This morning, our account executive Anna shared with us a piece she read from Advertising Age. The piece, entitled “Why Metrics are Killing Creativity,” really hit home to those of us in the ad world.

Don’t get us wrong; metrics definitely have a place of importance in the ad world. We are realistic, we know our clients have to measure success somehow, to see a return on their investment. But it becomes tough when we’re ONLY thinking about numbers. When metrics inhibit taking risks or executing strategic creative because we’re not considering anything but how many impressions, leads, clicks, conversions, etc. we’re going to get, we’ve become sorely misguided.

While numbers can’t be everything, neither can creativity: don’t do it for the sake of doing it. This is where strategy comes in. Having a cool ad is one thing. Having a fresh, big, new campaign that is targeted at your audience and will resonate with them on an emotional level is another. The latter, if done with strategic purpose, can (and will) deliver the numbers and metrics that we rely on. But to get there you have to put the metrics aside and step outside of the numbers box.

And as much as metrics has become the norm for measuring success, we cannot and must not deny the emotional aspect of branding. Emotional connections are what cause people to identify with brands. Its the break from the norm, the challenge of convention, that stays with consumers. Not the numbers.

Here is a really interesting video with some statistics about the current state of the internet and how it has evolved. Videos like this help us step back from the minutiae and realize how fast we are moving.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

…wow. That was cool.

While we’re at it, here is another video with cool statistics. It’s a little preachy at the end, but we like the overall idea:

The Web provides users with the ability to research brands, companies and people. Social media enables users to interact with these brands, companies and people. For companies, it makes sense to use social media, because it’s an easy way to observe and interact with your audience. It’s effective too. Many companies have discovered the value of social media, and there are plenty of success stories out there.

For companies, the real “win” here is that social media is a relatively inexpensive way to make this connection with an audience. I won’t be the first to remind you about the state of the economy in 2009. To stay afloat in these tough economic times, many companies cut back their advertising budgets, keeping them out of traditional mainstream media. And compared to traditional media, the price of social media is really attractive.

Now, more than ever is the time to get started on social media. Not just because the competition is doing it, but because it is an effective and economical marketing tool.