Buying snake oil? It’s your own fault

Business Week’s feature (Beware Social Media Snake Oil) on the ‘consultants’ who have emerged to help companies to make the most of social media has drawn some online commentary – though not as much as you might have expected.

It’s a well written piece that tackles many of the challenges involved in incorporating social media as part of the marketing mix (hey I’m old, cut me some slack, at least I didn’t mention the 4 Ps… doh).

The risk is that a backlash against the consultants’ easy promises could reduce social media investments just as the industry takes off. Think back to the dot-com boom a decade ago. Soaring valuations were based initially on promise and hype. In early 2000, when investors started focusing on scarce profits, the market collapsed. But many companies drew the wrong conclusions. Believing the fall of a hyped market was a sign of the failed promise of the Internet, they drew back on Internet investments. This happened just as the technology was on the verge of living up to much of its promise, dominating global communications, transforming entire industries—and spawning social media.

But the more interesting question for me is who is handing over the budgets?

If you work in PR or marketing, then it’s your job to know your business.  If someone’s selling something that’s too good to be true, then it normally is. However, humans are lazy, so we like to think that this time, well this time it’ll be different.

The fact is, if you are in charge of promoting a product or a brand then you should have an intimate knowledge of your audience, where they are, what they think of you, and how you can reach them.  Otherwise I daresay you are asleep at the wheel.  No marketing person regardless of their tenure, position, experience or budget can afford the luxury of outsourcing an understanding of social media.  It’s the traditional media equivalent of not looking at billboards.

Other wisdom on the subject:

No miscellany…. just a social media video

Yes, it’s been quiet on the blog.  Yes, I’ve been busy. 

I was planning to pull together a monsterous post of stuff I missed while I was away covering everything from social media gender balance, to the survival of newspapers, to the state of tech journalism.

But I’m not.

Instead in a hat tip to the humor and intelligence you often find online amidst the noise, I offer Baratunde Thurston’s presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo: “There’s a hashtag for that”.

Perfect viewing for a Friday.

No miscellany…. just a social media video

Yes, it’s been quiet on the blog.  Yes, I’ve been busy. 

I was planning to pull together a monsterous post of stuff I missed while I was away covering everything from social media gender balance, to the survival of newspapers, to the state of tech journalism.

But I’m not.

Instead in a hat tip to the humor and intelligence you often find online amidst the noise, I offer Baratunde Thurston’s presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo: “There’s a hashtag for that”.

Perfect viewing for a Friday.

Are you qualified to comment? Do you care? Then don’t expect me to.

[Moderate rant warning]

I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who feel fully qualified to offer sweeping – nay visionary – guidance and commentary on an industry or profession with limited or often no knowledge. 

Well, when I say they have limited knowledge, I mean to say that they have about as much knowledge about PR, as I have about the shipping business (after receiving a package).

PR is one of the businesses that most often enjoys this advice. It’s a magnet for these pompous posting ignoramuses.  

Too often these people equate the entire business with pure media relations.  Of course media relations remains incredibly important, but it’s just one element of our work.

By the way just in case you are concerned that you won’t be able to spot these “experts” don’t worry it’s pretty easy they normally say: “PR is dead (or dying)”.

That’s the giveaway.

Todd Defren responds to the latest installment.

I won’t link directly to the author as I have tired of doing so. By all means have a read of it but actively question it.  Don’t tell anyone, but having a PR strategy that is based on the fact that “stories spread on their own without a lot of pushing” probably won’t set you up for success.

In the meantime here are some more worthy links:

Are you qualified to comment? Do you care? Then don’t expect me to.

[Moderate rant warning]

I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who feel fully qualified to offer sweeping – nay visionary – guidance and commentary on an industry or profession with limited or often no knowledge. 

Well, when I say they have limited knowledge, I mean to say that they have about as much knowledge about PR, as I have about the shipping business (after receiving a package).

PR is one of the businesses that most often enjoys this advice. It’s a magnet for these pompous posting ignoramuses.  

Too often these people equate the entire business with pure media relations.  Of course media relations remains incredibly important, but it’s just one element of our work.

By the way just in case you are concerned that you won’t be able to spot these “experts” don’t worry it’s pretty easy they normally say: “PR is dead (or dying)”.

That’s the giveaway.

Todd Defren responds to the latest installment.

I won’t link directly to the author as I have tired of doing so. By all means have a read of it but actively question it.  Don’t tell anyone, but having a PR strategy that is based on the fact that “stories spread on their own without a lot of pushing” probably won’t set you up for success.

In the meantime here are some more worthy links:

PR & Social Media Miscellany – September 29th 2009

Here are some links to some interesting content I found during my most recent attempt to review all my RSS feeds…

 

Public Relations & Media Content

PR Agency pitches..

I missed this, but fascinating discussion nonetheless.  In the UK, following an agency pitch process, confused.com decided to pay some of the unsuccessful (no one is a loser on this blog :-)) PR agencies for some of their ideas. Mark Pinsent has stirred a fantastic discussion with a post about how the pitch process is dead. There’s some great content in the comments including a great response from Kelly Davies at Confused.com (quoted below). Mark has a follow up post here and Clive Armitage weighs in on the issue here. My two cents? Hiring the right PR firm is incredibly challenging. It’s not just about credentials…

Not all agencies are suited to all clients and a pitch is much more than just presenting a load of ideas. It’s about feeling the passion, the hunger and although I hate the phrase, the ‘chemistry’. I’m not going to choose an agency based on a creds pitch. For me that’s akin to buying a pair of shoes without trying them on. I have done this on many occasions and I always end up taking them back.

