In today’s social media environment, companies are all scrambling to take part in the inbound marketing revolution. Social networking is an amazing tool that will continue to evolve weekly, monthly and yearly, while the social media gurus rush to be the first to figure out the best way to use the most recent mutations. When they do figure it out, the tools already will have changed, and once again we all will be chasing the next “best thing.” Twitter, as we now know it, will be like today’s film camera that in a few years we will have, but won’t use because we just bought the newest technology.
So, what is the big problem? Companies today are forgetting the traditional holistic approach to marketing strategy. They are forgetting or ignoring basic business and marketing fundamentals like messaging and positioning, branding and overall perceptions. Companies are missing the basic marketing principles, such as mapping the marketing plan to the company’s short-term and long- term goals and its business objectives.
I have a client that wants to be very active on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking media, but the company’s messaging, positioning, web and print content and marketing plan have not been fully developed to allow correct and responsible growth. In today’s world, companies, especially young companies, want to put the cart before the horse.
All companies are different, and some well may have only short-term goals. Reaching their consumers quickly and cheaply, while just staying alive, may seem more important to them than strategic planning. As senior marketing, communication and social media experts, however, we have a responsibility to advise our clients about what ultimately is best for them and their overall business goals.
At the end of the day, allowing the cart to pull the horse likely will result in no one getting anywhere.
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