Comments on: Don’t Do Social Media Campaigns

By: paul

paul — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:22:32 +0000

hi Brendan, Agree fully. I’m hearing bit and pieces these days that suggests that Irish brands and marketing teams are beginning to think beyond ‘campaigns’ for social media. And putting structures and people in place to deal with long term. In my mind, I think social media is different to traditional media. Not many brands can consistently advertise all the time in say press or TV. Too expensive. And it is more one-way communication by its very nature.

By: Mistletoe and Wine – 2009 Review « Brendan Hughes, talking about the Internet in business and society in Ireland

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:34:12 +0000

[...] in 2010 more Irish businesses will dip their toes into the social Internet. Many will succeed and many others will fail because they don’t take the time to understand [...]

By: Brendan

Brendan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:49:38 +0000

Agreed Michele. The agencies that are selling services need to support organisations in developing the confidence and skills in managing this themselves.

By: Michele

Michele — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:00:19 +0000

Piaras hits the nail on the head.

All the companies that I know of in our “space” do it inhouse. Sure, we, as a group may not always “get it right”, but if you’re running it yourself you’re more likely to be able to do it properly. I don’t see how outsourcing it to a 3rd party could really work.

Of course the other side to it is that some people seem to think that “social media” can replace all other channels of communication, which isn’t helpful for anyone.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:28:41 +0000

Spot on Piaras.

By: Piaras Kelly

Piaras Kelly — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:28:23 +0000

The key thing here is that organisations manage the activity in-house in the long term. Hire an agency for strategic advice, creative and to help start building relationships, but why would you outsource engagement on a long term basis – makes no sense. The challenge you’ll get back of course if that they don’t have capacity to manage this or aren’t sure where the responsibility sits internally. I’ve been banging my drum for a while about this, but I think most organisations fundamentally have to change the concept of customer service.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:08:57 +0000

Hi Padraig, Lauren – thanks for the comments. I think that it is often easier for organisations to think tactical rather than strategic. Campaigns require much less commitment and are easy ways to get started.

However, agencies like your’s Lauren, have an onus to let orgs know that by just doing campaigns in this space they’ll potentially do more harm than good in building customers’ trust in the long term.

By: Social Media Campaigns are a Waste of Money! | DreamGrow Digital

Social Media Campaigns are a Waste of Money! | DreamGrow Digital — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:09:37 +0000

[...] media campaigns! I took the last sentence from Brendan Hughes who dug deeper into the matter of campaigns versus engagement in social media: What’s wrong with a campaign then? In a campaign approach, you’re missing the essence of the [...]

By: Lauren Fisher

Lauren Fisher — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:26:22 +0000

Hi Brendan, I agree with everything you said. The problem is that so many companies and brand managers have to think in ‘campaign timings’.

This is what they’re used to and is tough to effect change in a company that have to run everything in conjunction with key product launches etc… As someone who works in social media, I can tell you that it’s a tough job to convince companies that social media should be an ongoing activity. There is essentially no end to a community and companies that do this are missing a trick. It ultimately comes down to budget too.

Many companies are starting to get social media right and I think it will just take a bit of time for both large and small brands to really understand what social media is about and stop thinking on a campaign basis.

By: padraigmckeon

padraigmckeon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:15:10 +0000

Eminently accurate and well said. Think though that the fundamental weakness in the thinking is not so much specific to social media as to all forms of media, all campaigning.