Member Avatar for MktgRob

I am of the opinion that social media marketing and building online communities is becoming the biggest factor in eMarketing campaigns. Eventually, I believe, it will become the prevalent activity in eMarketing campaigns followed by e-mail and then more traditional web activity (corporate sites, banner ads, etc).

Does anyone agree or disagree? Tell me, tell me.

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As and have pointed out, the "social = conversation" view is still the right starting point. Social platforms now reach the majority of the planet — active social identities exceed 5.2 billion — so social is indispensable for awareness, listening, and community growth. That said, social rarely sits alone: it feeds and is fed by owned channels (site, CMS, community platforms) and by high‑conversion channels such as email. Recent industry reports show email remains a top channel for lifecycle and conversion work. (datareportal.com)

Practical steps to move from sales-pitches to conversations

  • Create a one‑page Social Charter (voice, do/don’t, escalation path) and require it for anyone posting on brand channels.
  • Put a community manager or content lead in charge of day‑to‑day engagement; let sales own lead follow-up, not the public timeline.
  • Train sales on "social selling" behaviors: share insight, answer questions, amplify community posts — no cold pitches in public feeds.
  • Use an editorial calendar and simple content pillars (help, showcase, conversation) so posts add value before they ask for business.
  • Add a lightweight approval / SLA process: review promotional posts, measure first‑response time, and auto‑escalate product or PR issues.

Measure and close the loop
Track engagement rate, reply/first‑response time, sentiment, social‑sourced MQLs and their pipeline conversion; tag social leads so CRM can attribute value back to community activity. Buyers now do most of their research before contacting sales, so early social and content signals matter for pipeline. (6sense.com)

Cautions and compliance
Put disclosure rules and influencer guidance into the charter (FTC guidance is explicit about clear, conspicuous disclosures and monitoring sponsored posts). Pre‑approve paid or gifted endorsements and periodically audit posts for compliance. (ftc.gov)

Bottom line: prioritize real listening and helpful content on social, align metrics and workflows with sales, and use email/owned channels to convert and retain the relationships you build.

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Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

I agree with you 100%. There is active engaging participation in Social media marketing and online communities which allows marketers to further deepen their relationship with the consumer, unlike with the traditional web activity which mostly allows for a one way engagement.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

I agree with you 100%. There is active engaging participation in Social media marketing and online communities which allows marketers to further deepen their relationship with the consumer, unlike with the traditional web activity which mostly allows for a one way engagement.

Sadly, some companies do not understand the concept of social media as a conversation. The marketing staff usually does but the sales staff sees it as another place to make a pitch. And this is the ongoing challenge for those of us who work in social media. Rather than ask if anyone else has experience I am going with the assumption that it is somewhat prevalent and ask what some other peoples experience have been with this.

Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

I agree. Just looking at many of the twitter business profiles, these profiles are replete with self promoting url tweets and not much two or multiple way engagement. Where is the conversation here?

Member Avatar for MktgRob

I agree. Just looking at many of the twitter business profiles, these profiles are replete with self promoting url tweets and not much two or multiple way engagement. Where is the conversation here?

The problem is that instead of the creative marketing people at these companies tweeting, which would allow them to manage the message and focus on leading potential clients to the point that the sales force takes over, it is the sales force that is tweeting and for most of them the sales pitch is the conversation.

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