Social Media: A Worthwhile Pursuit?
I am finding myself rather confused by the tension that exists between my traditional marketing & business education (which has no emphasis whatsoever on Internet campaigns) and all the blog posts, webinars, and articles about the importance of successfully leveraging media.
My gut tells me I should focus more time on educating myself on these new trends and technologies, but I just don’t feel like I’m benefiting from it (i.e. I’m not seeing results).
To make matters even more difficult, I’m entering my last semester as a college student and must find full time work very soon. I am concerned that spending too much time with social media (I have an internship in it) is making me less credible and attractive to recruiters for big time companies.
My question for you is this, what would you do if you were in my shoes?
As noted in my previous post, my hair’s on fire lately, so I didn’t have time to respond in-depth… But then again, my two-sentence reply summed it up pretty nicely, as far as I’m concerned:
Why would you CHOOSE to focus on decaying models, metrics and techniques when it is clear that the entire world is hurtling towards profound changes in communications?
Are you a marketer or an archeologist?
Do you think I was too cavalier? What advice would you give to this young, aspiring marketer?
Posted on: June 9, 2010 at 11:29 am By Todd Defren
Subscribe by Email
RSS Feed
I think there is a balance between the two. Web and social media are not going away, but they WILL change. At the college I work for, we always say that we are preparing students for jobs that don’t currently exist. With this is mind, we try to teach fundamentals and then show them how to apply those fundamentals in differing situations.
Your response too cavalier? Absolutely not. Quick and to the point, what could be better from a communications stand point? As for what my response would’ve been to this aspiring marketer, call me long winded, but here are my thoughts:
I am a recent graduate with a BBA in managerial marketing from a university that does not yet nationally receive the credit that it is due. I had such a great experience with this program that I continued on to pursue my master’s in public relations at the same school. Though it seems as though I should thus be able to identify with this aspiring marketer, I find myself completely confused at his/her concerns and am left questioning his/her level of preparation to enter the working world.
I can’t help but be outraged that this program really touched none on Internet campaigns. What then makes this program so prestigious? Most of my curriculum was spent getting hands on experience with yes, some traditional campaign techniques, but more with online campaigns for real businesses. Because the world that we as communicators live and work in is heading full speed ahead into a fully-online community, why would any scholastic program not work to give their students the tools to be able to work in this web 2.0 world?
As you said in your reply to this inquirer, I also find myself asking if he/she is concerned with living in the past or working in the future? To be successful in the industry we work in, we must always be one step ahead of our competition and of our consumers’ needs. Harping on the techniques that marketing was founded on is not going to take this soon-to-be graduate much further past the bottom of the totem pole.
Don’t get me wrong, the foundation is crucial to understand and be aware of. After all, you can’t bake a cake without flour. But, that foundation was put into place to be expanded on to accommodate the needs of an ever-changing consumer population. This being true, my recommendation for this aspiring marketer is to continue with his/her efforts to get out into the blogosphere and learn as much as possible about the online community and where it is heading.
And not to be cavalier myself, but if this aspiring marketer plans on pursuing any further education, he/she should take a closer look at curriculum to ensure its match to where the industry is heading.
Your comment is so true. As a PR Student I have found myself questioning the relevance of many of the modules I am taking. Not wishing to offend the University on any level but I do feel that PR and Marketing courses need an increased focus on how communications are developing. Students are taking these degrees hoping to be useful to companies. It strikes me that social media is a key topic of business interest.
Hi Todd,
To be honest, a little cavalier
We have been ‘hurtling’ towards those changes for around 8 years. Thats enough time to make or break a career in any discipline, trad or 2.0.
In the grand scheme of things, you will not be a successful marketer or pr unless you have the grounding in fundamentals.
And this from a ‘social media’ guy
Nice post
Steve
But isn’t the kid saying that he’s learning the traditional foundations in his course? And that he’s educating himself on social media/internet marketing outside of the classroom?
Sounds like the perfect balance
Yes this is true being good at what you do requires a lot of work and attention to detail.
Thanks Todd
I graduated from Cornell University in 1983 with a degree in “Communication Arts.” I believe the original question is not without merit in that too many people involved in Social Media today are lacking in some very basic communication skills (i.e. spelling, grammar, understanding word definitions, etc.).
With that being said, I believe anyone interested in marketing should study BOTH traditional as well as “NEW” media (such as Social Media Marketing).
While I believe that Social Media will have a huge impact on marketing, I also believe that only a very small percentage of Social Media Marketers are “successful” as measured by monetization results.
If anyone reading this is in the “success” group, please feel free to share your success strategies on this blog link: http://tinyurl.com/Measure-Social-Media-Success
I also agree with the comment Rick Clark made, that too many new-age social media communicators are lacking the basics of communication: the grammar, spelling and understanding word definitions.
I think in general, today’s generation is getting somewhat of a “pass” on these basic (and incredibly important) fundamentals; teachers and parents let it slide, and it isn’t until someday when you embarrass yourself (and hopefully not the company you are working for) with an incorrect use of grammar, that you wish you’d had the basics drilled into your head.
