Okay, I hate social media. I’ll admit it. Not the entire genre, but the marketing experts who have grown up around it. Yeah, that’ll probably get me thrown out of some conferences, but I don’t care. I have debated this plenty with my good friend, social media guru Nicole Donnelly (one of the few “good guys” out there), and I know there are two sides to this. Read her blog for the other side: www.saltywaffle.com.
Here’s the thing: I love what social media has brought to our lives. Finding old friends from high school sucked before Facebook. Getting connected to someone who could help you get a job was a royal pain before LinkedIn. And before Twitter…hmm, I’m still not sure about that one.
Here’s what I don’t like about social media:
the notion that somehow corporations are going to be successful pushing their messages on people through poorly targeted ads on Facebook or Twitter, when we are just trying to enjoy ourselves in a social context. What makes the internet great is it’s ability to be relevant and useful. The notion of “push” versus “pull” marketing, with the dramatic decrease in effectiveness of “push” marketing is one of the greatest benefits of the digital age we now live in. We are no longer passive subjects upon which marketers can push their messages–now consumers are in control. In this context, most social media marketing is nothing new other than the medium, little better than obnoxious billboards, popup ads from the 1990s, or blaring radio commercials. Only the medium has changed.
In Predictably Irrational–a must read–author Dan Ariely has written about the how we live in two very different modes: a market world run by market norms (explained by classical economics) and a social world run by social norms (explained by behavioral economics). In the world of market norms, we are completely rational, and an offer of 10% off entices us to go to the grocery store for a good deal. In the world of social norms, however, we are governed by a very different set of rules. The best example of this is if you are invited to dinner at a friend’s house and instead of an eight-dollar bottle of wine you gave them a hundred-dollar bill in front of the entire dinner party. Even though $100 is clearly more valuable than an $8 bottle of wine, you would be met by horrified looks all around. Hence in this context we are “predictably irrational.”
Social media–LinkedIn aside–has generally functioned in this social world. As a result, I don’t want to read about a special on Dove soap in the middle of catching up with old friends from middle school or have your company try to friend me four times. This violates the entire notion of what makes social media work and meaningful. If corporations continue to do this too much, people will move from the current set of sites to a new set that are better protected. Anyone still using their MySpace account?
So what are the social media functions that have real promise, that add true value to the lives of professionals in consumers in meaningful ways? Here are those that I see as being truly valuable:
- Geo-specific features. Let me know when I’m a block away from your coffee shop that you have a special on iced coffee. I signed up because I like your store. Now give me a reason to come back.
- Company reviews. I know this is a huge can of worms, but make it easier for me to review and rate my experience, making your company more accountable to the actual customer experience you produce.
- LinkedIn answers. In fact, pretty much everything about this site is great. It’s designed for professionals in the process of doing business. So show me relevant offers for professional services and products and make my life easier! There is lots of room for relevant, valuable incentives.
- Facebook Like buttons. I think. I’m still on the fence about this, but the ability to easily share information with those that we are connected to is very valuable, and we need an easier way than mass emails. But I’m not convinced that there are many useful business applications for this, other than for the search engines.
If you want a similar take on this, read David Baker’s white paper on this topic over at www.recourses.com.
Wow, wow, wow. Your take on social media is SO incredibly different than mine. I love the way that social media offers the ability for businesses to create community with their customers and brand advocates. Done correctly, it is my belief that social media can build strong brand loyalty and enhance the customers’ experience. It is an entirely different beast than traditional mass media advertising. We’ll have to have a beer soon and hash it out. (-:
I suspect that we agree more than we disagree. I think social media can be very different than traditional mass media advertising, but I think it is all to often used in that way. I see every medium as having its strengths and weaknesses, and I don’t think enough effort has been put into thinking about what social media does well and what it does not. I suppose that’s to be expected because it has so much buzz right now. I look forward to that beer!