus groups. Search engine marketing and Web advertising in general are a fraction of the cost of print media advertising. Traditional PR? Way more expensive than the online variety.
Reason 3 – RESULTS Not only is social media less expensive, it works better. People come and engage on a blog or a bookmarking site when they are interested. A company presence on social media attracts qualified visitors, people who are ready to learn, ask questions, or perhaps even purchase. In short, social media opens a channel to qualified prospects – just what the doctor ordered when new business becomes the only way to stay even.
Reason 4 – POWER SHIFT We Baby Boomers continue to move up or out of corporate America, clearing the decks for sales and marketing leaders who understand social media, who grew up and are comfortable doing business on the Web. The inevitable power shift will move into overdrive as the recession accelerates consolidation, early retirement plans, and unfortunately, large scale layoffs.
Is this wishful thinking? There’s also a tendency in bad times for companies to stick with the status quo. But in the case of social media, it seems as though the benefits outweigh the risks by a hefty margin. What are you seeing? More interest in social media, or less?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_a.png?x-id=19cd963d-9207-4bca-9457-9f04887f84f4)
Great solutions, Brad. In my experience, though, getting folks “over that hump” of “the way we always do things around here” is pretty hard. They’ve been trained to avoid change at all costs.
But with more and more pressure to focus on the bottom line, finally you can point them to solutions with a track record! Perhaps they’ll finally come around.
Robert Hruzeks last blog post..What I Learned From… Stress
Hi Robert, Yes, change is traumatic. But necessity is the mother of invention, and only the inventive can prosper in serious downturns.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Market DOOM Spells Social Media BOOM
Hi Brad, smart companies know that continuing to market through an economic downturn has a positive impact on revenues and sales. As such those companies are not abandoning traditional media but shifting dollars into the social media space – it is certainly cost efficient but it is also a strategic decision to go where customers are gathering.
Karen Swims last blog post..5 Tips to Spice Up Your Business
Karen, so true. Are you seeing this trend?
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Market DOOM Spells Social Media BOOM
I don’t know about social media, but I do know I’m getting more of my news from the web now. We’ve been getting the Wall Street Journal for years, and we’ve noticed the decline in quality…newspapers are being challenged by the internet and are having to respond or go out of business.
Good luck in benefiting from the changes!
Jean Browman–Cheerful Monks last blog post..Creating a Sacred Space
PS You’re wise in asking the question, “What’s the opportunity here?”
Jean Browman–Cheerful Monks last blog post..Creating a Sacred Space
Brad, I’m not sure. I think the changes that are going on are so fundamental and threatening that businesses might well hunker down and stick with what’s known rather than investing – even if it’s time rather than dollars – in something that’s still unfamiliar.
But I hope you’re right. It was a good set of arguments anyway!
Joanna Youngs last blog post..10 Ways to Link Out Responsibly
Brad,
I am not sure, too. I am not working in a business, but at a university, and public relation is done there the old way – with the exception that statements for the press are sent electronically as pdfs (which is a step forward, though). But there is no use of social media yet, and even no discussion about it. Change takes time, and the condition for investing time is, that you have the feeling, that it will be an advantage for you. But in order to get that feeling, you have at least to get informed – which takes time.
Ullas last blog post..The Art of Saying “No!”
Jean, It’s important to always be searching for the upside, no matter how difficult. Joanna, These certainly are unprecedented times, but companies that innovate seem to do a whole lot better than those that don’t in weak markets. Time will tell. Ulla, Awareness is a key issue, I agree. Here, business seems to have caught on to blogs and so forth – I think largely because of the popularity of YouTube and the references to political blogs in the mainstream media news. Social media is much more familiar to the business audience than it was even a year ago. In the educational sphere, I have no idea, but it strikes me as ironic (but not surprising) that a university, of all institutions, would be behind the curve – first, because they are all about learning, and second, because their market is young people who are social media users.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Welcome to the Sexy Sixties
Brad, you are absolutely right – it is ironic that our universities are so much behind the curve. But you must know that in Germany universities are part of public office, that means bureaucracy, bureaucracy. Some days ago I had to send an information regarding some health issue to all the employees via e-mail, and I had to send it to our IT-department so that they sent it away. I didn’t have the rights to do so. But I don’t give up…
Ulla Hennigs last blog post..The Art of Saying “No!”
Brad – this makes a whole heap of sense. I think we should start a social media site now. I reckon we could even charge some of the older business lot to join. My dad is clueless when it comes to the Internet and he can’t understand why we can’t charge folk to read our blogs. A dollar a month would soon add up. What do you reckon? We could all chip in and start a massive ad campaign.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Be A Business Success Story, No Matter What Your Age