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Social media The new frontier As the August 2015 CMO survey results (see below) clearly demonstrate, companies know they must invest in social media marketing initiatives, but they are struggling to assess the value they are gaining from their investment. “This situation is similar to the way advertising was perceived post-1950s,” says Moorman. “Back then, the challenge was whether to work with external agencies or develop the capability in-house. Then, as now, working with an external agency means that you have access to world-class specialist expertise and can fast-track your efforts. But at Companies know they the same time, the agency will must invest in social have its own agenda, such as media marketing initiatives being creative and winning but are struggling to assess the awards, which may or may value they are gaining not be compatible with your company’s aims. So unless you can fully integrate the external agency, you may be working at cross-purposes. And, of course, you also have to divulge a lot of potentially sensitive company information if your chosen provider is to be effective in supporting you.” The challenge of how to handle social media seems to have some parallels. If you outsource activity to a supplier, the initiative risks being disconnected from broader marketing efforts. On the other hand, it takes time and investment to build social media capability from scratch,
product is king
whereas social media third-party suppliers are expert and can advance you fast along the learning curve. It will be interesting to see how this challenge is resolved over the coming years. There are some role models out there for other companies to look to and follow. For example, Moorman points to PepsiCo as one company that has taken the bold step of working towards building the talent in-house rather than simply working with external agencies. She notes: “A critical step is finding and nurturing the right type of talent – talent that can handle complexity, look for points of integration, and think outside the box. Not all companies are in a position to take this step. External agencies offer critical support to many companies as they begin this process, or over the long run as they build strategic partnerships with these agencies.”
The marketing challenge Some ideas to try Moorman puts forward a couple of ideas that companies could try, to help them improve their marketing game, based on her recent survey results. First, she notes: “Marketers need to lead more externally facing areas of the firm. With marketing leading innovation in only 36% of companies, there is a missed opportunity here for marketing to contribute. Marketing leaders need to step up to these responsibilities and build a case for them to lead these activities. Second, marketing leaders need to build their
the rise of social
PRODUCT QUALITY AND SERVICE ARE CUSTOMER PRIORITIES
SOCIAL MEDIA SPEND CONTINUES TO SURGE
Customers’ top priority in next 12 months (% of respondents)
Social media spending as a percentage of marketing budgets % of marketing budget 25
August 2015
30 25
20
20
15
15 10
10
5
5 0
0 Superior product quality
Excellent Trusting Low service Relation- price ship
Superior Brand innovation
Current levels
Over next 12 months
In next five years
Dialogue Q1 2016
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