Alineación PNPDIM y PEO

As statistics in the previous chapters show, access to the Internet in general, and social media in particular, is no longer the domain of the offi ce or house-bound PC. Indeed, had it not been for the development and popularization of the smartphone there would have to be a question over the rise of the use of social media. For example, would ‘friends’ tell each other about their every move if they could only do so after the event when they got home? Or what is the value of tweets if they can only be read when the receiver can sit down in front of a PC? The easy access to mobile devices and the emergence of the ‘always connected’ customer has, therefore, made a signifi cant impact on the organization’s marketing, in particular its social media marketing.

Furthermore, ‘mobile device’ is no longer a description limited to smartphones or even hand-held devices such as tablet computers. Glasses and watches seem to be leading the way, but what other ‘wearable’ devices will the future bring? The devices need not be ‘personal’. More ‘things’ are connecting to the Internet than people – with Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) predicting (in 2010) that some 25 billion devices will be Internet- connected by 2015, and 50 billion by 2020 – the so-called ‘Internet of things’. It seems likely that sometime in their career, students using this book as part of a college or university programme will spend time not marketing to people but to their cars, houses and white goods. Consider also just how much data those things can give marketers about their owners. Big data indeed.

As with all marketing, however, just because (almost) everything can be made ‘smart’ does not mean it is right for every product, brand or organization. If the technology does not meet the needs of the customer or enhance their experience then investment in it is not worthwhile. Furthermore, technology should not confuse the customer or complicate their experience of the product, brand or organization – that will simply send customers into the waiting arms of competitors who understand relationships with customers better.

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More ‘things’ are connecting to the Internet than people

54 Strategic social media marketing

Chapter exercises

1. Using an organization that you have knowledge of, or your college or university, assess its web-compatibility according to Paul Boag’s criteria. 2. To what extent are you a ‘reverse customer’?

3. Go online to fi nd other defi nitions or descriptions of ‘big data’. Discuss the differences and why they have come about.

References

Boag, P. (2013) Is Your Organisation Web-compatible? www.econsultancy.com. Available on www.econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62781-is-your-organisation- web-compatible

Charlesworth, A. (2009) The Digital Revolution. Dorling Kindersley.

Charlesworth, A. (2014) Digital Marketing: A Practical Approach (2nd edn). Routledge. Cisco (2010) The Internet of Things. Available online at www.share.cisco.com/internet-

of-things.html

Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D. and Welch, M. (2013) Embracing Digital Technology: A New Strategic Imperative. MIT Sloan Management Review, 7 October.

McGovern, G. (2013) The Growth of Reverse Marketing. Available online at www. gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/growth-reverse-marketing

4 Ownership and measurement

Such is the nature of social media market- ing, and so quick has been its introduction and development, that there is not yet a defi nitive answer to the question of which department has ‘ownership’ – and so, man- agement – of its operation. As with any cor- porate initiative, without a single point of ownership, those initiatives are extremely diffi cult to control and manage – and so will be unlikely to succeed in their objectives. Although operational issues can be spread around appropriate departments, that effective social media marketing is a key element of the organization’s overall marketing and communications strategies would suggest that overall control should be with the marketing department responsible for strategic deci- sion making. However, if strategic responsibility lies within the marketing department, that is not where operational maintenance of the organization’s social media presence necessarily belongs. Depending, obviously, on the size of the organization and its proposed involvement in social media market - ing, various aspects of the strategy can be handled by other departments – conceivably not part of the company’s marketing team. An engineer, for example, might be the most suitable person to maintain an engineering blog – though under guidance of ‘marketing’ and following a pre-determined code of practice. Such policies are, however, rare.

However, it is this very practice of apportioning work to staff with the appropriate skills that has caused – and will continue to do so – problems with ‘ownership’. For example, it is not uncommon for operational aspects of social media marketing to be practised by staff who have the ability to write effec- tively and with the necessary skills, training and education to represent the product, brand or organization in the social media environment – with the public relations department being an obvious choice (this is equally true of public relations agencies if social media marketing is to be out-sourced). It is most commonly the case that public relations staff come from a journalistic background or have studied journalistic skills as part of a public relations-based

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Without a single point of ownership, those initiatives are extremely diffi cult to control and manage

56 Strategic social media marketing

degree programme. However, no matter how skilled public relations staff are at conducting day-to-day social media marketing, they rarely have the relevant education and/or experience to see the role social media marketing plays in a wider marketing strategy – the potential for a narrow focus resulting in an over-infl ated opinion of the importance of social media marketing’s role in overall marketing objectives being an obvious example.

