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The Honeymoon is Over for Social Media

posted on December 30, 2008

On my latest episode of Managing the Gray I made the statement that “the honeymoon is over for social media.”

Honeymoon IslandI said it as an off hand comment that came to mind, but the more I think about it the more I firmly believe what I said. I don’t mean that social media is dead, dying or in any way going away. In fact I think it is going become more integrated, important and part of every successful company going forward.

I’ve been with my wife for almost twenty years now. When you get married your full of lust and excitement and live in the moment first and foremost. But, to maintain a successful relationship you have to have a mix of honesty, intimacy and great communication. You have to look at the big picture and the long term rather then just the moment.

The same is true for where we are with social/interactive/digital/new media. The time is now for you to get out there and be honest about what it can and can’t do with clients. Work with companies to be sure that they understand that this is a long process of relationship building and not a one night stand. Make sure they completely comprehend and appreciate what they are getting into. Then over and over show them results and if things are broken, fix them!

Sure this is over simplified, but every day someone new pops up with instant success in social media schemes. Successful consultants and agencies know that it take more then talk and promises of golden viral videos to equal success. It takes time to think about the strategy, define the goals and then build and execute programs over a given period of time to make it a success.

The honeymoon may be over, but that doesn’t mean the fun in the bedroom is done. In fact it is just beginning.

Get out there. Work hard. Deliver results. Satisfy your clients.

Photo Credit to [klf]photography via Flickr

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Categories: Rambles
  • http://sarahehamilton.blogspot.com/ Sarah Hamilton

    Great analogy, CC. And congrats on 20 years of marriage.

  • http://www.datexmedia.wordpress.com Scott Mahler

    I agree, social media is really nothing more than networking. Building relationships with people/companies that can help you, teach you or give you a different angle on something. I recently hired an internet marketer, and she told me the same thing. There may be spikes to my traffic but these are temporary and for real growth I have to be patient.

  • http://jimmyhendricks.collarfree.com Jimmy Hendricks

    I totally agree with this. At first companies were willing to do anything, spend a lot, and basically try shotgun marketing. Now they are realizing that doesn’t work and they can just as easily have negative results as positive.

    I think in 2009 companies are going to use Social Media, but in a much savvier way.

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com C.C.

    Thanks for the well wishes, but have actually only been married 12 years, but have been together for 20 later this spring.

  • http://www.stickyfigure.com Steve Woodruff

    And, as with any good marriage, there has to be a readiness to evolve. Over time. Successful SM usage will be a marathon, not a sprint.

  • http://everydotconnects.com Connie Reece

    “Work with companies to be sure that they understand that this is a long process of relationship building and not a one night stand.”

    Excellent advice, CC. The best consulting relationship is not merely a matter of helping a client with strategy and execution; it also means being an educator and leading by example. It requires a heck of a lot of hard work to do it successfully (the example of Tim Jackson and Masi bikes always comes to mind), and there is no magic social media bullet.

    And why would we expect it to be otherwise? Yet for some, social media/social networks are just the latest “get rich quick” scheme–and those things only work for the originator. The rest of us have to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

  • http://digitalbodylanguage.blogspot.com Steven Woods

    Great post, and very much agreed. I think a good turning point will be when we start to see the dominant memes in the world of social media be less and less about social media itself. Then we’ll know it has become mainstream.

  • http://www.scottmonty.com Scott Monty

    Amen! While there are still some companies just waking up to this, it’s true that it’s time to stop the lovey-dovey stuff and get down to work.

    I’m seeing this more and more at conferences – people are tired of the theory and want concrete examples of what works and what they can do.

    Let’s end the honeymoon and get on with living! And in a short while we’ll be ready for that 7-year itch. ;-)

  • http://www.thomsinger.blogspot.com thom singer

    this is a great analogy. And right on the money. The beginning of anything exciting is full of, well, excitement. But sustainability comes through honesty, integrity, commitment and hard work.

    I think that 2008 was the year of screaming about social media from the hill tops. 2009 is the year of digging in the dirt to plant the seeds for the future crops that will grow.

    Happy New Year.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Nice post buddy. You’re right about it, totally right.
    The one night stand stuff is old, people need to take the time and commitment to social media.

    Everyone should remember to use some protection* when they’re jumping into the social media bed. :-)

    Cheers,
    Dave

    *The Advanced Guard sounds like a good place to start to me.

  • http://www.mediashifters.com Andrew Mayer

    I’m still seeing a lot of people trying to wrap their head around the concept…

    Still, it may be a good time to take off the rose tinted glasses.

  • http://www.successful-blog.com Liz Strauss

    Thank you for saying this. Maybe folks will quit with the “spring break behavior” and start realizing that relationships take time. Love at first sight takes work for years after that.

