Social Media PROPAGANDA - Watch Out!

DO YOU EVER FEEL AS IF YOU'RE BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE OFTEN THESE DAYS? YOU MUST JOIN THIS GROUP. YOU MUST POST THAT PICTURE. YOU MUST DO THIS. YOU MUST DO THAT. AND THAT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, ANDROID OR I-PHONE, GOOGLE OR YAHOO. IT'S LIKE WE ARE BEING ASKED TO ENLIST IN A SOCIAL MEDIA BRANCH OF THE MILITARY. AM I RIGHT? WHAT STARTED AS A FRIENDLY BLUE BIRD AND A CATCHY THUMBS UP TO EXPRESS OUR FEELINGS OR EMOTIONS, SEEMS TO BE GETTING A LITTLE BIT PUSHY.



MARKETING IS ALL AROUND US AT ALL TIMES. PICTURES, SLOGANS, ADVERTISEMENTS, ALL MADE TO PERSUADE OR ATTRACT A CERTAIN AUDIENCE TO A CERTAIN BRAND OR PRODUCT. THIS MARKETING IS COMING AT YOU FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT ANGLES - TELEVISION, RADIO, PRINT, AND ONE OF OUR NEWEST MEMBERS - SOCIAL MEDIA. IF YOU HANDLE YOUR COMPANY'S SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORTS, EACH DAY FEELS LIKE YOU MIGHT O-D ON TWEETS AND LIKES. IT'S OVERWHELMING. BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY WHICH PLATFORM CAN BENEFIT YOUR COMPANY OR BRAND THE MOST IS CRUCIAL. IF YOU THINK YOU NEED EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM FOR A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING CAMPAIGN YOU'RE WRONG. PROPAGANDA HAS CONTAMINATED MARKETING FOR DECADES AND SOCIAL MEDIA IS CLOSE TO A QUARANTINE.

       HERE IS HOW TO AVOID SOCIAL                        MEDIA PROPAGANDA


WHERE ARE MY COMPETITORS

CHANCES ARE, YOUR COMPETITORS ARE MORE THAN LIKELY GOING TO USE THE SAME SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AS YOUR BRAND USES. IF YOU HAVE BEEN ON A CERTAIN PLATFORM FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY OF YOUR COMPETITORS, YOU'RE EITHER VERY INIVATIVE OR MAY WANT TO REVISIT THAT STRATEGY AGAIN. AS MUCH AS COMPETITORS DO NOT LIKE ONE ANOTHER, THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO HELP ONE ANOTHER QUITE A BIT WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT.

HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW MUCH MORE BRANDS TEND TO BASH ONE ANOTHER IN COMMERCIALS OR ADVERTISIEMENTS THESE DAYS? ITS HILARIOUS. NO MORE SUGAR COATING EITHER. A COMAPNY WILL FLAT OUT TELL YOU AND ILLUSTRATE WHY THEY ARE BETTER THAN THEIR COMPETITOR. BE CAREFUL OF THIS. ANYONE CAN CALL ANYONE A NAME ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES. DON'T YOU DARE MAKE A DECISION OR FORM AN OPINION BASED ON SOME TWEET OR POST. STUDY YOUR COMPETITION AND FORM YOUR OWN OPINION.  



AVOID THE BANDWAGON

"EVERYBODY IS DOING IT!" YEAH, YEAH... HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN BRAIN WASHED WITH THIS APPROACH IN THE PAST? SOCIAL MEDIA IS FILLED WITH CONSTANT PERSUASIONS FOR YOU TO MAKE A CERTAIN ACTION, JOIN A CERTAIN GROUP, BECAUSE EVERYONE IS DOING IT. BE SMART. THIS IS ONE OF THE OLDEST TRICKS IN THE BOOK. THAT FEELING OF MISSING OUT OR TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONES'S IS NOT BY ACCIDENT. 

JOIN SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU GENUINELY BELIEVE IN THAT CAUSE OR ORGANIZATION. DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. DO NOT ASSUME YOU WILL BE MISSING OUT. MARKETING EATS PERSUASION FOR BREAKFAST. IT IS GOING TO PULL OUT ALL THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE TO MAKE YOU FEEL THAT IF YOU DO NOT COME ON BOARD THE BANDWAGON YOU WILL MISS OUT. MAYBE, BUT MORE THAN LIKELY NOT.  


READ THE SIGNS

"A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS." MAYBE. OR MAYBE THAT PICTURE IS JUST TO DESTRACT YOU FROM THE WORDS. 

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS PICTURE. "YOUTUBE" CATCHES YOUR EYE FIRST, AS IT WAS INTENDED. BUT SOME OF THE WORDS ARE MUCH SMALLER IN FONT SIZE, AND FOR GOOD REASON. IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU SEE A SIGN SAY 50% IN BOLD LETTERS, ONLY TO FIND "WHEN YOU BUY 2 OR MORE" IN THE SMALLEST FONT POSSIBLE. BUMMER. 

SO BE CAUTIOUS. NORMALLY THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT FONT TO BE IN BOLD AND MUCH BIGGER THAN THE REST OF THE TEXT. WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR SOMETHING CLAIMED TO BE "FREE," MAKE SURE IT IS REALLY FREE. AND JUST BECAUSE IT STARTED FREE DOESN'T MEAN IT WILL ALWAYS BE FREE. AUTOMATIC RENEWALS AND UPGRADES MAY OCCUR WITHOUT YOUR KNOWING. SO SLOW DOWN AND R-E-A-D. 


I HATE BEING TRICKED WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING. EVEN WORSE, EXPECTING ONE THING AND GETTING ANOTHER. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IS NO ANGEL EITHER. THE REAL DEAL BREAKER IS THAT WORD RIGHT IN THE BEGINNING - "SOCIAL." IT IS ONE THING FOR A CLEVER, PERSUASIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGN TO BE BROADCASTED. BUT WHEN THAT SAME CAMPAIGN IS NOW BRAODCASTED TO THE MILLIONS, POSSIBLY BILLIONS, THAT CAMPAIGN BECOMES A MOVEMENT. THATS KIND OIF SCARY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. 

THINK ABOUT THIS. INSTEAD OF THE MORNING PAPER WE JUMP ON FACEBOOK. INSTEAD OF TELEVISION WE SEE WHATS TRENDING ON YOUTUBE OR VINE. BILLBOARDS DON'T REALLY CATCH OUR EYES ANYMORE, BUT INSTAGRAM SURE DOES. WHO NEEDS TO WRITE BOOKS AND VOICE THEIR OPINION WHEN WE HAVE TWITTER? 

THE MEANS OF PROPAGANDA HAS SHIFTED OVER THE LAST DECADE. THIS SHIFT MAY BE FOR THE GOOR OR BAD, PROBABLY TOO EARLY TO TELL. REGARDLESS, THE PHRASE "DON'T BELIEVE EVEERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET" IS STILL PRETTY APPARENT. MAYBE MORE THAN EVER.