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Where Are You in Social Media Adoption Curve?

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Categories: Social Media

Posted by on Mar 08 2009

As I inch closer to publishing my new book Marketing 2.0, I continue to observe the wide spectrum of early adopters and those who have heard about this social media stuff but haven’t bought into it yet.

I started thinking about the past 30 years. We’ve seen the birth of the internet initially for a defense related application, then Mosaic gave rise to a graphical user interface for non-technical users. This gave birth to the browser and websites. Websites have evolved from plain text to visually appealing corporate calling cards. Along came high speed internet access, content subscriptions through RSS, blogs and more recently social networks.

I’ve just covered 30 years in one paragraph…Wow! Now, if you’re reading this and you don’t have a LinkedIn or Facebook profile you’re probably in the minority.

But, how strategic is social media marketing to your business?  Marketing Sherpa recently conducted research called the 2009 Social Media Marketing and PR Benchmark Guide.

  • Approximately 70% of the businesses surveyed agreed that social media marketing was changing the way they communicate.
  • Approximately 48% were adding budget for social media marketing, mostly increased staff allocation (time).
  • The biggest barrier to implementing social media strategies (46%) was lack of knowledge.

Marketing Sherpa Lack of Knowledge Biggest BarrierThese findings tell me that most people talking about social media are those of us who write about, blog about, speak aboud and consult on social media strategies. Sure, there are many great examples of businesses and even not-for-profits using social media strategies.

But, it’s the tip of the iceberg. I’m of the opinion that social media strategies have not gone mainstream yet. The weak economy adds to the level of risk most businesses are willing to accept.

However, I’m also of the opinion that businesses who put off a social media strategy are at bigger risk. Buyers are more powerful than ever. They are engaging on the social web. Marketers who are absent from the conversations (engagements) are missing out.

Where do you think social media strategies are in the adoption curve?

Bernie Borges
@berniebay

11 Comments to Where Are You in Social Media Adoption Curve?

  1. by Nick Lansing

    On March 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

    I think most are watching but not implementing.

    It's easier to stick with traditional marketing until there's a compelling reason to change. Also social media is so new I think many are waiting to see what works and what doesn't (and what's failed horribly) before jumping in.

    Our business is health care. We want to reach out and develop relationships with patients like any company. We started with some limited physician podcasting. Other plans are in the works.

    It seems health care organizations are more cautious because of liability and HIPAA privacy laws. For example, if a physician who enjoys running blogs about her training, could someone that be clinical advice? Is raving about her favorite energy gel reccomending that product? Does she have to add disclaimers like it's a personal preference, everybody's different, etc.? Should she add disclaimers just to be safe? How in the world do you fit a disclaimer into a 140 character Tweet? It's easy to imagine scary scenarios (real or imagined) and avoid social media altogether.

  2. by Bernie

    On March 9, 2009 at 4:42 pm

    Nick,
    I see your point. I think it pertains to healthcare more than other industries. In your example, a physician does walk a fine line. But, she can speak about products in the abstract focusing on the outcome not the product.

    I regularly speak about best practices in web marketing/social media. I don't ever plug my company. But, the content I deliver and the conversations that occur have a positive affect on my brand. In the end that's what it's about.

    Thanks for your thoughts. Keep working at it. :)
    Bernie

  3. by Merna Dohogne

    On November 15, 2011 at 2:43 am

    Fine, that is a nice beginning but i'm going to check into that a touch more. Will show you just what else i have found.

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