    Foundations are what hold up the things that last.

  • http://blogs.aquent.com/thetalentblog Matthew T. Grant

    Glad you stuck with the “honeymoon” metaphor and ended with “fun in the bedroom.” Oddly enough, it made me do a doubletake when I saw “SM” in the comments!

    Keep on rockin, CC

    Matt

  • http://CruiseSource.us Rich Tucker

    I am in the 4th year of my marriage and I have to agree things are a lot different then the first year. We have had new additions to the family, a new home, and a relatively short history of successes and failures that have formed a strong foundation for future growth.

    I am excited to see how social media changes has it becomes less about the “fun & excitement” of new “toys” and more about growing off of this nicely laid foundation. Social Media is as promising as any marriage coming out of the honeymoon phase.

    Great Post!
    Rich Tucker

  • http://www.freshclicks.net Lary Stucker

    Just like people are always looking for that “magic” weightloss pill, they are looking at social media to bring them instant marketing success. It is something that is ingrained in our culture or maybe into mankind as a whole. We want instant satisfaction even at the cost of longterm success.

    I think the real magic of social media is this shift away from faceless companies talking AT customers to people within organizations engaging in conversations with customers.

  • http://www.freshclicks.net Lary Stucker

    I think the problem is the same you see in the diet industry, everyone want a quick fix, a “magic” pill. Companies want a magic marketing pill to success.

    The real “magic” of social media is this shift away from companies talking at the consumer to companies being engaged in conversations. It is a huge shift and there is opportunity for good companies to be successful at it. Those companies that are undisciplined and have bad products are going to fail. Kinda like the people who try to lose wait from taking pills.

  • http://www.jimkukral.com Jim Kukral

    Social media is still in diapers, and you want it to start getting busy and knocking out kids after the honeymoon already? :)

    I “think” I get your point.

  • http://www.seanbohan.com Sean Bohan

    BRAVO

    I was gonna write this whole long reply, and in the process kept looking up at the other comments and saying to myself “they nailed that”, “education? Connie got it”, “theory? Scott handled that one perfectly”.

    Digital (including Social) is no longer sitting at the “kids table”. We have earned our place and our voice over the last 14+ years. I have no doubt we can keep it going after the honeymoon – after all, there is money to be had here :) … but the real question is, can we keep this thing of ours honest and authentic? And more importantly, how can Social impact the other comm channels clients are using? Once a company starts being open and honest in one way, the lack of “being real” becomes even more painfully apparent. Will the “winning” companies be those in the future that connect the dots of all of their efforts (PR, TV, Print, Events, etc.) with social?

  • http://freedomwriting.wordpress.com/ Kimberlee

    I totally agree, that social media is ready for sincere relationship growth. People are looking for genuine connections within the online community. True success will grow over time, as we each strengthen the bonds within our niches.

    Thanks for this excellent post!

    Kimberlee

  • http://customersrock.net Becky Carroll

    CC, great post on the need to really take social media to the next level. When the honeymoon is over, the glitz and gloss come off, and we can see each other as we truly are – bad breath in the morning, sleepy-head hair, bathroom habits.

    Brands need to get past the glitz promised by social media and get to the real thing. Just like in a marriage, social media is the most successful when we focus on the people behind it. The relationships are the most important thing – not just getting customers to respond once, but getting it to continue over time.

    And I agree with Scott – more concrete examples of what works (and what doesn’t!) will be very important in educating others why they should get involved with social media.

    You rock, CC!

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com jon buscall

    Yes! But up to a point. For many clients, social media is an alien concept. It’s changing. But slowly. I think the playing field will change radically during 2009 as more and more corporates get on Twitter (and other social media sites).

    My fear is that the great work being done out there (and the important conversations) will get lost in the dross of corporate speak as b2b folks start to “get” social media.

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com C.C.

    You can always tell when someone tweets a link because there is an influx of comments.

    Because a couple of people mentioned it. I’m very well aware that many companies from all industries still don’t understand Social Media and don’t realize why it fits into their worlds.

    What I’m trying to say is that the shiny “everything will be fine later” vibe just doesn’t fly any more. Especially with smaller budgets everyone is going to want to see measurable results to the programs they run. These criteria will be different for each client and each campaign, but they won’t just spend their dollars for a feel good feeling of “doing social media” and it has to be more then that.

    I also agree that more stories of good and bad need to be shared. Case studies that show what worked and what different and most importantly, what was learned.

