“Social media is difficult to quantify and there is no evidence that it works,” is a comment made by a company leader that I heard recently. Senior marketing managers are also asking themselves questions such as, “Should we be using social media as part of our marketing campaign – and if so how?”
I addressed these points in this speech I gave at the Travel Health Insurance Association Conference in San Antonio. Digital communication technologies are advancing extremely rapidly and are changing the ways we behave. I believe it is no understatement to say that we are in the middle of a revolution that is changing how everyone behaves in all aspects of our lives.
As business managers we need to adapt the ways we communicate to fit with the behaviors and lifestyles of our audiences – that almost goes without saying. However, that is not enough. The changes that are occurring are so momentous that we need to change the very way we lead our organizations. It is a mistake to think of “social media” as just another marketing tactic akin to say print advertising. Social media is part of an increasingly interconnected ecosystem that includes internal company information systems and communications with employees, prospects and customers.
In the speech I try to get across the significance of the changes and illustrate them with examples of three luminaries from the travel industry: Stuart Morris who helped build Expedia, iTravel2000 and Thomas Cook; Mike Brcic of Sacred Rides and Bruce Poon Tip of G Adventures.
Watch Part 1 of the presentation: Social media and the ecology of inbound marketing.