Two Things You Need to Learn From This Post:
1. We will see more and more cause marketing campaigns use social media (for better and for worse).
2. The successful ones will put the cause first and the brand a distant second.

A More Detailed Exploration:
Last Thursday, Ben Kunz from Mediaassociates.com asked me on Twitter:

Do you think @bmorrissey is right? Could SM (social media) cause marketing become SM (social media) pollution?

Ben and I enjoy trading contrarian opinions and I respect his perspective, so I went to check out Brian Morrissey’s post entitled “Here Come the Brand Social Marketing Bribes” about Kraft’s current marketing campaign.
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Facebook vs Linkedin vs Twitter

Maybe you think that your target audience isn’t online. You’ve talked to a few of your colleagues and they all think the same thing. Well, maybe they aren’t. But I wouldn’t use my gut to consider if I should be doing more online.

For instance, I have a client that did a series of their target audience (engineers) and their distributors. There was some very insight findings. Their engineers used Google more than anything else to find new products whereas the distributors used Trade Magazines. And the predominant niche search, Global Spec, wasn’t used very often at all by either audience.

So where should be focus our marketing dollars. Trade magazines or Google? The client made the decision to pursue the target audience, engineers, via Google and communicate directly with his distributors dropping trade mags altogether (mainly due to expense).

Now, let’s take a glance at the rest of the world which could be your target audience.

Using Compete.com, Facebook has 91 million unique visitors, a 23% increase over last month, and a 195% over last year. Is your audience going there? BTW, ads aren’t the best way to reach people on Facebook. Being part of the conversation and allowing them to control it is a much better way to engage.
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With the proliferation of so many shiny digital tools over the past few years, who hasn’t been quick to add the latest and greatest tool only to find out that it hasn’t solved the problem it was intended to eliminate?  Instead, we’re left with another partial solution and different kinds of problems. 

Over time, these tools have accumulated and become an administrative burden that stretches the team too thin and created less-than-desired results.  Instead of leveraging the powerful collaboration tools of today’s internet (blogs, social networks, wikis, etc.), most organizations are working with static websites, mass email marketing blasts, and other one-way communication vehicles.  [I've seen a few organizations who're working with upwards of 8-10 different email newsletters to the same audience!] 

Unfortunately, a good portion of these organizations have been lulled into thinking their menagerie of digital tools is on the leading edge, instead of the patchwork solutions they really are.  

To borrow a metaphor from a client from my days of fundraising, these organizations are like the person who builds a house and then later decides to put an addition onto it.  Then adds another one later on.  And another.  And another.  Until this person is left with a monstrosity of house that has plenty of bells and whistles, but has been put together in an ad hoc way that creates more inefficiencies than it does benefits.    

Let’s admit it.  It’s time to step back to consider what you can do to transform your digital presence so that you’re staying ahead of the curve, not trying to catch up.  It’s time for a digital strategy. 

Other related posts:

Above the Canopy: The Value of a Strategic Viewpoint

Strategy First, Tools Second 

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