  • http://twitter.com/attitude Brian Rendel

    Right on, CC. Honesty and intimacy are keys to success in all relationships – as is the benefit of time and the practice of decency by both parties. Without exception in my experience it has been failure or omission of at least one of these elements that enables human conflict and/or groundless prejudice to metastasize. The lucky learn as kids. Those who do not can learn but rarely see the need – preferring to fake it when people look and cast blame when they look away.

  • http://thoughtout.biz Mike Talmadge of THOUGHT OUT…Co.

    We are a testament that a company can start with $0 ($350 to be exact) and by CONTRIBUTING to social media we can happily report we are exceeding 3X sales growth every year. We are over 4 old now.

  • http://www.ewanspence.com/blog/ Ewan Spence

    Nailed it on the last day of Web 2.0(sorry, 2008). ;-)

  • http://searchcorner.blogspot.com/ krishna

    honeymoon may be over …hehe can we expect kids now… :D

  • http://www.marketingprofs.com Ann Handley

    “You have to look at the big picture and the long term rather then just the moment.” That’s true of marriage, social media… and so much of life, isn’t it? The perspective is important… hard as it is to maintain sometimes.

    Nice post, as always, my friend! Happy new year!

  • http://sharemarketing.wordpress.com Matt Hames

    Most of the early case studies I saw were early adopter examples. I remember being at conference over a year ago when someone was showing their Facebook Page a few weeks after Pages existed. They had 1,600 fans in two weeks, and they were giddy. Could they do that now, when the shine has worn off them?

    This will be the year when social media enters the bigger picture of the brand’s voice. We talk about conversations, but don’t always take into consideration the one-way conversation brands have been engaged in for the last 50 years. That time is over, but it doesn’t mean brands still can’t talk to people using normal media.

    So this partnership is going to create tensions, arguments and bad feelings. Especially since we social media peeps can’t rely on just doing something to get fans. We have to be smarter. 2009 is gonna be fun.

  • http://www.billsavings,com Victoria

    This is SOOO true! NO more quick get rich ideas or robots with automatic robots that give auto responses! Social media is a relationship. If you want it to succeed you HAVE to put the time in, be honest and kind.

  • http://www.theharteofmarketing.com Beth Harte

    CC – so true. Thanks for kicking up this conversation. Happy New Year to you and yours! :)

    As @ConnieReece said: “Yet for some, social media/social networks are just the latest “get rich quick” scheme–and those things only work for the originator. The rest of us have to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

    We will see a lot of this in 2009 as more people start to dive into learning more about SM and trying to implement it as another marketing tactic (ie 1-way) versus a business development or long-term relationship building strategy.

    And I also agree with @JimKukral, there are still SO many people that still haven’t stuck there toes in the SM pool which does still make it in its infancy. While we may be bored with the soundbites (as @AmberNaslund pointed out) and are looking for concrete evidence, there are still so many people that haven’t even put on the diaper.

  • http://secondthoughts.typepad.com Prokofy Neva

    Social media can only make do with the elements from which it is made — people. Not like it’s magic! I’m glad you’ve told it like it is.

    Could you point to an actual concrete example of a social media campaign for a product that brought a client or any company you know an actual quantifiable return on investment?

  • http://www.eatmedia.com David Cutler

    OK – your “honeymoon’s over” inspired me – http://tinyurl.com/9yj2f2

    Oh, yeah… my wife and I have been doing the love thing since high school! The best!!

  • Pingback: A Social Media Gut Check | Altitude Branding

  • http://beth.typepad.com Beth Kanter

    Don’t you think it’s the natural maturation of the industry? Similar to where we were with the web back in 1997?

  • http://www.epiphaniesinc.com/blog Lani Voivod, “Content Lover” of Epiphanies, Inc.

    What do you think the post-honeymoon rough patch is going to look like for social media? Oooohhh, it could get ugly. I don’t see “the silent treatment” angle working so well.

    Thanks for the post. I especially enjoyed this:

    “The honeymoon may be over, but that doesn’t mean the fun in the bedroom is done. In fact it is just beginning.”

    Yes, we married-types — and anyone into this social media game for more than a wham-bam-thankya-ma’am fling — have to learn how to get creative, become good listeners, put our partners first, and think of the long-term goals instead of the short-term wins.

    Here’s to creativity in the bedroom! ;)
    -Lani

  • http://www.copywriteink.blogspot.com Richard Becker

    Perfectly said, and it has been over for some time. A few people have been expressing concerns that the social media crowd might be disconnecting themselves from business for more than a year. I think, and have thought, that they may be right.

    The ‘Real-Time Communications Conference’ coming up on Jan. 14 might provide a reality check. The usual suspects will not be there, replaced by corporate communications under the banner of real-time communication, which they consider social media a subset of.

    All my best,
    Rich