From This View #1

We need to practice what we preach. 

Danielle and I had the opportunity to converse with three exceptionally talented internet marketing minds last night about online marketing and its vehicles.  Halfway through the conversation, we all came to a haunting conclusion: we're no better than the marketing approaches we argue against. 

We've argued that the traditional practice of top-down, center-out, one-way communications
has been rendered antiquated by the age of democratized media.  But the fact of the matter is, social media marketers are still led by the "big brands": Seth, Rohit, Danny, Neil, Todd.  And the Joe Marketers out there "consume" their products because 1. the marketers have strong brand awareness 2. trust is assumed 3. knowledge is held by the 1%. 

This is nothing against the outstanding insight that those aforementioned brands continually provide us everyday.  We thank them, their quips, and their top 5 lists...they make us look smart in meetings.  And ironically enough, our industry dictates this atmosphere of broadcast marketing.  However, to create the two-way conversations that define the digital age ourselves, we need to provide substance. 

Fewer theories.  Fewer lists.  More measurement  More case studies.  More failures.  More success stories.   

Maybe this isn't applicable to you.  Maybe I'm just referring to us.  But you can bet we'll be adding a whole new dimension by getting involved. 

I hope you'll join us in conversation. 

Comments

[Josh]

It's true. It's very one way and there's not a lot of feedback, we've got celebrity marketers and what not. Quite contrary to the true culture of the internet.

I look forward to seeing substance and discussion, a whole and complete feedback loop.

[Rohit]

Hi Johnny,

I'm honored you think I'm in the same league as some of the other bloggers you mention. You raise an interesting point that I definitely agree is a big issue facing many bloggers - how to deal with the rise of their own personal brand. For me, the tough thing has been finding the right tone for my blog among my day job. I'm not a full time evangelist - unlike some others, I work on client projects everyday. Unfortunately for me, one of the main tenants of our corporate blogging policy is that we can't blog about client work. So it's tough to share those case studies. So I tend to focus on what else I see in the industry and put my own lens on it. I think it's a good principle for us all to participate in the dialogue a bit more. Like you, I'm going to try and do a better job of it on my blog - but I am also going to try to comment on at least one blog post per day. This is my one for today ... ;-)

[Johnny Chan]

Rohit,

Great to hear your take on things as I genuinely feel you are the standard to which Joe Marketers like myself strive to emulate. I understand that you can't blog about client work. I simply wanted to express that there is a lack of measurement in social media marketing (both a point of frustration and opportunity) with hopes of provoking thought and good discussion.

P.S.- I'm honored you decided to choose our blog to submit your post of the day. =) Looking forward to seeing you around more often.