The Field of Dreams Myth: Busted.
Posted by Trey Reeme on July 16th, 2007
Matt linked me to this Techcrunch post today asking Will The Last Corporation Leaving Second Life Please Turn Out The Light.
Without getting into the numbers (which are worth a look),
The crux of the piece [originally at the LA Times] is that despite the hype, real life businesses are closing down their Second Life outposts due to little to no interest in them.
I blame this on the Field of Dreams Myth: “If you build it, they will come.”
Apply the following to a house in Second Life, MySpace page, blog, podcast, wiki, Twitter account, Facebook app, Ning network, etc. I call them my Social Media Field of Dreams Myth-busters™ (note the hyphen and™, which ward off the copyright infringement claims):
- If the cause behind a campaign isn’t compelling, it will fail.
- No one ever woke up saying, “I want to look at Company X’s marketing today!!!”
I’d like to share an IM conversation I just had with Brent on the matter:
Trey Reeme:
off the top of your head, what percentage of CUs could successfully launch a social media campaign today?Brent Dixon:
im not going to throw out a number, but a very small percentage.Trey Reeme:
I’m thinking close to 1%.Brent Dixon:
not to be confused with “what percentage of credit unions could successfully use social media,” thats different.Trey Reeme:
right.
actually, less than 1. More like .1.Brent Dixon:
successfully launch a campaign though, id agree 1% or less.Trey Reeme:
you know what’s frustrating?
it has nothing to do with assets or budget but everything to do with culture.Brent Dixon:
yup.Trey Reeme:
and a lot of CUs who think they could pull it off can’t.
I think the numbers Trey and Brent are chucking around are just about right. Let’s say there’s about 8,500 credit unions. That means 85 will attempt social media, and only 8 or 9 will actually enjoy some success with it.
Questions: Is it a foredrawn conclusion that all financial institutions should be considering a social media campaign? Are those choosing not to deploy social media “failing” in some way?
I agree with the .1% guess.
I think it is a combination of budget and culture mixed in with a little ignorance of what social media is.
Having a MySpace page does not constitute a social media campaign any more than having an umbrella makes me Mary Poppins.
And like many credit unions – I had to learn the hard way. A broken umbrella and a bruised tail bone is all I got from that experience. :)
Trey—Interesting stuff, but I was most glad to see your reference to Brent. I’ve missed him sharing the last couple of months. Hi Brent! Roger
Define success. When talking about a social media plan or strat, you need to have a clearly defined goal, correct? There isn’t just one goal, one overall, grandslam solution, that fits everyone.
People is a large factor in it being a success, because people drive social media, not departments or committees.
/trying not to ramble too much, just landed in Anchorage and can’t fall asleep too much.
I would ask that you say more on the subject.
Since I work for a state league/association, I’d be interested to read everyone’s thoughts on whether they think an association is more uniquely positioned to make social media part of an overall coop awareness campaign than an individual CU. We’re about to go down that road (the coop campaign part) and are wrestling with whether or not to pursue social media as part of the overall strategy.
I’m going to the AACUL Communicator’s conference in Providence next month and this, in large part, is my reason for going. Networking with my fellow mouthpieces across the country is what I’m really interested in, especially those who are already successfully running campaigns.
At the same time, I think it’s better to wait until you know what you’re doing before you launch a social media campaign. And, at the risk of sounding like a heretic, for some credit unions, social media is a waste of time and money. (Trey, put down that torch!)
Otto definitely makes a great point: What’s “success” here?
The other thing I would add (or ask I guess) is, what percentage of CUs would even be able to define what a “social media campaign” is in the first place?
Cuz, um …. I can’t.
I’d agree with Otto that I need more info and that goals depend on the individual, or institution. I’m not sure exactly what this post is trying to say. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had my coffee yet.
But, I would argue that a lot of credit unions don’t subscribe to the “if you build it, they will come” philosophy, they think more along the lines of…”why not try it? especially if it doesn’t cost very much”. And social media is sold as an inexpensive way to reach people, so they’re more likely to just go for it without a well-thought out plan or goal in place.
Now I’m the one who’s rambling.
Trey-
Great post, couldn’t agree with it more. One time I had a credit union ask me about building a virtual branch on Second Life. First, how many people in Second Life would fall into your field of membership, even if you had access to an entire state? And secondly, focus on more important things…like being able to open an account online without ever having to visit a branch or fill out paperwork…
...because how many people on Second Life are going to want to come into your real world branch to apply.
Bryan
@Trey – I agree completely with the assertion that you and Brent make in your IM convo.
@Terrell Good point – I think some CUs look at the cost point and conclude they should go for it. What they don’t realize is that good SM efforts do have a high cost – in time dedicated to making it work.
As a newb to all this, my own conclusion is that the “Azaroff/Change Everything” model is a gold standard example of a compelling corporate social media effort.
Sadly, too many CUs are not willing to cede that much message control to make that model viable.
I’ve built it…and they aren’t coming! :) Totally my fault, though. I’ve found that I approached social media totally aimlessly. Chances are quite good that I scrap everything and relaunch. Mr. Miyagi said, “Focus. Must stay focused!”
I’ll admit that I have not created my avatar in second life just yet…
Perhaps this whole virtual world is less about the marketing opportunities for companies and more about the education one can gain by exploring ideas in a virtual environment—taking the art of prototyping to an all new level.
@Warrior – I feel ya man … I offer “Marketing Council Cookies,” which the target audience isn’t using … in droves. :)
Not using in droves….priceless! I keep telling myself that they didn’t come to my blog because they didn’t know about it. Now I’m afraid to tell people about it! :)
It’s sort of like the Kansas City Royals…no matter how poorly they do, they can always blame it on being a small market team with a small payroll.