This being said, I think the key here (really, in any area of study) is learn and know the basics (the foundation). You might be the smartest “social media guru” in the room, but what will stand out more than your knowledge of a social media press release is the spelling and grammatical errors you didn’t catch.
I completed a MLA in communication last year, and very little focus was placed on new media during my studies.
Educators are still pushing traditional methods as the “foundation” for a good career in marketing. While I agree that it’s important to know how to write a good press release and have a mastery of the basics, it’s equally important to know how to engage consumers using new media. Educators don’t necessarily have to use every new tool that comes out, nor should they require their students to. What I’d like to see is more educators teaching students how to seek out, test, and evaluate the new media tools that are coming out. That skill would greatly benefit anyone starting out in the communications industry.
One of the comments above, from Jen Zingsheim, said it best when she asked, “Why does it have to be an either/or?” Indeed.
But beyond this, keep in mind that business transactions are, at their core, no different in the Zuckerberg era than the Gutenberg era. Since time immemorial, we have always responded to value propositions of relevance to US. The sellers who understood this succeeded. They still do. How? By knowing who those buyers were/are. In other words, knowing what customers considered valuable, how they were influenced and by whom, where to find them and what would persuade them. How you use social technology is one of the last things you do. The first thing? Identify a customer. We lose sight of this too easily today in the maelstrom of social media.
Hi Todd,
I think your answer was honest and to the point. I would like to know what his/her definition of “results” are and which mediums he/she has chosen to participate in. I think it’s important to have a understanding of social media and how other people/businesses/brands are seeing results rather than just focusing it on a personal level. Furthermore, if he/she isn’t seeing the results he wants, maybe he/she just hasn’t found the right network yet. This student is missing a important trait for success: adaptability. Hopefully your response opened their eyes.
Sarah (@smt504)
I don’t think you should be so quick to throw this kid under the bus. I’m sure the results he’s talking about are monetary and quite frankly, we haven’t seen blockbuster deals made over social media (at least not on the level of what we see in manufacturing or insurance. Chances are he’s feeling the effects of the economy and deems it necessary to be cautious. Having lost my job a number of years ago, I can’t say I blame him playing it safe. My advice is to be flexible and seek insight from people who have been where he’s at. I applaud him for contacting Todd for advice.
I graduated from college in 1983, and I’ve never been able to stop learning. Best advice: remember that you can’t know it all now. Social media is beneficial, and that’s why it has a future. So make the most of your internship because the Fortune 500 is shopping for this skill set, but make sure you’re learning the principles that guide best practices in any medium. Learn how to think, acquire judgment. Skills are not enough without the judgment that employs them wisely. It will take time. Make a start, give it all you’ve got, and build from there.
I graduated from undergrad in 2005, and like this college senior, social media, internet campaigns etc were not talked about or studied. I joke all the time that I wish I had gone to school even 2 years later, because more and more universities are offering classes, if not entire programs, to address how social media and the internet has fundamentally changed the way we communicate for marketing, PR, etc.
BUT: I am thankful for much of my “archaic” education. Because really many of the same principles of social media can be rooted in communication, business, and marketing theory.
A balance of both, with room for whatever is next should be the goal of all professionals: Rooted in tradition, enhanced with today, and open to tomorrow.
Good discussion.
I enjoy your post because your answer for the question was spot on. I just feel bad for this up-and-coming marketer because of where he went to school.
I attended Rollins College for my MBA and I was in the professional program which was at night. We’d already started careers or were looking to change our careers. Our marketing classes encouraged the use of the web, guerrilla marketing, social and intertwining those with standard marketing strategies. You must depending on your audience and what the audience wants. That’s the key: It’s not how you want to market it’s how who you’re trying to reach allows your message into their life.
You gave the student good advice. Stick with the dying off methods and you too will be obsolete. The baddest and smartest people I know in social media and online marketing are all self-educated and proven in the field. Using their own time, money, and resources to produce something. And they can run circles around any person in a so called large ad firm/agency any day of the week.
There is no reason to work in a big company, firm, corporate prison, or anything to do this. You have to help yourself, broadcast yourself, and you will be awesome before you know it.
Besides, there are so many opportunities and companies who embrace social and digital media, that are available to someone intimate with this new knowledge.
I think your conclusion is spot on, but I’ve got a different logic to get there:
Start at the top — what is marketing and why do we do it? There’s branding (which affects preference and pricing). There’s gathering requirements. There’s informing the potential buyers that there’s something to be bought. And so on. There’s a **business reason** for marketing. Understanding this, and therefore how to measure success, is the base. If you don’t have that, you’re destined always to be just a functionary… and then you need to specialize in doing something useful really well… and therefore you should look to new media and social networking because there’s less competition for jobs there. (Expect, though, that your job will be outsourced to the lowest bidder whenever that’s possible.)
