Intersting that a group of more than 200 "Social Marketers"

[Phil Corbett]

produces so little conversation on the forum.

Is it that social media is now spreading the experts thin... or is it the experts really aren't the experts?

[Pam Richard]

Hi Phil,

That question has crossed my mind many times on many of the sites that I visit, including this one. I admit I am not an expert on "Social Marketing" and use it more as a relationship builder for the non-profits that I am working with. Still, I sometimes feel like I am talking to empty space and no one is listening. Perhaps people are still hesitant to post comments and or start conversations online because they are worried about their "reputation" in their field and realize that once a comment is posted it will be there forever? Or maybe they really have not used Social media on a regular basis and cannot offer anything to the discussion? I personally think that we all jump around on the internet..checking out the next greatest thing and forgot where we have been and just abandon some of the sites we visit and sign up for. I am guilty of that.

[Beth M.]

I joined this network because I'm interested in the subject; I'm writing my Master's thesis on it! It's a case study on how a specific not-for-profit youth arts organization (with which I worked) has used social networking tools to involve its target market. Well, I was hoping to start some discussion relating to the subject, but I became easily distracted by other things (ironically including Facebook and the like). I would like to pick it up again and see if people have thoughts on the subject...

Replying to your actual question, I think that a significant portion of the expertise is held by people who don't even think about it much. They're just out there doing it well for their particular purposes, whether it's to make a business more visible, to promote shows or to garner attention from friends. But businesspeople who become very knowledgeable on social marketing strategies that work for one company's specific purpose may not be able to perform well when given a different company, market or goal. So one might be skeptical when a person claims to be an expert. We can all learn from each other, though. Additionally, the tools are always changing. "Experts" have to be constantly learning new technologies and tactics to adapt, or else they will get left behind in the dust. It's hard to keep up with it!

[Phil Corbett]

thanks for replying, both of you ;)

I was hoping that this group, when I joined, would be a place to share success stories and other best practices. Hopefully the group just needs more time to gain momentum, but I do partly feel it is indicative to the fact that so many people want to be tied into a buzz topic.

I agree with the concept that social media marketing strategies are not one size fits all, that is why I think by sharing we can all learn. I have had successes in creating a campaign for a non-profit associations event along with successes in my current B2B position, and the things that worked for one did not work for the other.

For the non-profit event I had great success promoting it through myspace, as the target audience was primarily tweens. In B2B I have found twitter and LinkedIn to be great traffic drivers to webinars and to our site. Social Bookmarking has also been valuable for us in the B2B world, we are launching a blog (finally) to enhance the current content stream we are producing.

Again, thanks for having a voice.

[Brandon Andersen]

I agree with Pam's point that a lot of people are just hopping around the internet to see what's next instead of diving into a community. I think the fear is that you'll dive into the "wrong" community, so a lot of people will keep jumping around trying to find the right one. And because of this tactic, I think a lot of people really miss the point of social media - actually connecting with a community, wherever it is.

Another reason might be because "social marketers" are probably busy on their prospects' networks, and not on the network devoted to social marketers. :)

[Jeff Louis]

I have not read everyone's reply, but I am involved with several SM networks, including this one, Adholes, AdGabber, FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Digg...and I write for 3 blogs. Sometimes no matter how hard I try, I can't get to everything that I want to (or need to) for that matter. I constantly bookmark, save, print to .pdf, write notes to myself, etc. The deal is that content relevancy matters and if I am just republishing something that was on Mashable, I usually don't bother. If I pick up a story or RT from a popular SM site or traditional media site, I choose the ones that aren't well-known and that I can add value to from my own experience.

Not to disparage this site, but it is relatively new, and like many things in the SM, realm, sometimes new things need time to catch on. Everyone talks about how Twitter and Facebook are growing so fast, but Twitter's what, three years old now (March 2006), and Facebook is nearing six years (Feb. 2004) of service not counting when it was Facemash?

I agree with the fact that community is important, but the reality is that everyone won't be able to participate in everything. (I think that this is a great site and that it will stick around but the same cannot be said for everyone).

I appreciate the conversation. The one thing that is certain is that advertising is going through some very fundamental changes, and SM is part of the future, which means growth.

I recently wrote a blog regarding Twitter based on a Nielsen survey that stated something like 45% of businesses surveyed did not think that Twitter was here for the long-haul...which is interesting due to the fact that I thought that EVERYONE was on Twitter. Yet, out of the 9 adults in my family, I am the only one. At my last agency, I was 5 of 90.

Don't worry yet. It will all turn.