Advertising Age Old Social Media
This article will not earn me any amazing supporters in the world of advertising…
It seems that social media is moving more and more “main stream” everyday. Advertising Age (a fairly popular marketing industry publication) has the wonderful statement of “Nothing is worse than a half-assed blog with infrequent updates and little customer relevance or connecting.”
I actually agree with the statement. Wholeheartedly.
There are some good tidbits in the article such as “In January, 122 million U.S. internet users visited a social-media site. Source: comScore Media Metrix”
However one thing that drives me even more crazy than a “half-assed blog” is a half-assed advertising revenue supported by information that is just down-right old. Like many online entities and digital publications, Advertising Age drives a significant revenue from sponsors and advertisers. One of the more plentiful advertisers on Advertising Age is Cymfony (a media intelligence company which I’ve never dealt with directly, FYI).
As an information source and editor of our own site, quality, relevant, and up to date information is required. Through various spots on the Advertising Age site, several Cymfony white papers are available for download. They even sponsor a section of adage.com called brandedcontent “the Social Media insight channel” http://brandedcontent.adage.com/mic/socialmediainsights/index.html
Great! I love social media information!
So I download two white papers -
At first glance, appears to be useful information. Then my brain engages and catches the dreadful flaw of my first interpretation: the “expert” sponsor of this category is pushing information from May of 2007 and Q3 of 2006???
The last time I checked, this was March of 2008!
This information may seem relevant to users not familiar with social media, but to the online marketing professional of “today”, information that is six+ (or 18+ months) old is only useful for historical reference… in the world of online evolution that kind of time frame delay is like comparing a cell phone calling plan to moris code on a telegraph.
When choosing to develop a plan for social media, do not rely on any consultant, company, or opinion that is providing old information. The marketplace is changing very swiftly, often weekly, sometimes daily. Following such old information without double-checking more up-to-date and relevant information is a sure fire way to kill your budget, your goals, and possibly your company.
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