Social media marketing shonks
There’s a good post today from Stan Lee on his excellent Brand DNA blog about the industry’s army of snake oil salesmen.
“One of the problems with the contemporary ad biz. Snake oil salesmen. Internet Evangelists. Social Media Gurus. SEO Specialists. And now App Experts. For every new technology or innovation there will always be people looking to make a fast buck.”
And he’s right.
I’ve been a journo for quite a while, and written about a lot of industries before I settled on this one.
But the social media explosion takes the biscuit for the sort of people I’ve come across.
In the past year I’ve crossed paths with more social media marketing shonks than any comparable group in a similar time period.
They fall broadly into two groups.
The hardest ones to deal with are those who are rubbish and genuinely don’t know it. Many of them speak so passionately, and confidently, that you can waste a lot of time with them before you work it out when you see their work.
The second group are the more cynical cash-ins. At least you don’t have to feel bad for them when you see through them.
But a common phrase I’ve found myself using with colleagues these last 12 months about both groups is, with an air of wonderment: ‘I can’t believe these people have got clients who pay them for this.”
But they have, and they do.
(Update: On a related topic, there’s also a good new article on AdAge about how to spot social media snake oil)
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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It’s a concern, Tim – and makes you wonder if clients are against the idea of social media itself, or just against a lot of the crap that comes from the type of people you name.
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Absolutely spot on. And of course if you disagree with any of them then you just don’t get it, are a dinosaur and basically should be sealed in a crypt somewhere quickly.
There must clearly be a link between having your head up your arse and spouting on about some of this stuff. Oh yeah – talking shit.
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Tim – similar and expanded article (and funnier) with Professional Prism of Trust powerpoint
http://adage.com/digitalnext/a....._id=139047
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I just discovered mumbrella.com today. I’m a fan! Love the video. We hate advertising agencies too.
http://www.famefoundry.com/
@FFcommunicator
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@The Communicator, congratulations on the irony. With your ‘we hate advertising agencies too’ comment, you’ve sought to position yourself as a friendly by being the enemy of an enemy… Classic tactical stuff.
Unfortunately, while the content of your site is fantastic, some may see this tactic as typical of the behaviour displayed by those the article is talking about: ‘stop listening to your old agency and listen to us – WE’RE the experts now!’
Fact is, some agencies get it and others don’t – it’s not a case of one class of agency (eg PR) getting it and others (eg advertising) not.
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It is welcome to see some cynicism around about SEO and social media snake oil sales. The claims are big and many contradict common sense.
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The split second delay on the head turn swish is genius 🙂
Personally I’m fed up with organisations/agencies who want to talk about using social media for a campaign – it ain’t free media or viral people.
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“You know why they call it NINE – that’s how many times they show Two-And-A-Half-Fucking-Men.” !! Comedy Gold! Nice one. I’m posting this to Facebook.
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The marketing industry has always had its fair share of shonks and cowboys who are convincing enough to find clients. Move along…
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So Tim, are you branding all us in the industry as snake oil salesmen?
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Hi Gordon,
I certainly wouldn’t go as far as that – there are lots of interesting/ clever/ inspiring people doing this stuff in new ways
But I would say there is also a larger minority of shonks than in virtually any other time/ sector/ place than I’ve previously experienced.
What’s your view?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Could I interest anyone in a comprehensive SMM plan involving Twitter, You Tube, Facebook, a blog and a email or two? We run automative, predictive response messaging signals and use the latest and fastest fibre optics, enabling us to undertake audience measurement in real time. In fact, most of our techniques are so new, they haven’t been invented, or even thought of.
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Social media specialist – did they go to school to become a specialist or did they just log onto a site one day?
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It’s the air of superiority that irks me most
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I went to an AMI Seminar about social media a few months back, and I thought that Iggy Pintado summed it up nicely: How can anyone be an expert of technology that is changing so rapidly, and has sometimes only been around for a few minutes?
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Tim, in a word “No.”
The whole marketing and advertising industry is full of so called experts (Snake oil salesmen).
It’s more like “The Emperor’s New Clothes” where prosperous CEO’s, who care more about their image than their brand image hire the same old swindlers (mates in the industry) who promise them the finest campaigns from the most beautiful creative’s & technology.
They tell them, their campaign is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The poor old CEO’s cannot see the campaign working, but pretend that he can for fear of appearing stupid to his peers.
When the swindlers report that the campaign is competed, they dress him in pointless statistics. Then, the poor old CEO’s go on a procession through the capital showing off his new “campaign”.
During the course of the procession, little known marketer cry out, “the campaign is shit!” The marketing community realise the marketer is telling the truth. The poor old CEO’s, however, hold their heads high and continue with the procession.
My point is their will always be snake oil salesmen, but who decides who they are?
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I see a lot of ‘new’ communication that seems totally focussed on the consumer while ignoring the brand.
If you’re not persuading consumers that your brand is best, you’re not in marketing communications … you’re in entertainment.
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Agree with Ian.
Currently working for some clients that don’t get that the whole ideal of Social Media. For me Social Media is quite similar to Aussiebum ads. If you got it right, flaunt it! But…if you are fat, short and ugly!* Please Please don’t run bare in the middle of Hyde Park.
*means underresourced, a poor product/customer experience and with only a short term strategy
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