I was researching this question about Social Media Marketing in LinkedIn Answers, and funny enough, came across this being asked AS a question. Out of the eleven answers, I liked two in particular.

One was by William Marzullo – Highly-Qualified Staffing and Recruiting Professional [ LION™], TopLinked.com where he stated:

“Social media is a tempting low cost method of sharing your idea, concept, product, and service but I believe it is limited in its approach for a pure marketing campaign. The difference between industrial media and social media is the difference between being “spoken to” and discussing.

While many unsolicited (positive) responses to planned and strategic topics can bolster any marketing campaign, negative responses will do the opposite. It would take a very courageous and secure organization to launch a marketing campaign that is primarily responses and interface from user and consumer generated media forums.

It is that lack of control and ambiguity that keeps companies on the edge, pushing the limits of hybrid marketing that includes both industrial and social. Perhaps moderated forums are the answer, but rest assured the low cost and scalability of Social Media will find its way into mainstream marketing.”

The other answer was written into an article and published by Steve Latham – Founder / CEO of Spur Interactive.  Steve says in part in his article:

What are the barriers to Social Media Marketing?  In addition to legal  (liability? truth in advertising)? and brand management issues (what if our tweets violate our brand guidelines!), I believe there are three primary issues that impede companies from leveraging Social Media:

1. The Business Case for Social Media
While most intuitively believe social media is a low-cost way to extend your reach, build your brand and drive new business, most need hard data to justify the investment of time, energy and resources (people). And in this climate, few are going to stick their neck out to try something that isn’t embraced by CXOs.  BTW – I heard there’s a very insightful presentation available for viewing on the Business Case for Social Media.

Read Steves complete article at
http://blog.spurinteractive.com/2009/07/15/barriers-to-social-media-marketing/

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol/SocialMarketingExpert.org. He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.