Social media marketing – How it is like Robitussin?



Contributing Writer
Social Media Marketing Photo: Medical Doctor Credit: Kurhan


Social media marketing is en vogue at the moment.  Maybe it has been en vogue for a few moments.  In any case, The New York Times has a blog dedicated to the subject, and a post that they published made me think of Chris Rock.  Let me explain.

A social media marketing dilemma?

This week’s column tells the the story of a private investigator who has decided social media marketing is a racket.  He writes that he has spent thousands of dollars on search engine optimization and AdWords, later admitting that he built his own rudimentary website and he was dissuaded from trying AdWords because competitors might click on his links.  He Tweeted a couple of times, shut down his Facebook account and keeps a premium LinkedIn account that hasn’t brought him any business.

The proffered advice?  Get a new website, implement a social listening program, look into keywords, blog, and share other people’s content.

As I read this, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.  The solutions that were being proposed seemed awfully abstract for a business that needed customers now.

Social media marketing is the new Robitussin.

Comedian Chris Rock has a funny bit where he recounts how his father used Robitussin as a cure for anything.  ”Got asthma?” Rock quips.  ”Robitussin.  I broke my leg, daddy poured Robitussin on it.”  I read the NYT piece and wondered how social media marketing became the cure-all for every marketing dilemma.

Need customers?  Use Facebook.  Need female customers?  Use Pinterest.  Need a personalized interface to use the platform?  Use Twitter  App.net.  See what I mean?  It’s very easy to offer a solution to a problem when we haven’t dug appropriately into the details.

Social media marketing isn’t the solution to every problem

It turns out that this private investigator specializes in “insurance claims investigations, but he also investigates fraud, theft, property damage, or elder abuse.”  And also infidelity. If in the course of investigating these things he hasn’t used social media tools, what are the odds that he is going to be enthusiastic or successful marketing with them?  Probably pretty low.

Not knowing anything else about the guy – it seems to me that AdWords would be a better solution to drive immediate business (Google offers every new user some amount of credit when they begin).   Maybe LinkedIn would be a place to cultivate key account relationships (or LeadFerret if he didn’t want to buy the premium version of LI).   There are plenty of ways to market a business, but for one without evident repeat business, with an owner that is not using social platforms to do his work, and that needs business immediately, it seems social media marketing might be inappropriate (at least in the short-term).

The social media marketing litmus test

Completely tongue-in-cheek, maybe you should ask anyone who suggests you use social media marketing tools to market your business what they would recommend for a broken bone.  If they respond “Robitussin,” run.

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Writer and chief of miscellany at leaderswest.com

I aspire to give people something to think about rather than tell them what to do. My favorite Google Alert is “social media research,” I am increasingly compelled by Gen Z, and I appreciate good writers agnostic of where they write. At one time I was Kred’s 12th most influential social media blogger and Klout’s most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff. Transplant from Seattle living in Cincinnati. Haven’t entirely adopted the local sports teams yet.

Jim Dougherty

@jimdougherty

Writer about social media and tech at Leaders West, I also tweet as @leaderswest.

Infographic: How to demoralize an aspiring social media marketer http://t.co/recxYd039z – 5 hours ago

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Related posts

  • http://twitter.com/LogAllot Sonia Winland

    I loved this…so funny and I remember that skit from Chris rock. My mother use to “water” for everything. If there was no milk for cereal, she would say, “put water on it, it won’t hurt”. LMAO!. Great analogy!

  • http://www.douglaserice.com/ Douglas E Rice

    Awesome post, Jim, and an apt analogy! There’s no silver bullet for anything. Marketing is about reaching customers how they want to be reached. Sometimes, a digital platform works and sometimes it doesn’t. Depends on the customer. Depends on the context. It was never about the platform; it was always about the people.

  • jimdougherty

    Thanks, Doug! I appreciate you reading and commenting. The more I read about these finite campaigns and people hell-bent on ROI, the more I wonder if the attractiveness of social media is overwhelming marketing managers who should be putting their dollars elsewhere. Have a great week!

  • jimdougherty

    Thanks so much Sonia for reading and commenting. My mom had “home remedies” and seemed like everything had honey in it. I hate honey. :) Have a great week!

  • Nancy Arter

    Great analogy Jim! And you’re right — there is no sure fix in social media for large categories of problems. Every situation is different as you so nicely point out. Nicely done!

Top