The Email Wars

I just got back from SXSW last week and took a lot away. I am planning on typing up and sharing the things with those of you that might benefit from the ideas shared there.

But in leaving Austin and looking at the world from afar it seems that everyone now believes themselves to be a social media strategist. Just take some time to look at community profiles, blogs, twitter bios, etc and you will see that every marketer that exists wants to add the title to their bio. Why? Well is it hot and everyone wants to jump on the band wagon to find the money that is quickly leaving the budgets of other mediums.

Now email marketers are social media experts using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs etc to push their agenda and the sales of their company. The stream of information is getting larger and larger and to me it is becoming excessive. Why, well I will tell you.

Each time I see another person jumping on the next thing I cringe a little. Not that I do not believe that they don’t belong there, but for the fact that they have little to no experience in properly using new media. It seems that everyone that can complete a bio or sign up of the latest 2.0 medium can join the masses.

Add me as your “friend”, follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my blog, and on and on. There are all things that we see and many of of just take for granted. But when I go out to some of these people and ask them to tell me what the last 5 campaigns they created that used social media and how they performed – they can’t. Often times they just look for the latest thing to jump into so that they look like they get it. I want to know this from anyone… What have they done successfully in social media and what is the value they created for the project they did it for. Can you answer this question? Have you built a community site that has more than 100 people that continue to use it day after day? Have you actually built a new idea and not simply reused another technology?

My reason for writing this is not to come off as social media expert. Hell the only people that are experts IMHO are:

Those that do not refer to themselves as experts. You cannot call yourself an expert. That word is for other people to use when referring to you.

Those that have actually used new media ideas in community strategies to implement a campaign, site or technology to do something new.

People that do not just work in one medium.

Listen people, good marketers are those that not only think big, take risks, try new things, and have a long list of campaigns/projects/sites etc to show for it over a period of time. Good marketers are not simply jumping on the next band wagon of technology from what they see others doing. Good marketers look at how to use multiple mediums to create the best experience for there target audience and drive results that make a difference to their companies/clients/customers.

I am not an expert. I am not a role model. I am a marketer that walks the walk by not talking the talk. I get results, knowledge and my learning in life by doing. What about you?