Thanks, hucksters. (Image: The Mysterious Marketer)
Snowtorious BIG will pass away, but Social Media Hucksters…
Half my time here at Area 224 HQ is spent planning, strategizing, executing. (Writing is part of that mix. Creating, too.) The other half – yes, that much! – is spent on the web: interacting, surfing, “engaging” – learning.
It’s the learning – since I don’t have all the answers – the LEARNING that is the most valuable.
Part of this learning takes me to the far corners of the Internet. The outer reaches of craptastic marketing, of poorly planned and even worse-executed Social Media Hucksterism.
For every good guy – like Jim Alexander, whose path I first crossed two years ago, while discussing the spambots who tried to sell us all Multi-level Marketing schemes – there seem to be literally hundreds of, well, not-so-good guys. (And not-so-good gals, either.)
And Guess What? The not-so-good guys are the ones who will sell you tactics, disguised as strategy, not fulfilling any business objectives whatsoever.
Wanna know something else about the not-so-good guys? They will gladly take your money. AND they will buy your business – they’d rather undercut everyone out there and use the pre-wrapped Social Media In A Box solution to shoehorn into your business needs. If they ever ASK about your business needs.
One of the far corners of the Internet gave me this quote – pulled from the comments on a legitimate site’s post about monitoring your social media presence:
“There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding social media in the past decade. Social media marketing can be a powerful tool if used correctly. It can contribute to Search Engine Optimization and it can be used to keep a relationship with existing clients.”
What. The. Facebook?
Time to go viral on their @$$es.
Is there any wonder that Ad people think Social Media Gurus are a bunch of slick know-nothings? And that PR people think Social Media Ninjas are full of crap? And Social Media Rockstars – don’t get us started on them…
The point? Be Careful Out There.
Don’t fall into the trap. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again:
Going Social Without Business Objectives is a Recipe for Disaster.