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Kudos to GM
After years of being able to use GM as a prime example of what not to do, they buck a trend and announce that they are revisiting their entire spend on Facebook.
My favorite quote from the story: “The sources said GM executives found the paid ads had little impact on car buying.”
How about that. GM, one of the kings of advertising, finally learning that paying for ads, especially on social sites, has little impact on car buying.
GM is not giving up on Facebook altogether, as they find that can be an effective way to engage with their consumers and share content. GM spends $40 million on Facebook, and I for one am quite confident that if they take that $40 million and reinvest in sincere, authentic approaches that, as my friend and client Steve Randazzo says, create deep emotional connections, they’ll find far greater returns.
I love the fact that GM is finally looking at results and not just process. Maybe there is a rebirth in Detroit after all. (I know, I know…don’t get carried away.)
Here’s the other quote I love. It’s from Steve Goldner, a senior director at digital-media agency MediaWhiz. He says this move “reflects that GM does not know how to integrate social-media into a winning marketing play.”
Well, maybe. Or maybe it’s just that paid advertising doesn’t actually drive behavior. Maybe there are more effective marketing “plays” that make a bigger difference. As I share with my clients, just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it works.
For too long, marketing agencies and consultants have been making the marketing process and complex and trendy as possible to enable them to justify exorbitant fees and to hide from accountability.
I congratulate GM for stepping up. I hope they follow through. Then maybe, just maybe, I’ll be sharing other examples of GM is doing that should emulated.
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Here was my full response …
WSJ reports that General Motors plans to stop advertising on Facebook as GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick said the auto maker, “is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important.”
The news could not come at a worse time for Facebook, but states some strong commentary on both Facebook and GM.
First GM … this is the same company that went before Congress looking for hand-me-outs to save their fledging company. Was Ford in front of Congress? No. Is it a coincident that Ford has an extremely productive social media program that is fully integrated into other marketing programs? No. What Ford does, that is absent from GMs social media effort, is that they have a strategy, plan, execution, and metrics that integrate ALL owned, earned, and PAID media endeavors. They do not have an isolated Facebook paid media program. Furthermore, I question if Ewanick understands that, on average, only 16% of brand postings on Facebook reach their “like’s” newsfeed as revealed at the fMC on 2/29/11. He should look at Facebook’s reach generator (paid offering from Facebook) with regards to “content (being) effective and important.” The fact is that GM does not know how to integrate social media into a winning business strategy. The issue is not Facebook ads.
As for Facebook … this news is very detrimental for Facebook right before their IPO. It paints a picture that a struggling company cannot rely on Facebook to help turn them around, but the same could be said about any pure-play marketing advertisement program. The reality is that Facebook advertisement, by itself, is not a great use of precious marketing dollars. Facebook has done a poor job positioning and describing how their platform drives quantifiable business results. Facebook is not the equivalent of having a social media strategy and it is time for Facebook to communicate how they are PART of a winning solution and stop making ill-advised marketers believe they are THE social media solution.
Kudos to you Steve. And props for reaching out and commenting on this blog. I really appreciate and respect that.
I also appreciate your sharing your full statement on this blog. I think my core followers – the owners, executives and sales and marketing personnel of small and mid-market businesses – can really benefit from you points.
I completely agree with you that ads, in and of themselves, are neither good nor bad. A comprehensive strategy that fully integrates all actions behind a clear purpose is critical – regardless of the tactics used.
I do respect GM that at least they stopped doing something that wasn’t working … you have to admit for GM at least, that’s progress.
BTW I think the core driver for growth for Ford (and their ability to not rely on the gov’t) starting with the (at the time) new management team getting really clear on who their customers really are, clarifying the value proposition, and, frankly, making better cars.
Steve, thank you again for sharing your full statement and I apologize for throwing you in with the bad bunch.
I hope we can continue to conversation over time.