*I’ll give you a preemptive warning: this blog entry ends with a question, rather than an answer.

A recent article from eMarketer.com throws water on the fervor surrounding socially-oriented, or “Web 2.0,” technology by arguing that media dollars are still directed towards traditional online media, namely banners and search words. This article is flawed.

First off, in a tongue-in-cheek sense, I have trouble with any article that uses the phrase “Web 2.0″ more than zero times per 200 words.

Seriously, though, while the online ad spend is still significant, I was disappointed that said article did not include any perspective on the ROI of social media. I don’t know what the numbers would be, but it seems to me that this is the true value of social media as a marketing tool.

Also, I’d chalk up at least a portion to the online ad spend to institutional momentum, rather than consumer behavior. From the linked article:

“Marketers are aware of the impact that social media marketing can have on their overall program but view it as uncharted territory, not worthy of their budget,” said John Squire, senior vice president of product strategy at Coremetrics, in a statement.

…So why isn’t Coremetrics, or eMarketer for that matter, focusing on charting this territory rather than reciting old figures? Participation in a campaign by civilians is a far more robust consumer brand experience and cannot be ignored.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 am and is filed under other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.