This is my last post on the Razorfish FEED 09 Brand Experience Report. One thing I have learned while reading and studying the social media report is that marketing and advertising is not dieing… it is merely adapting. This may be old news to many of you but (in the social media world) the cry of the DEATH OF ADVERTISING… is constant… loud and clear. I have even taken up the battle-axe and screamed to the heavens about the slow death of the ad world.
Truth is… advertising will never be dead. The cycle of product promotion will always be a staple in the world of entertainment and communication. It is changing and adjusting with the fast changing world of online communication! The digital experience of the consumer is changing the way we communicate as brands… as companies. From Razorfish:
“According to our research, the overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand digitally–whether by entering a contest, “friending” a brand on Facebook, or even watching an advert on YouTube–show dramatic upticks across the entire marketing funnel. Simply put, digital brand experience create customers.” (pg 4)
This change is not only happening in the world of social media but beyond… Consumers are engaging with brands on a completely different level. Through digital marketing and brand experiences consumers now have the CHOICE to communicate with a brand.
So what does this mean to us… the business owner, marketing executive, and sales person?
Shifting your marketing… adapting and changing with your environment is only the beginning. The world is changing and the business landscape will shift with it. Are you positioning yourself to take advantage of the future?
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I think there is a big difference between advertising and marketing. And yes, I do think advertising is getting less and less effective, while marketing is just changing. You are right that there will always be new products, new things companies want to promote. But HOW they will promote them will be the key.
A company should use inbound marketing – start a blog, post videos and photos, engage with people in social media, and optimize their content for better organic search rankings – in order to promote their products. But this is not advertising. Advertising – where you pay for placement next to someone else's content – is becoming less effective. The click through rate on most Facebook ads is roughly 0.03%. The click through rate on most banner ads is 0.1%. People have more and more ways to avoid outbound advertising – caller ID, TIVo/DVR, banner ad blockers, and more. I would not want to work at a company that makes their money on selling advertising (the one exception is Google).
I could not agree more with the quote from the report that you used – engagement online does help build brand and sell things. But setting up a fan page on Facebook or posting videos to YouTube is NOT advertising. That's marketing. I didn't pay anyone for that media or space – I acted more like a publisher, less like an advertiser.
Marketing isn't going anywhere. Advertising probably won't die, it is certainaly becoming less effective.
PS – I found this article through a Twitter post, not through an advertisement you paid for
You both have a point yet both paint with a broad brush.
Advertising has a tendency to be like water: it takes on many forms. The advertising money is going farther away from roadside billboards and print and more into affiliate marketing, tweets, friending and banner ads – pending industry. Retail – impulse and shopping especially – and consumer-driven domestic products and services will continue to benefit from inbound marketing. But commodities, heavy industry, and the like probably won't see as much of a benefit from a full-scale inbound marketing campaign (yes, Mike, I probably just challenged you).
Facebook and YouTube aren't business sales methodologies so much as they are simple tools. IF you want to use them for advertising – broadcast and repetition, you can. If you want to use them for marketing – relationships and service – you can as well.
As Godin would point out *cue up Grateful Dead* it depends on where the Tribes are.
(pssst. paragraph 1 line 3 – "advertising is not dieing… it is merely adapting.")
Thank your for sharing this wonderful story. I find your post very informative.
I am very excited to be a part of this commenting site and look forward to bringing Value to it about the News Flash. Advertising Isn’t Dying. It’s Adapting.
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