While this comes as no surprise to me (and probably no surprise to most bloggers or blog readers), apparently, the rest of the world is just realizing that agencies don't get social media marketing. According to a recent poll by TNS Media Intelligence and Cymfony, agencies lack the staff, knowledge and ability to tackle social media marketing challenges and opportunities.
Is this really a revelation? Was a study necessary for people to realize that traditional marketing agencies (and corporate marketing departments) have yet to learn how to leverage the social web? I can't believe that so many marketers have yet to even pay attention to social media marketing, but it's true.
In fact, the study also shows that only 30% of those surveyed felt that social media is a "revolutionary opportunity." And therein lies the problem. Traditional marketers are still in denial that social media marketing is here to stay. Until the powers that be come out of the denial phase, the funds won't be invested in social media opportunities. That leaves the door wide open for smaller agencies and smaller companies to pick up the slack.
What remains to be seen is who those smaller agencies and companies will be and how badly being late to the party will hurt larger agencies and companies that are afraid to step out of their traditional marketing comfort zones and embrace social media marketing.
What do you think?
Photo courtesy of Flickr
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