This is not a post advocating for dishonesty in how companies run their social media. Instead I wanted to address something that Robert Scoble mentioned: The “like, er, lie” economy — Scobleizer
Because we want to present ourselves to other people the way we would like to have other people perceive us as.
Translation: I’d rather be seen as someone who eats salad at Pasta Moon than someone who eats a Big Mac at McDonald’s.
This is the problem with likes and other explicit sharing systems. We lie and we lie our asses off.
But all this liking, er, lying, has me thinking. Just how accurate is all that data that Foursquare is collecting? After all, are you checking in only at cool places? Or are you also checking in at gas stations, super markets, or other lower-class places that you don’t really want to advertise that you’re at?
If you’re embarrassed of the places you spend money do you really want to receive social media marketing from that place? Sure, who doesn’t want free product or a discount but you can get coupons online in a million places there are far less social, purely transactional ways to receive the marketing you want.
I’d argue that you’re more likely to be receptive to social media marketing for the places you admit going to and are less likely to be receptive to advertising from places you go to but don’t want to interact with socially.
If customers “liked” your brand without being receptive to your marketing that would be a huge waste of money. This is exactly why social media works so well. Don’t treat social media marketing like direct marketing. Please!
This sounds intuitive, I know but this is good for business if you understand this. With this knowledge companies should do two things:
- Stop trying to coerce your customers into liking your customer and focus instead on making your company likable.
- Save your money and only focus on your customers who like you. This will save you loads of money.
In summary: You lying to your customers is bad. You’re customers lying to you about their preferences is good, it tells you a lot. The trick is to know when they’re lying and when they’re telling the truth. When in doubt, focus on number 1.
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Photo credit by Artifex creation
