Social Media Is Bo**@*ks

When people don’t know what to do next they just keep on doing what they have always done. In social media its spreading like a wildfire. Henry Ford is famous for quoting “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Social media is starting to lack imagination and ironically take on the personality of traditional marketing; broadcast and buying customers.

There are only three reasons why you would embark upon a social media strategy, note I use the word strategy not campaign, and that is to increase revenue streams, improve communication or, better still, both. Its as simple as that.  Now marketers have swept into social media, most of them are just doing the same thing on a different channel. Baloney, bull, drivel, empty talk, futile, gibberish, hogwash and hot air characterise a lot of social media activity at the moment.

1. Gathering an audience around your brand means nothing, absolutely nihility if its not engaged and participating. Its no good giving away free iPad’s to boost your ‘likes’ if there is no creative thought behind it to bring loyalty and increased revenues. Prezzo take heed. All you have done is create yet another database not a brand community.

2. Its a sad indication of how we see business these days when we experience short termism. Social media is defintiley bo**@*ks when brands think they can use it as a quick hit to sell product or, worse still, that it will rescue their company. HMV are too late to the social media party. Their business strategy is wrong too! If you want to sell product quick set up an Ebay shop!

3. Its great brands want to ‘try’ social media out, but you will be unleashing a problem of enormous proportions if there is not a well thought out strategy behind it. IKEA knew that and thats why its one of the top social/digital brands around at the moment. There is a sophisticated and well thought out plan driving their social media and its working too due to their adapted implementation. If you’re whole strategy is campaign driven, you’re in for a shock, a fall, so get your parachute out!

4. Social media isn’t cheap its labour intensive but because of that it has high impact too. Social media return on investment is not just about the numbers both in terms of followers and revenue, its about communication with customers and employees alike and sometimes that communication is like two ships passing in the night. Misguided, misunderstood and plain downright stupid, The Punch

5. Once brands have built a community, they continue to install old marketing techniques instead of using social capital and social networking opportunities to build knowledge and content. Brand’s are using a one dimensional campaign approach to keeping their community engaged. Any good social scientist will tell you this is self defeating. Brand’s are still monetising and selling the product rather than monetising the community and the customer.

Rules are for fools and the rules have changed. Mass marketing will still play a role in building awareness but we need to now select the channels that add value, deliver accountability and grow engagement. We are still doing ‘social’ rather than being ‘social.’ It means a new way of life for every executive, manager, leader and customer. Its not about how much Dove you can sell on Facebook, that’s just a shortlived, naive strategy to implement. Its about how you grow a community around the brand that keeps coming back for more in terms of product, content and engagement, oh and lets not forget, a little bit of excitement too!