“There is this default assumption that return on investment is the correct measure for everything,” says Susan Etlinger, senior vice-president at Horn Group, a San Francisco consultancy.
It’s good to finally see a growing backlash against many of these self-appointed social media gurus, mavens and sherpas. How can anybody claim to be expert in a field that’s still attempting to figure itself out? To make matters worse, it appears the majority of these people have zero prior marketing background. So, it’s not surprising that:
Consultants often use buzz as their dominant currency, and success is defined more often by numbers of Twitter followers, blog mentions, or YouTube hits than by traditional measures, such as return on investment.
Just as aggravating is the lexicon that’s springing up around the whole thing. Words like “authenticity,” “eco-system” and “conversation” are endlessly bounced around the echo chamber. In the process, “selling” has somehow become a filthy word. Oddly enough, check any socmed stream and you’ll realize everybody seems to be selling something. Typically, themselves. Which is now called, “personal branding,” I suppose. Though, given the nose pinching around selling, it’s a bit of an oxymoron.
Business Week wisely warns:
Hordes of marketing “experts” are promoting the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs. All the hype may obscure the real potential of these online tools.
I agree. There is great potential and some pretty good case studies so far. I just hope the whole thing isn’t damaged before it really gets started by the “hordes” of digital grifters.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=551dcad5-7e4b-447c-a3ed-5711377192cd)
If you liked this post, please feel free to share it with a simple click below. While you’re at it, why not subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss anything? Thanks for reading.
