The First Rule Of Social Media

Like most companies, you are probably spending time, energy, and money trying to become a social media success.

You have been told that it is an inexpensive route to business prosperity and that if you can get it right, you can build waves of loyal customers and years of smooth sailing through the roiling waters of marketing and advertising.

You've read about the millions of followers this brand or that person has and you think that if you can create some "compelling content" you, too, will be a social media winner.

I'm afraid I have bad news.

It doesn't matter how "compelling" or "engaging" your "content" is, for the most part it's likely that nobody gives a shit about you.

The first rule of social media is this:

People on line are interested in the same things they are interested in off line.

They are interested in celebrities, sports, movies, pop music, television, their hobbies, and their friends. It is highly likely that they are not interested in you.

They are not interested in frozen chicken strips or dishwashing liquid or floor wax or pencils or salt. They are not interested in toasters or light bulbs or umbrellas or mayonnaise or paper clips or toothpaste or soap. In fact, they have very little interest in most of the stuff they buy every week.

Consequently, if you are in the 97% of product categories (made-up number alert) that are not interesting off line, you will have a strong tendency to remain not interesting on line. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.

The thing you need to keep in mind is that every company, organization, dry cleaner, cub scout pack, sorority house, interest group, charity, alumni association, and poker game now has a social media presence. There are a billion of 'em.

If you are not in movies, sports, TV, and music, or if you are not a "prom queen" brand (Apple, Nike, Coke or one of the other brands that have spent billions of dollars establishing themselves with traditional advertising) the probability of your social media program being powerfully effective is quite low.

This is why social media continues to struggle as a sales builder.

Yes, it is true that some unsexy companies sometimes break through on social media. And it's also true that some people win the lottery.

But buying a lottery ticket is a very dubious business strategy.

They Promised Me A Centerfold

Here's a little piece from an article in the AARP Bulletin this month entitled  "Selling Us Short"

Online Video vs TV: Some Facts

Despite all the bullshit you hear about TV dying and online video taking over, in the first quarter of this year Nielsen reported that 96% of video viewing was done on a TV and 4% was done on line.

But another interesting question is, to what extent is the impressive growth of online video ad sales hurting TV ad sales?

According to a very interesting piece in Media Life recently, the answer is, not much at all.

The piece in question is an interview with a guy named Brian Wieser who is senior research analyst at Pivotal Research Group. Wieser makes the following points:

• Most advertising dollars for online video are coming out of other online ad budgets, not TV ad budgets.

• Much of the advertising dollars spent on online video ads are going to the same companies as TV advertising -- the big companies who produce the programming whether viewed on line or on TV.

• "Video is the new premium display as it is viewed as a more favorable form of advertising vs. banner ads." Which is exactly what we predicted here at the beginning of the year.

• One of the astounding facts about online video that I had never seen before: 17% of the population is responsible for 96% of all online video viewing.

Even online advertising evangelists are now starting to admit that, despite its dramatic dollar growth, banner advertising has been a huge disappointment.

My guess is that the potential sales volume for online video ads will have a lot to do with Facebook, and eventually Google. If Facebook and Google users will accept video ads, there will be a landslide. But if video ads become a big annoyance, and users start opting out, there will be blood.

Meanwhile, marketers will continue to dump money into online video ads regardless of the fraud, scams, and lack of reliable data. What's the alternative? Banners?


Big thanks to Steve Goldstein for turning me on to the article.