There is a growing debate concerning the social media space. While the cognoscenti are touting their use of Twitter, Digg, Friend Feed and other social media tools, there are strong voices of skepticism labeling those medium as unproven business tools at best, time-wasting black holes at worst. The schism could be no more than manifestation of a marketing generation gap. Still, when I hear more than one of my respected peers with 30 years in Direct Marketing raise the question, I have to pause and consider both sides of the story.

A blog post from Response Agency framed the debate: “… Some marketers seem compelled to jump on every new high tech toy, and they insist that you be so compelled as well. Your company, they say, must send text messages, must be on Facebook and LinkedIn, and now must be on Twitter……Fine, except I have yet to see evidence that any of these toys produce sales at all, much less in a cost-effective manner. Meanwhile, I see plenty of evidence that they consume valuable time — lots of it. Time that you could have spent working. Maybe even accomplishing something productive.”

My response was to comment “The opportunity to waste time in unprofitable pursuits is always present.  Since I approach these venues with my business hat on, I invest my time to build my network and to increase my visibility and personal brand. It is working……with Twitter I have encountered some strong people and valuable resources. Don’t give up on the digital just yet!”

My friend softened a bit in his reply: “If there is evidence that the social media are an effective business-building tool as measured at the cash register, I’m interested……Either way, I suspect you would agree with my two, earlier key objections: (1) That the social media are yet unproven as a selling tool; and (2) that there is great potential to waste time on them.”

If traditional Direct Marketers were to emulate Alan Greenspan, they would exclaim that the market regards the potential of Social Media with “Irrational Exuberance“.  Just as I was beginning to consider the naysayers with more sincerity, I sat in on a “Twebinar“today hosted by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) and Awareness Networks (@bostonmike). The presentation can be found at the Awareness Inc. site and the results will blow you away.

Among many other examples, I learned that Marriott Hotels generated over $4 Million in room reservations via a link from Bill Marriott’s blog. Now that is called ROI in any language. The debate will continue for a while, but CMO’s are already considering Social Media as an increasingly valid element of their marketing mix. Be watchful, listen and learn. Everyone else is!

There is a growing debate concerning the social media space. While the cognoscenti are touting their use of Twitter, Digg, Friend Feed and other social media tools, there are strong voices of skepticism labeling those medium as unproven business tools at best, time-wasting black holes at worst. The schism could be no more than manifestation of a marketing generation gap. Still, when I hear more than one of my respected peers with 30 years in Direct Marketing raise the question, I have to pause and consider both sides of the story.

A blog post from Response Agency framed the debate: “… Some marketers seem compelled to jump on every new high tech toy, and they insist that you be so compelled as well. Your company, they say, must send text messages, must be on Facebook and LinkedIn, and now must be on Twitter……Fine, except I have yet to see evidence that any of these toys produce sales at all, much less in a cost-effective manner. Meanwhile, I see plenty of evidence that they consume valuable time — lots of it. Time that you could have spent working. Maybe even accomplishing something productive.”

My response was to comment “The opportunity to waste time in unprofitable pursuits is always present.  Since I approach these venues with my business hat on, I invest my time to build my network and to increase my visibility and personal brand. It is working……with Twitter I have encountered some strong people and valuable resources. Don’t give up on the digital just yet!”

My friend softened a bit in his reply: “If there is evidence that the social media are an effective business-building tool as measured at the cash register, I’m interested……Either way, I suspect you would agree with my two, earlier key objections: (1) That the social media are yet unproven as a selling tool; and (2) that there is great potential to waste time on them.”

If traditional Direct Marketers were to emulate Alan Greenspan, they would exclaim that the market regards the potential of Social Media with “Irrational Exuberance“.  Just as I was beginning to consider the naysayers with more sincerity, I sat in on a “Twebinar“today hosted by Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) and Awareness Networks (@bostonmike). The presentation can be found at the Awareness Inc. site and the results will blow you away.

Among many other examples, I learned that Marriott Hotels generated over $4 Million in room reservations via a link from Bill Marriott’s blog. Now that is called ROI in any language. The debate will continue for a while, but CMO’s are already considering Social Media as an increasingly valid element of their marketing mix. Be watchful, listen and learn. Everyone else is!

Designing strategic marketing plans, I take comfort in using a proven planning methodology as I am assured of covering every aspect needed to create and launch an effective Customer Strategy. In other words, I am always sure to thoroughly vet client project objectives, customer needs and behaviors, the proposed value proposition to engage the group, and so on.

One key part of the planning process is to establish the communication strategy. What messages should be sent via which channel and how often are the starting points in an evolving plan. It was not so long ago when clients and their advisors rushed to email as the silver bullet for efficient and low cost communications within a Loyalty Marketing program.

Innovative at the time, it now seems old hat. Messages could be sent to broader groups at higher frequency at minimal cost using the digital channel. The money to be saved on printed catalogs and other correspondence was enough to have all the financial interests of the business salivating.

What I learned over time is that email is a wonderful means of communication for some, but not all Loyalty program members, and that there was still a place for print materials to accompany digital communications. The clients who insisted on the low cost channel despite encouragement to remain inclusive usually suffered over time and returned to a multi-channel approach.

We are witnessing another threshold being crossed as Web 2.0 has made available several new means of communications, many of which are worthy of trial but none of which are likely to shape up as the werewolf-killing silver bullet.

The sprawling growth of social networks has enabled people to talk beyond SMS and within networks including Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, FriendFeed, and lots more. Twitter has small volume to date compared with Facebook traffic, but usage is growing and the cognoscenti are exchanging some seriously valuable information, not just what they ate at lunch.

Reflecting on my own introduction into the social networking world, I see a myriad of possibilities. The vast majority of members in long standing Frequent Flyer, hotel, and retailing sponsored Loyalty programs are most accessible by email. To generalize, Boomers are likely to respond to direct and email with a growing percentage paying attention to Facebook and other social networks.

If you are targeting Generation Y in your Customer Strategy, the see-saw swings the other way and it is likely that you would consider SMS, Facebook, and Twitter as tools to create an online brand presence and to open up real time feedback networks.

Long standing Loyalty Marketers have used the term “Dialogue” to describe their interest in establishing two-way communication between company and consumer. In some ways, nothing has fundamentally changed, only that we have more channel choice in today’s world. We have to recognize that not every consumer wants to talk with us in the same way or through the same channel.

How we create our online presence within Social Networks and select channels appropriate to the audience will have strong influence on our ability to build brand loyalty in the future.