Social Networks a Threat to Agencies?

How do social networks and other emerging channels threaten agencies? Is this the start of the end for agencies.

A recent article from FT, Social networks threaten advertising growth, is one more in a long line of shots taken at agencies. At the heart of this and other articles is the idea that agencies are not evolving their businesses as people evolve their media consumption, entertainment and communication behaviors.

While the article focused on the UK marketplace, one point jumped out. Two-thirds of agencies are not ready for this change. Are one-third of agencies really ready for this change? If one-third of agencies are ready for the change, it is time for the doom-and-gloom coverage to end.

Most major advertising agencies have been slow to embrace new channels. New agencies and marketing services company provide these services, and either become major players or are acquired by larger agencies.

There is no doubt that as personal forms of communication become media channels, marketing and advertising will change. And with it, agencies will change. Agencies will come and go. But the fundamental position of agencies as strategic marketing partners will remain.

Bright spots in 2009?

The popular advertising press sure doesn't say so.

The real case is lots of uncertainty. Budgets are down, or they haven't even been confirmed yet (it is already more than a week into 2009, right?). But the sky is not falling. Many companies are returning to some of the fundamentals that had been left by the wayside.

At the top of the list is cultivating current prospects. Email marketing looks to be one of the bright spots in 2009. Many companies are realizing they already have an enormous base of contacts that have not been mined as actively or efficiently as possible. Of course, customer analytics and segmentation will continue to be important elements of successful programs.

Another area of growth will be "social marketing", although many staunch social marketing supporters and pundits may be disappointed by the approach B2B marketers take. For many B2B marketers, social marketing will not mean amassing thousands of friends or distributing viral applications. B2B marketers will find new ways to use social marketing channels in many of the same ways they have used email and interactive marketing in years past. To communicate, to listen, and to respond.

What will B2B marketers do with social marketing?

1) They will be on Twitter. They will invite comments during webinars and events and distribute news and information. Twitter will suffer from many of the same ails as corporate blogs, but the size of a corporation's Twitter following and its responsiveness will be tracked much like email marketing is today.

2) They will be on Facebook. Ok, so this isn't a fit for many industries, but marketers will start to participate on Facebook. Facebook allows customers to connect and share, even briefly, information about products and experiences. For marketers with leading products, this will be seen as an opportunity to allow their customers to share experiences and add their voice.

3) They will be in Digg. And Reddit. And Delicious. Bookmarking, posting and linking are easy and will be simple ways to add 'social' features and functionality to pages.

4) Finally, they will be on LinkedIn. LinkedIn will become more than a networking site for professionals, it will become a way for companies and professionals to connect. As the features continue to be enhanced, and with the audience already in place, companies will flock to the tame and proper LinkedIn environment and its premium audience. However, if the LinkedIn team is not careful, the environment will quickly become cluttered.

Hold on tight. 2009 will be a wild ride.