I get it. I really do. I’ve spent the last several years working with great people who are a little misguided. People who have done their marketing jobs more or less the same way for almost their whole adult lives.

Sure things changed a little when that fad, the Internet, came along but their jobs didn’t change that much really. Sure you had to built Web sites (digital brochures) and you now had to buy advertising on portal pages and on search engines but that wasn’t that big of a deal. In fact with the exception of building a Web site you probably didn’t even really need to do that other stuff if you didn’t want to.

But this time things are different. Working in social media doesn’t fit into your current work flow.

io9 - Fox To Dollhouse Fan Site: “Shut Up” - Dollhouse

Clearing up your misperceptions of the show has become very time consuming and frankly takes away valuable time that could be spent actively marketing the series in the proper way.

My initial thought was: why are you wasting your time trying to squash all the rumors in the first place? People are going to talk, let them. If it’s really that big of a deal maybe you need to quit hiding things from them so they can talk about the truth and not rumors. Open up. These fans obviously have the ability to get the word out. Let them be your “non-proper” marketing engine.

My second thought of course was: What do you mean, “marketing in the proper way”? The only proper way to market is the one that achieves your goals (in an ethical way of course). Maybe the reason the show is at risk in the first place is because your proper way doesn’t work anymore.(Taking deap breaths. Calming down.)

Social Media isn’t something that you do in addition to all the traditional stuff you were doing. It replaces the things that weren’t working and enhances the things that would work better in social media. Yes you still have to do some of the traditional stuff. But there’s a lot you don’t have to do anymore.

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