Social Media is developing too fast! 

If you are reading this post you probably make a living through digital marketing or are a part of the masses that love social media. As marketers, have we ever stopped and asked ourselves how big the “masses” are? Of course, we have heard that Facebook has 600-million users. And the marketing maxim of fish where the fishes are seems to make sense. But how many of those 600-million know how to use Facebook? It sounds like a dumb question, but have you ever had to explain a Facebook function or new feature to someone?

A non-profit client recently asked me if there was any way to turn off the news feed for friends of fans. Huh? They had received a complaint from a fan of their Facebook page that his wife was getting upset that he was interacting with the page too much and he wanted us to shut off her news feed. No seriously.  Ask yourself again, how many of the 600-million users know how to use Facebook?

Not to mention trying to explain foursquare, the benefits of bit.ly, or Klout score to someone outside of the industry.

As social media junkies, we love new features. We livestream F8 and have the Mashable App on our home screens. This is our world and we love the pace and speed. We evangelize these products by churning out tweets and blogs at a furious pace.

I am sure I am not alone, when new products come out, in thinking how I can use them to help my clients market their products or mission. Although this where I always get in trouble. I loved Schweps Profile Pic campaign, but it took me 30 minutes to do it right and another 30 to explain it to my wife. The cross-platform Old Spice campaign was legendary, but no one outside of my office knew what it was (or cared).  These channels that we look at for “the next best thing” are creating an environment where our marketing efforts outpace the ability of our targets to understand them.

Getting Back To The Basics

Fish where the fishes  are - YES! Most of the time a simple hook and worm works. Our hook and worm is building community. Build a Facebook page by spending money on ads, integrate a Like Button on your site and create an atmosphere where users want to come to your Facebook page every day. We did this with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and they have 20,000 fans on their Facebook page. More importantly we have users that get SPAM warnings for being too active! Yes, that can happen.

Going back to the basics makes us, as marketers, utilize social media platforms for what they do best - form connections at a personal level. These tools were not born as marketing platforms - remember Twitter was almost 4 years old before it figured out how to make money. Therefore, try talking to fans, not at them. Stop broadcasting messages and create engagement. It sounds so simple, but so many of us forget the basics of social media.

How do we slow it down?

Innovation is not a bad thing. There is no shortage of bright minds, venture capitalists, and eager early adopters; but the world has changed. The long reign of advertising executives making one-way communications on TV or print or even email is over. We should be humbled that individuals have invited us into their world through social media, and learn to listen and engage better. It is not always about selling and promoting.

For me it was some guy's wife yelling about too many updates in her news feed that reminded me that these are communication tools, not marketing tools. People like to be communicated with, but everyone hates a marketer.