What We Aren’t Buying in Social Media
I had the pleasure of being right in the thick of the first Internet bubble from 1995-2001 and lived through the implosion, even building a small .com and selling it off a few months later. They were heady days. Flying all over creation raising capital and so on.
We made bold statements then. Such as “we’re the leader in…” or “we’re the leading global provider of…” and “world leader of…” or “market leading…” says who? Is there an international organization that carries little gold crowns around and anoints your company saying “thou art now the global leader in…” while the clouds roil and thunder strikes shivers of terror into your competitors? No. There isn’t.
Anyone can write these statements, hey, I did, back in the day. But then it was the pioneer days of the Web. There were so few competitors so if you had three clients, well, you pretty much were the leader. Especially if they were paying clients!
I saw a new social media consulting company that launched a few days ago, I won’t mention the name. The first statement on their site was “…is the leading provider of social media marketing worldwide…” I’m impressed. Only in business a week or so and already the leader. And points for gumption in putting themselves on a timeline of social media as the next big thing…wait, I thought they were already the leader. A VC friend of mine once said “those who have earned the title seldom, if ever, have to use it.” Kind of like silly marketing statements.
I write this blog entry because the more research we do on the social web, the more we see that citizens engaged in social media don’t buy these messages anymore. Stating your “world leader in…” goes along with other inane marketing statements like “best deal in town” or “your only chance to save” they’re tired and us marketers are to blame for it. Blogger and PR pro Sasha Halima offers some great insights into similar such failures. As consumers, these statements today cause suspicion, not conviction. If you’re going to make such a statement, you’d better have proof.
What do you think? What other inane marketing statements are there that drive you nuts?
I believe consumers are getting much smarter in general, however, there are still huge numbers of people that fall for that kind of schtick. Remember, if SPAM never sold a product there would be little incentive to send it out, however, I still see tons of SPAM in my spam folder encouraging me to buy their products to keep me “goin’ all night”.
I’m tired of the crap but I suspect there are still enough people out there that fall for it that it’s still a worthwhile marketing strategy.
Hi Giles!
Wow, than you so much for the shout-out in your post! I really appreciate it and I’m so humbled you thought of me
You make an excellent point — “those who have earned the title seldom, if ever, have to use it.”
My dad says the SAME thing. In my personal experience, unless you are talking about quantifiable data aka lots of #s that show you’re the no.1 world leader in soft drinks. etc.
Great points!
Sasha
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