15 replies to this topic

[DJKay]

Hi Gang,

I was going through my Wall Street Journals for the week [I was home sick yesterday from work and when I am busy and cannot read them, they get piled up, so I had some time and began reading them].

In the Thursday, November 17th, 2011 edition of the Marketing and Media section, they had a very interesting article buried on page B6 of a 13 page section. The article is called, "Buzz, Viewers Diverge"

Basically, the gist of the article is that a new study found that there was little or no correlation between the amount of buzz created online via social media and the size of the audience that tunes in to watch TV shows.

Here is the info-graphic:



I find this very interesting because like many of us here on this forum, we have been using social media as a promotional/link building tactic since its humble beginnings [Like Jill and others, I am an early adopter of Linkedin, Facebook, Delicious, etc. user]. I am very much a B to B marketer. Even before we had the awesome GA plug in for social and the new multi-channel reports that help you identify 'assists'; I know alot of you out there, included myself, tracked the effectiveness of your company's or client's social media activity.

Since I have been looking at data all these years and while I absolutely "got" social media for link building purposes, there is a part of me that is still a little reluctant to give it all the credit its been getting over the last few years.

I have always felt that its a tactic and being a marketer, you need to test what tactics work for your company, its product and services. You should understand how the bag of tricks you have works together. So I find it kind of funny, that no one is talking about or blogging about this story.

My daughter is up and I have to go. DJKay

[chrishirst]

Wow! Who'da thought it. "social media" being not all that the "experts" proclaim it to be!!

</sarcasm>

[Jill]

Without reading the article (it's behind a reg wall) I would guess that it's more that traditional marketers who work in TV still don't "get" the online world and the market. Who wants to watch a TV show when THEY tell us to? We want to watch stuff in our own time when we feel like it, not at a set time.

So I'm not sure if they're measuring the right things.

[DJKay]

Yes, I use the DVR too. Maybe they don't know how to measure it, who knows, but I would bet they are paying some consultant some where. I doubt that the TV networks don't have people helping them with social media.

Yup..I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist at times...I just think that social media should be seen as a tool in the tool box. It does not work for everything. Its not the panacea. Neither is search. JC Penny had no disruption in income after they were penalized, why? Because they have other types of marketing that they do...catalog, sales via retail locations..., radio, etc.

[Michael Martinez]

The TV networks are not interested in measuring recorded broadcast audiences because their advertisers (they say) only want to know who is watching when the shows are aired. This point has been raised with the science fiction fans who try to save TV shows time and time again.

Of course, I notice that Comcast On Demand won't let you slide past the commercials when you're catching up on recently broadcast episodes that you may have missed, but I don't think those viewers are being counted in audience share yet.

[DJKay]

Yes that is true. Point remains, large amounts social media buzz does not translate into viewership. Social media is not the be all end all, its a tactic/a tool. As a marketer, you need to understand how to wield the tools you have in the tool box. Translation: one cannot use a laser level to screw in a wood screw.

[chrishirst]

Social media is not the be all end all, its a tactic/a tool. As a marketer, you need to understand how to wield the tools you have in the tool box. Translation: one cannot use a laser level to screw in a wood screw.

All you need to do now is convince the "experts" of this.

[DJKay]

If their data won't convince them, how can I?

Its dollars and cents my friend. The CFO or Director of Operations looks at all the expenses and you can bet that if they cannot tie them back to results that move the needle, its not something they are going to want to fund again. Accountability is funny that way .

DJKay

[chrishirst]

If their data won't convince them, how can I?

SEO "experts" are a bit like the newspaper magnates of yesteryear, the maxim there was "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

For the SEO "experts" it's

"Never let the facts get in the way of a good theory"

[DJKay]

Yes, that is a good way to put it.

[Jill]

I would caution anyone to dismiss social media as a promotional tool based on one article.

Your ability to use it as such will depend on the type of business you're using it for as well as your ability to understand how to use it the best way possible for that business (or organization, event, whatever).

[DJKay]

Jill - I am not saying that and I don't think anyone else here is saying that and you know it- I agree with you.

For me its a little like "just take two aspirin" and it will be fine mentality - That is what I am reacting to. Pundits speak in absolutes and that is the problem. As a practitioner, I get tired of pundits speaking in absolutes. Its just my opinion. I appreciate it when someone talks through one of 'their' business problems and or provides tactics that I may be able to use. Or when someone gets permission to talk about a client's business problem, that is fine too. When you start going beyond that it gets dicey. Again, just my opinion.

I cannot spend much more time on this post at this minute because I have a report due this afternoon.

DJKay

[chrishirst]

I would caution anyone to dismiss social media as a promotional tool based on one article.

That's both the upshot and the downside.

For some topics and markets, promotion using social sites is going to be hugely successful, others .... not really.

Let's be honest about it, promoting a new brand of soap powder on Facebook isn't likely to galvanise people into spreading the word to all their "friends".


Also, the original series of Charlie's Angels was pretty dire, the "action" movie is best described as "limp" so a brand new series isn't going to raise peoples expectations above the "Oh really" level.

[1dmf]

You raise an interesting point Jill, I very rarely ever watch 'live' TV per sae (when it is shceduled), who does when you have Tivo?

Are all the programs I have set to record counted against viewer stats?

I always watch in my own time, never usually at time of show broadcast and always skip the adverts.

How do they calculate viewer ratings these days when I Tivo 90% of what I watch?

[chrishirst]

Are all the programs I have set to record counted against viewer stats?

Nope, 'cos nobody has a clue about what is actually being watched at any moment in time.

How do they calculate viewer ratings these days when I Tivo 90% of what I watch?

Surveys and guesstimation.