Comparing the Effect of Social Marketing Tactics

The most effective tactic in social media usage is blogger relations. It is used by far fewer organizations, than less effective tactics primarily because of the effort it requires. At first glance, I thought the lesson from this chart is to start amping up blogger relations immediately.

But, as always with social media, hopping on the first thing one sees is the easy (and least effective) approach. And that’s what this chart is really showing. Too often, marketers focus on fast and easy ways to make use of social media instead of leveraging the most effective ways. Since social media is essentially free, why bother if something requires too much effort? Of course, in reality, social media is not free. You must invest a significant amount of time to do it right.

According to the Benchmark Report, “This focus on ‘fast and easy’ versus effectiveness is a problem that is far more prevalent with organizations in the trial phase of social marketing maturity than with more advanced social marketers working from a strategic social marketing plan.”

You see, in the end the most profitable approach to this new medium isn’t so new after all. Be strategic. Twitter is a tactic, not a strategy. And the real perfect marriage occurs when you pair proven marketing principles from your overall plan with social media tactics that make sense in your overall strategy.

You probably intrinsically know that this is the right thing to do, but I hope this little reminder helps you stay focused on what really works for your company as you execute on your 2010 plan. As for marrying the cute one from New Kids on the Block…I’ve got no advice to help you there.

Source: Marketing Experiments