Hardly a day goes past in the marketing world without yet another revelation relating to social media – and the myriad of claims of its hero-like properties.

However, the reality is that expectations will not be met unless there’s a clearer understanding on all sides about how ‘social’ works, the necessary on-going investment in both time and money, and an acknowledgement of its limitations.

Social media is not a one-size-fits-all solution and it cannot:

Be a substitute for a marketing strategy
A Facebook fan page or a Twitter campaign promoting your weekly offers is not a standalone marketing strategy.

Be a success without senior management buy-in
Social media requires that decision makers listen to customers, and make changes based on their feedback. It requires trust when employees talk to customers. The culture of fear (of job loss, of loss of control of the company credo, of change in general) is part of today’s corporate culture. Senior management has to want this change.

Be seen as a short-term project
Social media is not a one-off execution but rather a long-term commitment to openness, experimentation and change, requiring time to deliver results.

Be executed without a realistic budget
Websites incorporating interactivity, allowing user-generated content and e-commerce functions are not cheap. Even manipulating free software like WordPress and making it fully functional and compliant with a company’s branding requires skill, experience, and money.

Be done effectively in-house by most organisations
Successful social media campaigns integrate social media into the many elements of marketing, including advertising, PR and digital. The best protagonists now have more than 10 years’ experience with forums, blogs, user-generated content and competitions in an interactive environment.

It calls for strategy, contacts, tools, and experience – a combination not generally found in in-house teams, who often select the wrong tools or use the wrong approach.

Be a quick fix to the bottom line or restore a tarnished reputation
Social media may provide tangible results for a company that’s already a performer – people take notice of a company like Google. However, desperation in some corporate circles is driving the conviction that a social media campaign is a quick fix to languishing sales or a damaged reputation.

Be left to “the kids” who “get social media”
Organisations running social media without experienced specialists who understand integrated communications will squander time, money and can damage their reputation. And then, sadly, many will decide that this new approach doesn’t work.

The media landscape is changing faster than ever before, and the super-hero that is social media is defining the way we now interact with it. Just don’t rely on it to save the world at every turn though…

Steve Jennings is an Account Manager at BCM Brisbane

Check out these related posts:

1. Are Australian brands simply not up to the social media challenge?
2. BCM welcomes Anthony Dever, Social Media Manager
3. How an egg became a social media ‘Celeggrity’
4. 2009: The year of social media
5. Sharing the success of a custom built social network strategy