Comments on: Happy New Year!

By: Social Media Graduates to the “How?” Era » Media Emerging

Social Media Graduates to the “How?” Era » Media Emerging — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:59:45 +0000

[...] Beth Harte points out that some companies, sold on the concept of social media, will skip right past “How?” and jump into the deep end — for better or worse: In 2009 companies will begin implementing social media, but with a traditional marketing mindset. Meaning, they will start to embrace the tools but will do as one-way communication because it’s what they are most comfortable with. [...]

By: Adam Needles

Adam Needles — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:07:03 +0000

Happy New Year to you, as well, Beth!

I’m not one for predictions, but I hope that the opposite happens — that companies begin to learn to operate and communicate in a two-way fashion. There is much in the new-product development/customer insights world that is pushing in this direction … if marketing communication teams and their agencies can just get on board … and realize social-media tools are a good catalyst … well, that would be a good direction!

A pleasure reading your insights, as always; thanks for sharing with all of us.

Adam Needles’s last blog post..Next Generation of Marketing Services Agencies 1 of 2: Pillars and Barriers

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:41:46 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks so much for the compliments and additional predictions. I have really enjoyed getting to know a lot of you in 2008…here’s to a great 2009!

@SteveWoodruff @HeatherRast, @KyleFlaherty, I predict that 2009 will be the year we meet! Hopefully in either NJ (Steve) or at SxSW.

@MarcMeyer, “they’ll let you in the door, but they will expect you to take your shoes off and not touch anything as you sit on the plastic covered furniture.” That is a classic one-liner that will live in infamy. So glad that Toby Bloomberg (@TobyDiva) will be using it with the AMA. Perfect!

@MarcMeyer, @KyleFlaherty, @LaurieBroderick, @AlanWolk, I hope my prediction is wrong, but I think it will be true for the first two-three quarters of 2009…enough time for companies to realize they aren’t implementing social media in a way that truly develops those all-important conversations between customers and companies. Let’s just hope they don’t blame social media itself for those missteps.

@JulieWalraven, glad to see that you are taking a step towards implementing social media internally. Indeed sometimes a struggle when management doesn’t understand that it takes their personal involvement and commitment to develop online relationships. The good news is they understand business development and what goes into it, so I think social media is a natural next step even if the online and public nature of it is scary at first. Hopefully your efforts will not go unnoticed and your social media plan will show your board how Wausau Whitewater’s marketing is benefiting from the addition of this additional communications channel. BTW, you do have a plan, right?

By: Alan Wolk

Alan Wolk — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:53:16 +0000

I think you are quite correct in your prediction. For so many clients, the idea of giving up control is anathema. Even if the marketing team buys into it, they have to face the slings and arrows of the rest of the company the first time a vaguely negative comments comes in. Happy (Belated) New Year. Alan Wolk’s last blog post..Why I Write

By: Laurie Broderick

Laurie Broderick — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:27:06 +0000

Hi Beth,
At the risk of sounding like an alien, I just registered on Twitter and found your blog mentioned MANY times so I decided to check it out. I am a senior marketer with over 15 years of traditional mass and direct marketing experience. I agree with Kyle. To truly thrive, marketers will need to integrate more traditional media with emerging and social media. Consumers are king and a two-way communication strategy will be key. I look forward to following your blog and others to see how this plays out in 09. Thanks for the great insights!