Whether any social media marketing ndertaken is tactical or strategic, it is ertain that any participation requires a signifi cant amount of work. At the lower end – in an offl ine small business, for example – it has to be someone’s job. imilarly, at strategic level, continuing resources must be budg- eted for – effective social media marketing on the cheap is simply not possible.

Note that the comment ‘marketing on social media (for example, Facebook or Twitter) is free’ is completely erroneous and can only be argued by someone who does not know what social media marketing truly is or what it involves if it is to be effective. Certainly, setting up a page on – for example – Facebook is free (or at least it was at the time of writing), but maintaining it is not. If one member of staff spends an hour per week developing that site then the cost is an hour as a percentage of that person’s total cost (business students and/or owners should realize that an employee’s costs are far more than simply their wage or salary). This scenario was played out at budget airline Ryanair when in January 2013 the then newly-appointed head of communications, Robin Kiely, announced that the company was to turn its back on social media, with one reason being cited that maintaining a dedicated Facebook account would mean ‘hiring two more people just to sit on Facebook all day’. That is the tangible cost – there is also the intangible cost to the product, brand or organization of a poorly maintained social media presence.

Addressing the question of whether the organization has the resources to keep up a social media marketing strategy is essential before any commit- ment is undertaken. Social media marketing must be considered an ongoing process, not a campaign that has an end-date – as does a TV advertis- ing promotion, for example. Breaking off from a social media marketing initia- tive is likely to have a negative impact that is inversely proportional to any objectives it might have been launched with. Furthermore, TV advertisements can be budgeted in advance; for an effective social media presence fi nancial commitment must go beyond the fi scal year in which it is launched. As it is always on-going, social media should be considered a journey, not a destination.

However, no matter which department holds responsibility for strategic management of social media marketing – as we have seen in Chapter 3 – any social media marketing is likely to be doomed to failure if the culture, or ethos, of the organization is not suited to existing in the social media environment.

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effective social media marketing on the cheap is simply not possible

Although, in this quote, public relations specialist Catriona Pollard (PublicRelationsSydney.com) focuses on social networks, the sentiment is the same for all aspects of social media. She says:

Social networks exist to facilitate dialogue between passionate people. Their passion might be for a particular product, a cause, a celebrity or a football team, but they’re all in it together and they want to fi nd other like-minded people to share their feelings with. If your business isn’t the kind of organization that people are passionate (or at least mildly enthused) about, creating a social network around yourself will only serve to highlight that fact.

If the nature of your product or organization doesn’t generate enthusiasm, then the very culture of the organization might disqualify it from participation in social media marketing. This is because perhaps the most signifi cant impact of social media is that the marketer no longer has control over the brand – ‘a frighte- ning thought for many who practise in the fi eld’ (Charlesworth 2009). Whether the organization perceives this loss of control as an opportunity or threat may well determine how well that organization will prosper in the new marketing environment. Those not prepared to let go of control of their brand, at least a little, have little future in the social media environment. Charlene Li (2010) considers how the management and culture of an organization must adapt if it is to be successful in social media. She states that ‘. . . open leaders must act as a catalyst to creating greater openness in organization, in ways that differ signifi - cantly from traditional leadership’ and contests that it is only through openness that those staff charged with maintaining the organization’s social media pres- ence can operate effectively. Figure 4.1 illustrates some of the differences between traditional and open leadership.

A fi nal matter is one which is commonly the option of choice for many organizations when faced with introducing a new operations – that of out- sourcing. As with all aspects of marketing, there are agencies who will take on the social media marketing for the product, brand or organization. Whilst this is an effective alternative to creating a new department and recruiting or re-allocating staff, out-sourced operations will still require someone – or a department – to oversee those operations and co-ordinate them within the organization.

Measurement

Although it may seem to be stating the obvious, before continuing with this section it is worth emphasizing that the choice of what is the right measure- ment for any social media marketing is determined by the objectives of that social media marketing strategy. It never ceases to amaze me just how many organizations set out on any form of digital marketing without any distinct objectives, and social media marketing is perhaps the most guilty of all. Having

58 Strategic social media marketing

Figure 4.1 Traditional vs open leadership.

determined objectives, there are a number of ways to measure their success – or otherwise.

Those marketers who were early exponents of social media marketing followed conventional wisdom and assumed that audience size was the most important measure of success. Products, brands and organizations did little more than set up a social presence and then worked hard to gain fans, followers or connections by a series of tactics that owed more to traditional marketing than the new social medium. Contests and ‘like-bait’ content certainly ran up the ‘follower’ count – but did nothing to encourage connection and relevance.

In document Plan de Acción de Género UE Guatemala (página 35-38)