The marketing to marketers by self-promotional companies and authors trying to increase their personal brands is beyond what would have expected. First they had us believe that social media marketing was an essential tactic, now they are trying to get us to believe that we have to be on mobile devices even though consumers want us to back off. It’s a con game by people and “analysts” that have a hidden agenda and it’s causing more and more brands to flush money down the toilet.
Consider these facts for a second from Type A Group:
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Over 95% of all video viewing is done on a television. Less than 5% is done on a web device. (Nielsen Total Audience Report, Q3, 2015)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””][/inlinetweet]The rate of engagement among a brand’s fans with a Facebook post is 7 in ten thousand. On Twitter it’s less than 4 in ten thousand. (Forrester Research)
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Fewer than one person in a thousand clicks on a standard banner ad. (DoubleClick)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]E-commerce accounts for 6.8% of retail sales in the U.S. (US Dept of Commerce, Q3, 2015)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Over half the online display ads paid for by marketers are unviewable. (Wall Street Journal)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Fewer than 2% of retail transactions happen on a smart phone. (US Dept of Commerce and Internet Retailer)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Only 38% of traffic on the web is human. (CNET)[/inlinetweet]
- One “bot-net” can generate 1 billion (yes, with a b) fraudulent online ad impressions a day. Nobody knows how many “bot-nets” there are. (Yahoo)
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Half of all U.S online advertising dollars may be lost to fraud. (Adweek)[/inlinetweet]
- [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Americans spend more time watching TV than all other leisure activities combined. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) More about the “death of television” in our next newsletter.[/inlinetweet]
The literature and the narrative of the advertising and marketing industry have been hijacked by…
a) people with an agenda such as personal branding promotion
b) people who do not know the facts like “so called”analysts who are writers not business people
c) people who are afraid to contradict the prevailing plot line
Then there was the eMarketer analyst who predicts the shift of dollars from TV to social media even though:
- Live viewing dominates consumer TV habits. About 80% of viewing is done live. About 9% is time-shifted (DVR). Only about 5% of video viewing is done on a web device. Only about 4% of TV viewing is Netflix, YouTube, and all the other new age viewing options. Pivotal Research Group.
- People watch way more video on a TV than they do on a PC or a smart phone. It ain’t even close. This data comes from Nielsen’s Total Audience Report, Q3, 2015.
Marketers have lost touch with the average consumer. They are living in a dream world of their own invention. It is fed by a cultural echo chamber of books, articles and conferences in which people like them talk to people like them.
Of course there are the social media experts who are great at self-promotion and getting marketers to buy-in into marketing mythts..
Here are some random thoughts about social media from the Type A group:
- There is a difference between social media and social media marketing. Social media has been a huge worldwide phenomenon. Social media marketing has been a worldwide flop.
- People on social media are interested in the same things as in any other form of media: Hollywood stars, pop music, athletes, dogs and cats, and the insalubrious behavior of the rich and famous. They are not interested in the new roofing material you’re selling or your awesome new line of toaster ovens.
- Despite the billions of dollars wasted by brands, nobody has ever “joined the conversation” about a brand. Don’t believe me? Go to your Facebook page and see if you can find a conversation about a brand. Or if you want to save time, the official number is this: 7 out of 10,000 fans of a brand interact with one of its Facebook posts.
- You do not grow a brand by concentrating your attention on your current “fans” (which is what social media is all about.) You grow it by gaining new customers. Be sure to read “How Brands Grow” by Prof. Byron Sharp.”
And speaking of Facebook, its amazing success is due to the fact that a few years ago they quietly gave up on social media marketing. They are now a website that makes virtually all its money by selling traditional paid advertising.
A good marketer is able to differentiate between hype, bullshit and facts. It’s not a generational thing, it’s the great con of gullible marketers who are really that stupid.
