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May 27, 2012 12 Comments

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The unrequited hype of the Facebook IPO last week echoes the unrequited hype many brands experience with social media in general. There’s a get rich quick mentality – a “Like Grab”. Many brands believe if you just build it, the audience will come.

The problem is that this sets the false expectation that social media is easy. Social media holds tremendous potential, but it requires a long-term commitment. Many brands give up early when social media doesn’t immediately live up to the hype.

David Altschul, founder of Character, shared some observations this week on lessons of the Facebook IPO and brand.

“Facebook, following in the well trod footsteps of many tech companies, seems to have purposely cultivated a kind of gold-rush mentality in the days leading up to their offer. While playing on the audience’s desire to get rich quick has often been enough to launch a tech stock into the stratosphere, it doesn’t seem to have been enough to help Facebook reach escape velocity. Why is that? Well, from a story perspective, we believe it’s because of an inherent dissonance between the gold rush mentality and the meaning of the brand…

“Facebook was trying to tell both stories at the same time. The social network is about community and connectedness, while the public stock offering was all about getting rich quick. Of course, every successful brand has a human story and a money story living side by side. The question is, do the two stories compliment each other in some interesting way, or do they cancel each other out?”

The same lesson holds for brands and social media in general. Social media can generate a return, but we need to keep the emphasis on the right place. It’s not about getting rich quickly. It’s about deepening the connection with our audience.

We need less gold rush and more long-term community building.

(Marketoonist Tuesday: I’m giving away a signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post. I’ll pick one comment by 5:00 PST on Tuesday. Thanks!)

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12 Comments

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  1. Hugh Griffiths says

    May 27, 2012 at 11:17 pm

    “It’s about deepening the connection with our audience” is a powerful summary of what it means to use social media well. This is why some of the emergent research seems to indicate that companies who provide mechanisms and content for their audience to “share” are more effective than those who simply want you to press the ‘like’ button. Hitting the ‘like’ button creates no social transaction and, at the most, provides a transient indicator of positive pageviews. If this is enough for your company, by all means continue encouraging people to hit ‘Like’ – otherwise, I think it is pretty worthless/

    Reply
  2. Gary Kopervas says

    May 28, 2012 at 7:07 am

    Great post and cartoon, Tom. Jonah Sachs has a book coming out soon called Winning the Story Wars, based on a premise of the move from looking at audiences as consumers out to satisfy base needs and citizens out to support “transcendent growth values.” I think purpose is the “new P” in marketing. Speaks to David’s reconciling a brand’s human side and money side. Love that. Thanks for sharing, Tom.

    Reply
  3. Jessie Paul says

    May 28, 2012 at 9:20 am

    I notice that there isn’t an FB like button on the cartoon. i guess that’s telling in itself!

    Reply
  4. Bill Carlson says

    May 29, 2012 at 5:31 am

    No “silver bullets” in marketing…

    Proven again (and again and again…)

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    May 29, 2012 at 5:37 am

    Ha ha, Tom! “Likeworthy” on Facebook! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Jack Hadley says

    May 29, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Point well taken, Tom. The message I find myself hammering over and over again is, “Social media isn’t something you ‘have’. It’s something you ‘do’”. In my opinion there are two reasons why the get-rich-quick-using-social message is so prevalent. First, most business owners just don’t understand how it works. It’s still thought of as a new approach to traditional marketing. Second, more and more naïve (best case) and/or unscrupulous (worst case) traditional website providers and SEO consultants are “adding” social media to their list of services in a desperate effort to not be left behind. By pitching it as something businesses need to “have”, not “do” they reinforce the notion that by simply signing up the rest takes care of itself. The only way to turn the tide is through education—and keeping the discussion about effective, relationship-based digital marketing strategy independent from the tool(s) of the day—including Facebook.

    Reply
  7. DSprogis says

    May 29, 2012 at 8:13 am

    For me, the “inherent dissonance” is between the effort companies put behind social media and the difficulty I have getting a live person on the phone. If a company doesn’t “like” me enough to take a phone call, why would I ever “like” them in social media?

    Reply
  8. Cheryl says

    May 29, 2012 at 10:47 am

    Social media can breed inauthenticity faster and easier than ever before and it’s each business and individual to be responsible in knowing that.

    Reply
  9. Bill says

    May 29, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Early Bird Matinee $38.
    Evening Shows $38.23 OBO.

    Reply
  10. tomfishburne says

    June 4, 2012 at 3:06 am

    Hi all,

    Many thanks for the commentary this week. This week’s cartoon print goes to Jack Hadley. I really like his distinction that social media isn’t something you have, it’s something you do. An antisocial brand can’t start using social media and suddenly become social. Many thanks!

    -Tom

    Reply
  11. Jack Hadley says

    June 4, 2012 at 6:30 am

    Thank you, Tom. I appreciate it a lot. Will hang it in my office next to my Seth Godin / Hugh MacLeod Purple Cow print!

    Reply
  12. Bashar Branding says

    June 24, 2012 at 1:38 am

    Stories are the lifeblood of Social Media, generating traffic and keeping conversations alive are two different issues. Social Media is not a marketing tool. Social Media is not a strategy. Social Media is about people!

    Reply

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  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
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