The problem with a lot of traditional marketing is that the call to action is too heavy-handed. “Visit your Toyota dealer now” or “Call this toll-free number” or “McRib is back, but only for a limited time.”
Each of these forces the recipient of the message – the consumer – to make a yes/no decision. You either care enough about Toyota, or Franklin Mint china plates with the picture of a beagle, or McRib sandwiches to act, or you do not. (in my case: yes, no, hell yes)
Marketing was wholly oriented this way until about 1995, when the advent of the Web gave consumers the option to have a brand hors d’oeuvre instead of the whole meal. Visit the Web site to learn more about Toyotas, or limited edition plates, or pressed meat sandwiches – and then decide.
But most Web sites then (and sadly, now) are not tuned to drive consumers to act. Instead, they are disconnected bits of information that you digest in a sequence of your choosing. With most sites functioning like libraries with the card catalog strewn across the floor, is it any wonder that average conversion rate is below 3%?
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To help assuage this problem, companies and organizations embraced the email newsletter. “Just give us your email address, and we’ll send you incredibly important, relevant information about Mcrib on an infrequent, hardly-ever-annoying basis,” they promised. The problem is that email marketing – while still the most effective form of marketing on an ROI basis – is TOO easy for brands. Especially in a down economy, it’s incredibly simple to “just send another email” – which is why I wondered last January whether email was killing your company. Consequently, that promised relevancy and infrequency gets compromised, and your relationship with your customers – many of whom are not yet customers but still on the fence – goes right out the door.
Isn’t that a bitter pill? You spend big money on a TV campaign, but most people bail out in the conversion funnel because your email program wasn’t targeted and didn’t respect consumers’ time?
We’re All on the Same Team
This happens because the people doing TV, radio, print, outdoor, banners, etc. are not the same people that are handling email (or social media) in many organizations. Thus, the email and social media isn’t treated as a way to answer questions that are unanswered in your traditional marketing (or poorly answered by your Web site). Instead, they are often handled like a separate exercise, divorced from traditional communications – as if what your customers see on television has no impact on how they perceive your email and social media efforts, and vice versa.
And now, with email newsletter fatigue at an all-time high because marketers largely still haven’t committed to the relatively simple step of making email communication personally relevant, I see social media stepping into the conversion funnel breach.
Social Media as Conversion Bridge
Social media is the perfect conversion half-step. Not sure whether you’re ready to buy a Toyota? Visit us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, or read our blog, or watch our videos. Each of them will show you what our brand is REALLY like, and you won’t have to wade through all this pesky navigation and flash movies to get what you need.
Thinking of social media participation as part of the overall brand conversion funnel changes our expectations about social media ROI. Social media is a contributing factor that bridges from interest to action, like a spunky sommelier that upsells you on an intriguing Syrah. Thus, maybe we should start focusing measurement on number of social media engagements that stem from traditional marketing, rather than social media engagements that happen in lieu of traditional marketing?
If you consider social media to be a kicker rather than a quarterback, a piece of the marketing ecosystem that nudges consumers toward purchase – but isn’t expected to shoulder the entire burden – then don’t the questions of social media staffing and budgets and success metrics get a lot easier to answer?
Isn’t it easier to embrace social media if we think of it as a samaritan, not a savior?
Hello Jay,
We live in Beijing where social media (and social life) is rather different than in the states. I used to live in CA for 8 years, fwiw.
Regarding the Samaritan, something I noticed over here is that friendships and connections is what lands deals — long term deals. But, you can’t fake it! You have to be willing to go the extra yard.
Business is very hard here but, if you put yourself out for someone else (i.e. Samaritan) the rewards do come to you.
Isn’t it interesting that the more fractured society becomes (and the more isolated people feel), the more social activities are valued.
Signed up for the newsletter. Looks great.
