Five Lies About Social Media Marketing
Social media hit the marketing world like hot sauce on an empty stomach. For those of you old enough to remember, this is just like the original feeding frenzy over having web site with … PICTURES and SOUND!!!
All of a sudden businesses rushed to set up Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts and blogs to connect with as many customers as possible. Along the way, however, companies have forgotten the fundamentals of public relations, marketing, corporate communications and sales. In fact, the digerati wannabe’s of today now make marketing decisions based on erroneous assumptions about how businesses should manage their social marketing.
My experience tells me that there is no “one way” to manage your online positioning using social media. Instead, each company’s marketing strategy should differ depending on specific goals and target audiences.
Listed below are Mikal E. Belicove‘s 5 “lies” about social media marketing. My comments are in italics.
- Size matters. Many small businesses equate the number of “likes” or “followers” on branded social-media platforms to success, not realizing that it’s the quality of those likes and followers that is important. More people signing up to view your message doesn’t necessarily equate an increase in sales or even a bump in long-term or sustainable brand recognition.
Absolutely! I can’t tell you how many social media “experts” I’ve had arguments with while listening to them spew forth about the importance of “likes” “friends” or “followers”. Argh!
- The medium is the message. Just because it’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace or some other newfangled online or mobile-powered platform, the message still carries more weight than the medium. It’s always been about the message. It’s not about the platform or the technology. The technology is just a tool, and just because younger people were the first to use Twitter and Facebook, don’t think for a moment that older employees can’t effectively use them just as well.
Amen brother! Let me repeat this: technology is a tool! The internet is a delivery mechanism! It’s not the “be all – end all”.
- Social media gurus really do exist. No, they don’t. Here’s my advice when you run across someone positioning himself or herself as a “social media guru” or expert. Run for the exit. Everybody working in this field is practicing on the job training. Just because they’ve written a book like I have or spoken in public about the do’s and don’ts of social media, doesn’t mean they know your business and how to conceptualize and manage campaigns that hit upon your business-related goals.
I gotta agree with him here too. Realistically, I believe in such a fast moving target as social media, we’re lucky if we hit some of the targets correctly. The market’s just not slow enough to have gurus. But, we do have experienced social media implementers. I’m one of those. But I hardly qualify as a guru.
- Social media is ‘new’ media. No, it isn’t. Media is media. At one point or another, newspapers, radio, television and the Internet were considered new forms of media and now they’re labeled as “traditional” media. So “new” media doesn’t mean that only “experts” or young hotshots can successfully operate your social-media team. That’s hogwash. Nothing replaces knowledge of the basics of marketing, combined with knowledge of your business-related goals and the need for authenticity and transparency in your socially laden communications.
Once again, I think he’s got it right here. You can’t pitch in the world series if you can’t throw the ball, hit the ball or catch the ball.
- Social media can be effectively outsourced to a PR firm. Nobody knows your business like the people who work inside your building. You can certainly work with an agency to set up and implement your social media-related efforts or to propose ideas for contests and the like. But when it comes to communicating your messages on a daily basis, your people are in the best position to keep your community of customers and prospects up to date and informed about what really matters to them.
I think implementation can be outsourced, but the strategy, messaging and branding MUST come from people who are living the values and mission of the organization.
