Every time I read about social media, someone is always talking about “having a conversation”, “telling your story” and “the narrative of your organization”. Now, it seems like human resources has now caught on. Phrases like storyteller and communicator seem to be coming up a lot in job descriptions.
Which raises the question – what’s changed?
And my answer is – not much.
Look, we can all gush about how great social media is and the democratization of consumer purchases. We can wax poetic about how it’s different this time and how we need to change the way we do things to accommodate this new wave of technology.
But, it’s not different. Not in the essentials anyway.
Now, I’ve been in marketing long enough that I remember faxing press releases. So, maybe not pre-historic but I’ve got some time under my belt. And I can tell you that marketers have always told stories, shaped perspectives and engaged audiences. The way we do might be different but what we’re doing remains the same.
In the midst of all this storytelling, we have to ask ourselves a simple question: Are we delivering value?
And by value, I mean revenue.
You can have the most viral video in the word, a tweet that puts Shakespeare to shame and a Facebook page that sucks in likes faster than a vortex but, if you’re not delivering revenue, you’re not doing your job. The tools we use today are simplistic. Anyone can set-up a Facebook page, Twitter account or an email list of press contacts. The question is – can that person then use tools to drive business? Can they influence internal decisions to fit the company’s chosen narrative when the economy is falling apart? Can they build a relationship with the sales department to maximize marketing dollars?
And that person, my friends, is not a story-teller or a communicator. That person is a marketer.