Ivan
From a freezing Beijing
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | Email Marketing Advice … [link to post]
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Good Convince & Convert post today: “Social media is a contributing factor that bridges from interest to action” [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: RT @BraunDoug: Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior: [link to post] #fpurise
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RT @jaybaer: RT @BraunDoug: Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior: [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior: [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: RT @BraunDoug: Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior: [link to post] I agree. Integration in marketing IS the…
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“Social media is the perfect conversion half-step.” – @jaybaer [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior: [link to post] (@jaybaer)
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RT @jaybaer Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | Email Marketing Advice | Social Media Consulting – Convince &… [link to post]
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RT @tweetmeme Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | Email Marketing Advice | Social Media Consulting – Convince… [link to post]
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Take a moment to read RT .@jaybaer Social Media is Samaritan not Savior [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer Maybe we’re making too much of this. Maybe social media is the kicker, not the quarterback? [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer: Maybe we’re making too much of this. Maybe social media is the kicker, not the quarterback? [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior [link to post] (via @jaybaer)
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RT @chuckhemann: Maybe we’re making too much of this. Maybe social media is the kicker, not the quarterback? [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior. How to manage your social media amongst other activity [link to post]
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Social media is a “spunky sommelier?” Perhaps the most awesome description in the history of the social web.
This is a key point, though. Many of my clients go into a project looking at “sales leads” … which is a legitimate need, especially in a recession. However, if they consider the entire value chain and every customer touch point, the benefits of the social web can be so much more effective, applicable and logical.
In the huge hype about social media marketing, I think people lose sight of the fact that social media is just part of the equation. Social media won’t save your marketing strategy if it’s completely broken. What’s more, integrating social media into a marketing strategy takes a lot more effort than just making profiles; sometimes it requires a total overhaul of the business model before social media really makes sense.
.-= Jeffrey Tang´s last blog ..Free is Not Enough =-.
Absolutely amazing blog you have here and I just love reading about Social Media and as such I wanted to thank you properly for the quality content.
Mark McCulloch
.-= Mark McCulloch´s last blog ..Time Management – 4 Key Tips to Time Management That Help You Run Smoothly =-.
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Social media as ‘a samaritan, not a savior’ – from @jaybaer [link to post]
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Hi Jay,
Again you have pulled something which brands really don’t want to listen i.e if there is some problem in there physical way of dealing with things social media can’t help at all.
Social media is good for follow up, enhancing customer service, giving people prompt replies on any query and thus nurturing a community that’s how it goes but they have started all this from the product end and taking it further slowly.
Jay – I think that thinking about social media as the kicker rather than the quarterback misses the giant opportunity that social media can bring to the table. I firmly believe that in a few years nobody will be thinking about social media as a player in the game, but the playing field itself on which every function plays. It’ll be how we research, how we innovate, how we communicate and how we service our customers.
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert [link to post]
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Social Media isn’t expected to shoulder the entire burden [link to post] via @ungvall
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Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior
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Fix your business first – Social Media isn’t a shortcut… [link to post]
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[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
Excellent post on social media engagement, and I agree with your points. I see social media being the playing field in a few years. Yes, we are going to continue to have traditional advertising, but I see more and more firms doing what Coke has done and drop their advertising with the Superbowl and transfer those funds to social media and invest in online engagemnt through social networking software for example.
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lovely piece – great point – [link to post]
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Just discovered @jaybaer blog “Convince & Convert”. [link to post] – Me likey! Good stuff for those using social media.
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AMEN!!! RT @JohnLusher: [link to post] Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior
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[link to post] Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior
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[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
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[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
[...] as the thing that’s going to fix it all. Fix your business first. And read Jay Baer’s blog (including this post) for a reality [...]
"Social media is a samaritan, not a savior" – http://bit.ly/687I64 ^VS
#socialmedia – a contributing factor bridging from interest to action http://bit.ly/81g2Kr nice article by @jaybaer
Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior http://ow.ly/TgAT ~ Hallelujah
Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert: Social media is a contr… http://bit.ly/84UOQy
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior | http://ow.ly/UiiO
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior [link to post]
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Social Media is a Samaritan not a Savior http://ow.ly/16iEls
Social Media is a Samaritan, not a Savior http://ow.ly/VaP2 ~ Hallelujah
[...] I love this effort. It’s a great example of taking a traditional tactic and making it social, instead of using social as a separate, magical [...]