Talk About A Cultural Singularity Paradox And Sell Social Media
May 13, 2011
Quick Take: Having trouble explaining the value of social media to executives, don't pitch social media services, rather draw a picture of how the world is changing faster than ever, and social media monitoring, agile marketing, and observation can be the way marketers can navigate the complexities of today's fast paced media world.
Rick Liebling's excellent article, "The Cultural Singularity Paradox," does a great job of describing why through the convergence of technology and media, music and culture is now so diverse and rich, that it’s tough to predict what cultural trends are important for society and marketers. We've all seen a recent example of that with Charlie Sheen; the question for that phenomenon is Mr. Sheen able to translate his battered reputation into another career.
After reading Rick's post, I was thinking that no one can predict what trends are most important, but marketers can prepare for the unexpected, and interestingly that really describes the process of social media marketing. Companies can plan an editorial calendar for content marketing and engagement marketing, but leave blanks where they expect to create content. This means marketers have to move faster in responding to the news and cultural cycle.
The cultural cycle is another reason why the concept of agile marketing has arisen; the use of agile development techniques, to enable marketers to focus on what's relevant in shorter periods of time. Agile is not about doing things faster because you work more quickly, but it’s about doing things faster because you are thinking more often about what you need to be doing!
The cultural singularity paradox gives brands a challenge on how to prepare for the unexpected. Yet social media monitoring, and content marketing editorial processes give marketers a way to plan for the unexpected, and be ready for how to address cultural changes as they happen.