Avoid Using Dabblers with your Online Strategy
I’ve really enjoyed the Custom Publishing Council’s conference this week in Miami. In fact, the Miami Herald wrote a nice article about the conference today. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of great people – publishers, printers, content creators, technology partners and their clients. One of the recurring discussions I had over the course of the three-day conference focused on the fact that almost everyone has ‘recently’ launched an interactive team or integrated marketing team or expanded their online department to help expand their (or their client’s) reach online. This worries me. Everyone ‘says’ they can handle your online needs. PR agencies, ad agencies, SEO consultants, social media consultants, promotional agencies all have their own ‘interactive’ teams. Unfortunately, they are all dabblers.
What’s A Dabbler?
A Dabbler is a person or team of people purpoting to be interactive experts or online marketing professionals, but who don’t really know what they’re doing. They ‘dabble’ in it. Ad agencies are wonderful at developing mass media advertising campaigns. I don’t care how much money they spend building an interactive team – they’re dabbling. PR agencies are great at outreach or delivering earned media coverage. They may hire a bunch of talented people and start an interactive team, but they’re dabbling.
I was introduced to this term by one of our advisory board members in a recent meeting. The more I’ve thought about it, the more dabblers I’ve found.
Survey Says
In the latest issue of B@B magazine, my eye was drawn to a poll in which they asked: “Who will handle your Web 2.0 activities on a daily basis?” Now, I have no idea what ‘Web 2.0 activities’ are, but this is the type of question a dabbler would ask. Anyway, the results of the poll are below:
Who will handle your Web 2.0 activities on a daily basis? B@B Magazine
So there it is. A whopping 62% of the respondents to this survey are relying on dabblers to execute their Web 2.0 strategies. Obviously, I have a very self-serving interest in seeing this number reduced. However, the vast majority of respondents aren’t even engaging more ‘qualified’ dabblers – ad agency interactive teams or public relations firms with online ‘experts’ – they’re relying on some of their internal resources who they hope can make an impact. This is very risky.
Takeaway Message
I implore you: at least meet with an agency completely dedicated to delivering a cohesive online strategy. It won’t cost you anything, except some time. But you really should know the difference between dabbling and delivering online.
My Question to You
Do you dabble? If you do, is it because you can’t convince your team to invest in an interactive agency?
About the author
Andrew Davis -
In 2002, Andrew founded Tippingpoint Labs with journalist James Cosco. Since then, he's spent countless hours exploring the online universe and building a methodological approach to developing digital strategies that drive revenue or reduce costs.
Andrew's always asking big questions and analyzing data to understand markets, online forces and even business models. Andrew's research has resulted in the creation of innovative online metrics including Online Brand Value and Category Brand Value, eye-opening graphical representations of website evolution through the New Media Life Cycle and even using online data to predict offline revenue.
When he's not surfing the web, Andrew's traveling the globe speaking to a wide-variety of audiences about everything from social media to the future of print. Andrew is a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint Labs website and has been creating valuable content since the early 1990s for The Jim Henson Company, CNN, The Today Show and MTV.
He's contributed to a book of short stories, called The Way Things Were and produced and co-wrote Roadside Ambition a documentary film about one small town with two huge balls.
"In a world where content is consumed as rapidly as it's created, companies need to develop a sound strategy to creating valuable online experiences that can, and should, be leveraged enterprise-wide. There is a content solution to every business challenge."Popular Posts
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I did once and I don’t anymore. We are proud to be publication designers and strategists but we were tempted and bit the apple last June – a very good print and advertising client asked us to design a site for them. It was a disaster! We lost money and they weren’t educated. Even though believe it or not – the site was a huge success the path to get there was arduous. Although at one point I thought we had blown our whole great relationship of 4 plus years – we were all sensible enough to agree that we weren’t a good for interactive and since then we have continued to push through in a great relationship again.
Do not be tempted. It’s like I have always said – I don’t have a press in my basement for obvious reasons and now I can proudly say I don’t have an interactive team either. But I’ll refer for sure!
Jennifer,
Thanks for sharing your perspective and opinion. This kind of feedback is so valuable.
Thanks again,
Drew
Andrew – you make an excellent point. Remember it’s 2009, not 2012. The state of Web 2.0, or social media marketing is still young. Many companies are still dabbling in it.
I run an interactive agency and we started out dabbling about a year and a half ago. Since then I’ve written a book (coming out in June) and spoken at numerous conferences. But, neither of these rise me above the dabbler status. My agency’s work with our clients getting them to implement productive, “show me the money” social media strategies is what rises us above the dabbler status.
You ask good questions and make insightful points. Keep it coming…
If a PR firm invests in bringing on a dozen full-time experienced online strategists, do those people become demoted to dabblers?
Steven,
The short answer, in my opinion is, yes they become dabblers. Obviously it depends who you bring in. I think if you’re a PR firm – concentrating on traditional AND digital outreach is where you play and where you play best. Don’t claim to have digital ‘chops’ as our Managing Director, Scott Loring, would say. You’re much more credible if you draw the lines and play where you know how to play. Instead, partner with somone who really does have the digital chops to accomplish your (or your clients’ goals.) Make sure it’s someone you can play well with. You’ll both be FAR more successful as a team.
What do you think? Do you work in PR?
Thanks for your input.
- Drew
Drew,
I work for an agency that has PR, Government Relations and digital. The problem I had with your argument was simple. The term “dabbler” is completely subjective and ambiguous. Your point is well taken, but I would refine it a bit and post it as opinion only. You certainly aren’t wrong.
I agree with you specifically that most of us are dabblers. And further in a space like digital, which is perpetually evolving, there is not a clear cut line between dabbler and specialist.
I spent nearly 500 days working on designing an online health care strategy for my state’s largest health insurer. They spent well into the seven figures to get it right. We took what had always been theoretical (online strategy to meet online consumer health care demands) and made our strategy work. And we helped fully implement our strategy with team design, process strategy and corporate/culture communications. The project was intense, expensive and successful. And while I work for a PR firm, by your argument, I guess I “dabbled” our firm’s path into this space and now have the credibility and case studies showing this PR firm has the chops required to move the needle.
Looking at this alternatively, perhaps “dabbling” isn’t bad. It allowed us room to iterate, sprint when we needed and meet the aggressive challenges their executive leadership thought was insoluble.