Standing Out in Social Marketing
Can you stand out in social marketing? There are millions of “experts” right now who want you to think you can.
But can you?
We’ve already talked about how social isn’t cheap or easy, no matter how much the self-proclaimed experts say it is. We’ve made the case that great social is about great creative, not a fundamental shift in how people consume marketing. And we rail against consultants who proclaim how every business must get a social presence going right now, even if they have no idea what it’s all about, or how they’ll make their social presence relevant.
Now, it’s time for a reality check. And the reality is:
1. The 500 million people on Facebook aren’t there to hear from you, a corporation. They are there for their friends.
2. The hundreds of millions on Twitter aren’t there to follow your manufacturing company, they’re there to see what their favorite celebs are doing.
And they already have plenty to keep them occupied. With 120 average friends per Facebook user, their feed is a constantly-changing stream of pictures, location notifications, video uploads, link reposts, commentary and blogs, invitations to events, status reports from games, and a hundred other things friends share with friends.
So, you really think your announcement about your new water softening technology can compete with that?
“Well, yeah, make fun of my business all you want, but hey, there’s WillItBlend! They’re doing well, and they’re business-to-business just like me.â€
Yep. And they started before Facebook was open to the public.
Stop. Read that again. WillItBlend started before Facebook opened to the public. When WillItBlend blended its first golf club, or whatever it was, Facebook was only open to college students. MySpace was the big social space of the day. And it wasn’t about your feed. It was about showing off.
The bottom line: WillItBlend wasn’t competing for attention with 150MM YouTube users, 500MM Facebook users, 250MM Twitter users, all yelling at the top of their lungs trying to promote their products.
If they started today, would they stand above the din? Maybe. They have a cool demonstration and people like to see stuff destroyed. But also, maybe not. Maybe they’d never rise above the social overload.
And—you have to ask yourself—would you?
Be honest.
No, really honest.
And when you can look yourself in the mirror, smile confidently, and say, “Yes, absolutely, my product and my content will stand comfortably above the din,†then, and only then, start on social.
