Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Why Social Media Inauthenticity Hurts Everyone

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Last week I attended the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Toronto. While many of the presentations were interesting and useful, the session that stuck with me most was the very lively and somewhat controversial panel on Social Media Success. At issue, the value and need for authentic communications and conversations and the detriment, or lack therof, of social media ‘tricks’ or ‘hacks’. Rahaf Harfoush and Mitch Joel have each had incredibly insightful comments on the subject in their respective posts (SES & Social Media Strategy: what happened to ethics?! - A rant) and podcasts (SPOS #109 - Fair Trade Search Engine Strategies) and I feel the need to weigh in.

The value of authentic, 2-way conversations is clear. Smart consumers and clients know when they’re being talked to and when they’re being talked at. However, there seems to be a constant tug-of-war between two camps. Camp #1 are those who are willing to have those all important conversations first and let the happy byproducts like links and stronger keyword performance come naturally afterwards. Camp #2 is looking for strong results quickly, because it’s an awful lot easier to have a conversation once you have a big group of people listening to you.

While I understand the allure of both sides, I think Rahaf hit it right on when she said, “The internet has a short attention span and a long memory.” When your brand puts something out on the Internet that is inauthentic, you tarnish not only your own reputation, but the reputation of social media as a channel for dialogue. The linkbait scandal that hit Money.co.uk, and other instances like it make the jobs of all social media marketers more difficult.

Scamming the system doesn’t just hurt the scammer, it hurts the system itself. So while Mitch said in his podcast, “I don’t think it’s that it’s evil or bad or negative. I just think it doesn’t have the long term effect that the true value can have in building all of these channels.” I think he understated the impact slightly. Evil? No, probably not. Bad? Closer perhaps. Negative? Absolutely. I would argue that anything that impedes quality messages from reaching interested parties is negative.

My philosophy in social media marketing is that if you can’t answer all of these questions “Yes”, then you probably shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing:

  • Am I speaking with my own voice, sharing my own opinions?
  • Am I adding to my brand rather than detracting from it?
  • Would I do or say the same things if this were in person instead of online?
  • Am I comfortable knowing that this will be permanently recorded and archived in some format or another?

One item I agree on with everyone involved, is that this is a topic that we should all continue to discuss. What are your thoughts on inauthenticity in social media marketing?

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Anti-Social Media

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Social media and web 2.0 have officially been embraced by big business. But what about traditional media strategies and tactics? Should they be labeled anti-social?

In the spirit of emerging tools that strive to deepen the conversations being undertaken from B2B and B2C, some are forgetting the ’should’ and embracing the ‘can’. Assuming social media tools are the ’silver bullets’ to facilitate effective marcoms is faulty logic on a number of levels. This is not to say that podcasts, blogs and even social networking sites are not quality mediums to communicate with - they can be. The concern is that access to these tools have muddied the waters of quality exposure.

The evidence around new social media is clear - it can be effective if deployed in a strategic way. Unfortunately this has led to the erosion of belief in traditionally effective tools like direct mail, public relations and print. It is crucial to understand that marketing tools - old and new - are only empty vehicles, unless marketers provide the necessary fuel to move these vehicles forward. In this sense, social media can actually be less effective than traditional media if the underlying marcom strategy is weak.

For SMB owners, web 2.0 and social media offers an increasingly affordable method to engage in conversations with customers. The challenge remains however, to communicate in a thoughtful way - regardless of the tool being utilized. In this sense, SMB’s and large corporations should not be fooled into thinking that marketing is getting ‘easier’ - while access to customers may appear to be more widespread, quality communications are more difficult now than ever. The average consumer today (both B2B and B2C) is incredibly savvy, which means that effective messaging needs to be well crafted and engaging.

As a consultant, I see SMB’s and large corporations alike struggling to stay abreast of the latest marketing tools and tactics. The concern of being ‘left behind’ is almost universal in the context of a rapidly changing environment. The key is to remember that strategic thinking and quality messaging is better than empty flash and dazzle. Well constructed direct mail campaigns, intriguing PR stories and thoughtful pieces of marketing can still engage customers in a meaningful way. Marketers must not trick themselves into thinking that social media and web 2.0 has made marketing any easier - but understand that increased access has now paved the way for an ever increasing emphasis on quality not quantity.

As my grandfather always said - ” A bad carpenter blames it on the tools…”

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