Why are Brand Marketers Still Slow to Embrace Social Media?
A new study released by PRWeek and the MS&LGroup indicates that marketers are still crawling at a snail's pace towards the use of social media.
You can get the details of the report here, but to sum it up, wide-spread adoption isn't happening like some of the social media gurus are saying.
Personally, I think there are three factors as to why brand managers are slow to make the move:
- Lack of resources — social media is looked at as yet "another thing I have to do because my boss wants us doing it." This also could mean lack of budget to put behind the effort.
- Lack of knowledge — despite having 500 million people as users, not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter, YouTube or any of the other services, for that matter.
- Lack of trust — these tools are brand spanking new when it comes to the proven ability to move business. Yes, there are some case studies out there that show impact on the bottom line, but there are just as many cases of failure and crisis situations as well.
So, what are counselors supposed to do with these huge barriers — barriers that turn into road blocks the size of the Great Wall of China?
The question is simple to answer, but harder to do — earn trust. Show the clients that you CAN in fact use these tools to move business. You need real case studies that show impact on business objectives and not just retweets and followers. Counselors need to make these services accessible so the fear of failure is removed.
Why do you think brand marketers are gun-shy when it comes to social media and what do you, as a PR counselor, do to push through those barriers?
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