Social Media Bubble? Low ROI will Generate Consolidation

As a provider of affordable SEO solutions to small businesses since 2001, it seems that the social media bubble, once fully recognized next year, will pop. The basic reason is low/no sales attributed to social media presences like Facebook. In these days of, shall we say, “economic challenge”, business owners must have a defined return on cost and time investment. Most social media just ain’t cuttin’ it.

Social Media Bubble

With much gratitude to Eric Brown, published in SearchEngineGuide.com and the Harvard Business Review’s Social Media Bubble analysis, the Search Marketing Blog wholeheartedly agrees with the premise that an as yet unidentified concern is the Social Media Bubble.

Several camps are starting to chant that 2011 may well be the year of The Social Media Bubble. I would not proclaim to be able to predict the future by any means, but it sure seems more probable than not. While having little experience predicting the future, we have had an up close and personal relationship with the real estate bubble.

Social Media Bubble Froth

2010 has been the year that many small and mid size businesses have taken the plunge, and embraced the throws of Social Media Marketing. With that nearly every unemployed straggler has hung out their Social Media Consultant shingle.

As reported in the Harvard Business Review,

“During the subprime bubble, banks and brokers sold one another bad debt — debt that couldn’t be made good on. Today, “social” media is trading in low-quality connections — linkages that are unlikely to yield meaningful, lasting relationships.”

Social Media Bubble Characteristic: Low Barrier to Entry

If the barrier to entry is low, to non existent, a crash frequently follows. While the real estate bubble collapsed due to a multitude of reasons, whenever someone can sell a condo several times before the builder finished construction, and each selling party profits, all is well and good until the market falls off. Very much the Ponzi scheme. It then becomes musical chairs and the last person standing is left holding the bag. When profit occurs absent anyone really doing anything or adding any value, people and businesses get hurt.

Profits – or ROI – must be reaped by business participants in Social Media marketing. Lack of business profits will ultimately lead to a correction. Business isn’t as complicated as we try to make it. If you are doing internet marketing or social media marketing, and you are not selling more stuff, you should just bail out. Marketing is and has always been about selling more stuff to more people for more money.

So for all those Facebook “fans” and “friends”, how much do you contribute to the business bottom line?

For those small businesses who are part of the social media bubble, here are a few social media optimization tips.

Social Media Bubbles 2011 The Year of the Social Media Bubble

Several camps are starting to chant that 2011 may well be the year of The Social Media Bubble. I would not proclaim to predict the future by any means, but it sure seems more probable than not. While we have little experience predicting …

Publish Date: 08/28/2010 10:52

http://www.searchengineguide.com/eric-brown/is-2011-the-year-of-the-social-media-bub.php

How the social media bubble will burst | Social Media Today

We are in the middle of a social media bubble. Every company is wildly chasing after the promised rewards of social media with very few actually investing and scaling in a sustainable way. Most companies seem to be throwing a grenade of …

Publish Date: 08/20/2010 3:55

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/ericfulwiler/165694/how-social-media-bubble-will-burst

The Social Media Bubble | Intersection Marketing Blog

CEOs don’t believe in social media unicorns or pixie dust – it’s time to step up our game folks. The social media bubble will pop.

Publish Date: 08/15/2010 10:00

http://www.intersectionconsulting.com/blog/?p=723&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

RT @Automagical How the social media bubble will burst http://bit.ly/a4s02T #mlf http://bit.ly/a8Ftp4

By HCMSanMarcos at 08/29/2010 13:48

THE BUZZ- EPISODE 3: THE SOCIAL MEDIA BUBBLE, PART 2 OF 3

This is the third episode of The Buzz and it’s the second of a three-part series on the social media bubble. This segment visits the plusses and minuses of setting up social media as an instant customer satisfaction tool. The episode features Brian M…

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