Lines of journalism….

Over at Ragan a guest post by Vaness Horwell claims that “Times’ David Pogue blurs journalism lines”

Tech bloggers—a notoriously vociferous and at times a moody bunch (any PR pro who’s dealt with tech and/or mobile bloggers can comment on this)—seem to be leading the mob, with virtual pitchforks in hand. But the real question is will this affect Pogue and the Times, and what does this controversy say about the ever-blurring line between journalism and unvarnished opinion?

The beauty of social media is that David responds to this post in the comments:

Thank you for your thoughtful analysis. However, your whole column is based on one truly awful error…

 

The implications of new media…

Recommended reading: The Atlantic has a very interesting feature: “The story behind the story” 

There’s more here than just an old journalist’s lament over his dying profession, or over the social cost of losing great newspapers and great TV-news operations. And there’s more than an argument for the ethical superiority of honest, disinterested reporting over advocacy. Even an eager and ambitious political blogger like Richmond, because he is drawn to the work primarily out of political conviction, not curiosity, is less likely to experience the pleasure of finding something new, or of arriving at a completely original, unexpected insight, one that surprises even himself. He is missing out on the great fun of speaking wholly for himself, without fear or favor. This is what gives reporters the power to stir up trouble wherever they go. They can shake preconceptions and poke holes in presumption.

You have to promise not to print…

Frank Shaw discusses the death of the embargo.

 

Social Media Content

Blind ignorance isn’t an excuse…

Shel Holtz on why he believes that social media is not a car.

There’s an age-old analogy that keeps coming up in social media talks I hear. “You don’t need to know how it works,” the analogy goes, “just like you don’t need to know how internal combustion works to drive a car.”

It’s a fine analogy for a consumer using social media. It doesn’t wash for communicators.

 

Social media: fact or fiction…

“Is social media overrated? No, but be flexible” – Shel Israel.

My point is to go into social media with a sense of who you want to reach and why. But be prepared for surprises and pack flexibility into your approach. Surprises happen and social media allows you to adapt and adjust with greater ease, less time and lower cost than other available options.

 

Will we miss the guru…(yeah right)

Gary Goldhammer advises: “Let’s say goodbye to the social media guru” – A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y

All media today is social, so in my opinion there is no “social media.” And there are no gurus either, only those who know a little more than some others – and trust me, the others aren’t too far behind.

Get on with it…

Louis Gray has penned a guest post over on Brian Solis’ blog: “Stop talking about social media and go do it already”

Companies that do leverage social media need to recognize that by participating in these social networks, they are asking customers to do the equivalent of inviting them into their homes. By saying you are a “fan” of a product on Facebook, or that you are “following” a company on Twitter, you are translating the abstract corporate behemoth to something that is personal. And with that personal element comes an unwritten promise, that you will act in a way that is respectable, like a “friend”. And as you know, friends don’t kiss and tell.

Great minds think alike…

Seth Godin and Tom Peters on blogging.

The guilt of social media..

My (relatively) recent resolution to maintain my social media consumption and production, has waned in the past couple of weeks.  The usual excuses; lots to do; busy at work; busy at home…

I spent the weekend with family and friends only wasting fleeting moments checking work e-mail to make sure all was well with the world. 

And it was.

Until Sunday evening.

Checking my personal e-mail, I was alarmed to find loads and loads and loads of new poor unfortunates following me on Twitter.

That’s when the guilt kicked in.

I haven’t blogged in weeks and my consumption of blogs, RSS, Twitter and Facebook has been tardy lately.

Now I feel pressure to get back on top of it.

Of course, unlike a diet, which is happy to fade into the background, social media is more aggressive in reminding you of your inertia.

So like all good addicts, I will once again clamber onto the social media bicycle and start peddling.

I guess this is Guilt 2.0.

Thinking about mobile communications…

As a communications profession we all (I hope) invest a lot of time and energy thinking about effective communications and how best to reach and engage with audiences. 

While traditional media remains incredibly important, there’s clearly a lot of focus on how social media is also impacting communications. So what about mobile?

The “Did you know” video below is an update from XPLANE (an “information design consultancy”) in collaboration with the Economist for their  Media Convergance conference in October.

It’s similar to many of the other “size/impact of social media” videos you’ve seen, but it’s updated and focuses more on mobile. 

So how are you thinking of fitting mobile into your plans?

Changing media consumption habits (and we’re not talking about social media)

Following Jon Snow’s interesting talk about how the media is changing, another venerable TV journalist, this time on the other side of the Atlantic, has shared his views on how the consumption of media is changing.

Speaking at a Poynter Institute for Media Studies event earlier in the week, Ted Koppel bemoaned the trend towards people only watching news and opinions that match their own.

"I think we have gone totally nuts on the issue of entitlement," said Koppel, who spent four decades as the anchor and managing editor of ABC’s Nightline. "We want news that resonates our own pre-held opinions. … That is the worst possible recipe for a country that prides itself in democracy."

More from the St. Petersburg Times.