How to Sabotage Your Social Marketing, #3: Underbudgeting

"So, why are you getting into social marketing?" we ask a new client.

"Well, you know, the economy. It’s rough out there. My budgets have been cut. I need to make the most of my marketing dollars. And I hear that social media is really, well, cheap."

"Uh," we say. "That can be true when social media is integrated into your overall marketing efforts, and measured against the effectiveness of something like television commercials. What are you doing on the conventional side, and how can we tie into that?"

"Oh, you can’t," the new client says happily. "Our conventional agency does that, and they don’t want their campaigns compromised."

"Uh-huh," we say, with a sinking feeling.

"In fact, they’ve given us a proposal for social marketing, but we think that it’s kinda expensive. And, you know, social marketing is supposed to be cheap."

Screech. Take the needle off the record.

Here’s the reality. Social ain’t cheap. Or, if it’s cheap in terms of dollars, it’s costly in terms of time and staffing. Or if it’s cheap in terms of time, it’s costly in terms of dollars. With social, you’re not buying space and putting your message out there–you’re starting conversations. And the thing about conversations is that, well, they’re *interactive.* if you don’t respond to what your customers are saying, they’re going to get irritated in a big hurry. And if you keep looking at your watch, like you have something more important to do, they’re gonna go find some more interesting friends.

Social marketing is a long-term play that takes time. Either agency billable time or in-house staff time. It’s your choice where you put your investment, but you’re heading for failure if you think it’s cheap.

Posted by June 27th, 2009 | by jason | Permalink