B2B magazine ran a series of articles which, taken collectively, make a clear and definite statement that good old, tried-and-true, ROI-proven forms of online marketing such as email remain the bastions and that social media is still viewed with a slightly sidewards glance.


Here's a roll-up of those articles...

Survey: Email remains top e-mail activity
E-mail is the most popular online activity, according to a survey from Mediamark Research and Intelligence, with almost three-quarters (74.2%) of all U.S. adults using e-mail, up 5.2% compared with the fall of 2007.
Forrester finds b-to-b marketers sticking with tried-and-true digital tactics
While b-to-b marketers are beginning to invest more marketing dollars in Web 2.0 tools, the majority are sticking with traditional digital marketing tactics, according to a Forrester report which found more than 60% of respondents use conventional digital lead-generation tactics such as e-newsletters and webinars, while less than one-third use blogs, podcasts and social networks for marketing.
Transactional e-mail seen as powerful marketing tool
A new study by JupiterResearch finds that transactional e-mail - notifications of completed online orders or service-related messages, for example - can drive new revenue by including product offers or advertisements.
Add to that a report from AdWeek...
Epsilon: Marketing Execs Aren't Sold on Social Nets
Not only are social networking site users less than thrilled about seeing ads, it turns out that corporate chief marketing officers share that lack of interest, judging from the results of a survey released yesterday.

A number of conclusions can be made as a result of these findings.
Social media is still the new kid on the block and, as such, has to prove its value
When I was in fifth grade, at the beginning of the school year, a new student joined the class. His family moved to our small town from another state. Well, boys will be boys you know, and a little scrap developed in the school yard between he and I.
I don't recall what prompted it, but for the purpose of making my point, let's just say we boys needed to see how tough he was and establish his place in the pecking order, that sort of thing. Of course, the teacher broke up the fight almost as quickly as it started, so I don't know that we achieved our aim.
Social media is subject to that same scrutiny, and as much as we'd like to avoid the issue, it's going to remain a "schoolyard scuffle" until all parties can agree on its place in the marketing pecking order.
Tony Uphoff, CEO of Techweb, says in a well-reasoned post that "Social networking won't be a revenue driver or even have a tangible ROI for awhile." I'm sure he's right, which leads to my second conclusion.
Marketers should not throw the baby out with the bathwater
While it's going to take a while for social media to establish its value among marketing stalwarts, that's no reason to refrain from deploying some strategies. "[T]he cost to create, develop and maintain these lightweight apps isn't much," says Uphoff in the same post. "The need to have multifaceted (and multimedia) interactions with customers, prospects, employees and influencers is essential and social media will play a strong role." Uphoff goes on to suggest that marketers focus on a series of metrics around engagement. "How many people subscribe, join and or interact with your company and brands? And what are they saying? Engagement is the currency."
Don't throw the bathwater out with the baby either
Many of we die-hard social media advocates seem to be on a "mission from God" to see it gain acceptance in the marketing schoolyard. In our rush to define our place, we have been known to make erroneous, even adsurd, statements like "email is dead." As you can see from the above articles, nothing could be further from the truth.
New media is not replacing old media anytime soon, if ever
Some of us kool-aid drinkers further concocted the notion that social media would actually replace other, more established forms of marketing. It won't, nor should it necessarily.
While it's a pretty well foregone conclusion that the effect of forms of interruptive marketing such as the 30-second spot are less effective, and that permission marketing is becoming a much, more accepted standard, there is no need to suggest that "push" should be replace by "pull." Not entirely at least.
An integrated marketing approach makes the most sense
I think what we are seeing is a trend toward integration of old and new. At Bizzuka, the company I serve as Internet marketing director, while I'm very evangelistic about adopting a social media mindset across the entirety of the organization, I'm also aware there is continued need for traditional lead generation strategies such as webinars and pay-per-click, customer retention strategies like email, as well as good old SEO. And, I'm not opposed to advertising online if certain criteria can be met.
Conclusion
Social media will find its place on the schoolyard and eventually make friends with tried-and-true forms of marketing, just like the new kid and I did over time. In fact, before that year was over, he and I became best of friends.