But let’s assume you “get it,” that you understand why marketing exists. You will then rapidly come to understand that different media and different tactics have different emphases and different results relative to the various goals of marketing. All of the tactics — new and traditional — have merit for some part of what marketing needs to do. Thus, some of the comments say, “Why is this an either/or? It should be an and.” But there are a lot of people who understand traditional marketing. What the student can bring is a broadened view… a view informed by all the tactics (new and old).
Things only become “either/or” at the lowest level of picking tactics within a budget. They should not be either/or at higher levels of discussion… or in academe (which will never properly capture any more that the gist of a tactic). Therefore, be an “and”.
Hey Todd. I recently had a similar experience … five-fold … and wrote a post about it: http://businessesgrow.com/2010/05/06/are-new-business-grads-getting-an-f-in-social-media-marketing/
Of course they need social media skills not only to do a job but to FIND a job. The comment section on my post may also be interesting to you as I get some fascinating input from both students and professors.
Cheers, Mark
I start most of my marketing classes for small business owners with a slide that lays out the basics – audience, objectives, message, etc… From there I go into social media, SEO, web sites, advertising….
My point – the media will come and go, but you should understand and apply the basics to each one. Social networking doesn’t work, GOOD social networking works.
Todd-
I’m the “young guy” Ricardo so kindly mentions above. While I sometimes wish I had more of a traditional marketing background (I have exactly none), having any hands-on experience with social media in a corporate context is still incredibly rare–and thus, desirable.
I put an ad on Facebook and scheduled an interview nearly every other day, and it wasn’t even an original idea. Employers want to see you apply what you SAY you know to what you’re actually DOING.
There might very well be a minor backlash at everyone and their pet poodle calling themselves a social media marketer/guru/maven, but damn, kid, if you don’t think social media is sustainable, then maybe you are indeed in the wrong space. Or maybe you just need to have a little more faith in your talents. I prefer to believe the latter possibility.
Todd, this is an intriguing issue and question that the student proposes. To me it shouldn’t be an “either/or” problem, rather it’s an “AND” plan. The student should get as much of the theoretical/practical foundation in business marketing communications AND have the asset of relational work within the social web. I think you gave good advice.
- @vedo
Why does it have to be an either/or? I say, have a solid basis in the fundamentals and a good working knowledge of social media. And the knowledge of social media should be an understanding of why it’s important and how it’s different. Understand the metrics and models of the past–and, how they are inadequate to measure what’s happening in social media.
A student of marketing who doesn’t understand impressions won’t get far–even though it’s an outdated, silly metric. Companies still insist on using this, because it produces a nice, big number. Worse yet, they are applying this nonsense logic to social media like Twitter, where it’s just as silly to say “Person Smith, with 10K followers tweeted a link to our site, so 10K Twitter impressions.” Yes, it is happening.
Finally, I don’t really get how understanding social media would make someone less credible to big companies. Don’t most entry-level marketing jobs have this as at least a ‘need to have an understanding of’ type of requirement? If not, uh, is that really somewhere he/she wants to work?
I’d tell them that a strong grounding in marketing and PR should parlay easily into online marketing (if they’re taking the theory and not the practice to heart, that is). Doing marketing ‘right’ may have different tactics online, but it’s the same idea – listen to your audience, give them information that of value to them, help them choose the best possible solution (which will be yours if your product’s good and your targeting is right).
Being good at your job only takes so much effort, but being great is another thing altogether and will always require understanding what’s coming next (or what’s already here!) and making careful, measured decisions on strategies and tools.
Says the guy with the tagline “Conversations about social media + marketing.” But I do agree with you. Sad that here’s a guy being given the keys to the kingdom as (an internship in social media), and he’s still wondering if it’s worth his time.
I do think it depends a bit, though. If what he wants to do is hard-core marketing research and analysis, product management, or data-heavy CRM work, social media may not have as big an impact. Odds are though, social media IS going to impact his future in a big way, and he devoting some time to understanding it BEFORE he starts looking for a job can really help him. That’s just on social media. Clearly Internet marketing has a very clear ROI, and is much more trackable than regular off-line marketing is 99% of the time.
If he wants to see an example of a young guy using social media effectively to get the job of his dreams, tell him to check out:
http://twitter.com/be3d
http://daretocomment.com/how-social-media-opens-the-side-door-for-job-seekers-2/
Todd,
You gave the student some good advice. Traditional educations have always gotten in the way of a progressive real-world education, which is known best as a self-education. I would tell them to monitor the Web to keep up with what’s really going on out there. Not just a couple of sources, but a diverse selection. You can’t get an education like this from a text book written (revised) a dozen years ago.
I enjoyed reading your post. I am featuring it on the bizsuccessdigest.com blog (post June 9 @ 12pm)
I’m using this as your teaser quote:
“Why would you CHOOSE to focus on decaying models, metrics and techniques when it is clear that the entire world is hurtling towards profound changes in communications?”
~ Todd Defren – social media & public relations expert
Thanks and keep up the good work Todd!
Michael John Dale – Founder of Biz Success Digest