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March 20, 2008

Social Media Advertising - Why big companies just don’t get it

So why is it that the big blue chips just don’t get it when it comes to promoting their company via the social network editlatest social media? The main problem is that they don’t take the time to ‘learn’ the medium. You can’t just open a Stumble Upon account, give thumbs up to 100 random sites and then start requesting everyone to stumble your site or spam random bloggers, “hey, can you blog about my product? I’ve never read your blog, never commented, actually I don’t even know your name, but my company is a perfect fit for your audience.”

1) Learn the medium. The first step is not only to learn the medium, but use it. Become a power user of the medium before you attempt to exploit it for commercial use or self promotion.

2) Get an outside opinion. If you are OLD or un-connected to the trends, ask someone who is connected to review your ‘viral’ idea before you unleash it. (And before you flame me, I consider myself old. I don’t get why kids where their jeans half way down their ass, but maybe it is cool? But it also doesn’t mean you should!)

3) ‘In’ terms go ‘out’ Fast. If you think a term is ‘cool’ it is already too late and you can’t use it in your marketing pitch. (Example Gwen Stefani using the word ‘Mash-up’ in the HP commercial. Too late sounds corny)

4) Let others test it. If a new form of advertising shows up, don’t jump on the bandwagon to be cutting edge. Let others burn through cash to see if it works. (ie. Facebook advertising :)

5) Bribe with Caution. OK, everyone has a price, but most people have some level of morals, or at least think they do. So if you want to give something to someone in exchange for getting them to endorse your product - do it like the pros do. Sponsor them.

Other great articles:

Successful Social Marketing

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Social Media, buzz marketing, social marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Social Media Advertising - Why big companies just don’t get it”

  1. Wayne Tully said:
    April 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am

    You’d think that the big companies would get it, as they have more money to throw at it.

    I suppose that they are more inclined to go the easy routes of classic advertising that they are accustomed to, but social networking sites are a good fit for media brand advertising here online.

  2. webby said:
    April 11th, 2008 at 2:35 am

    Social bookmarking is easy way to get back links but not useful in long terms

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