It seems most marketers, at times like this, are retrenching and burying themselves ‘in what they know’. Or they're being asked to. Managers are afraid to tee up new social marketing ideas to senior execs, since "6 programs just got cut". The CFO is asking to cut any marketing that can not be proven to be accretive to current ROI figures.
That’s all understandable, but now is not the time to bury your head in the sand, for your career or for your business. Three reasons why:
- Assume everyone else is doing that (burying heads in the sand). Don’t you (as a person and business) want to stand out and differentiate? Don’t you want to go where your competitor is not?
- Don’t you want to be stronger and smarter than competition with social marketing activities as we come out of this recession?
- Aren’t customers even MORE wary of traditional marketing and advertising, turning to each other more for authentic advice.
User generated content is growing at times like this – in both creation and consumption. 8 out of 10 shoppers consulted reviews before buying their holiday gifts. 70% of Twitter accounts were created in 2008. Facebook is expected to grow to 200M (from 150M users) by the end of this year. And I’ve seen no slow down in customers posting user generated content through our clients.
Don’t fall back when the rest of the market is moving forward. Take this opportunity to take advantage of sleeping competitors. Be the light for customers who are looking for authentic, transparent brands. And do your career a favor and take a (perceived) risk, making the case for your business and your customer to market with the wind of their voice at your back.
