Of Wood Shop, Square Pegs, Round Holes, and Marketing

There are only two things that I learned in my high school wood shop class:

1. Always wear protective eye wear
2. Never use a tool for a purpose other than that for which it was intended.

Well, I also learned that I am incompetent when it comes to building things out of wood, but that’s beside the point. But as for #2 on that list, they taught us not to use a screwdriver as a hammer, or vice versa. (And yes, I have to admit, I’m not very good at following this rule)

But sometimes I just have to shake my head at how I see people using the tools of Social Media. When people try to shove the square peg of outbound marketing into the round hole of inbound marketing, the results are ineffective, and often laughable.

You know the type: businesses with Twitter accounts that merely spew out irrelevant information and sales pitches. They want lots of followers but rarely follow anyone. They Tweet (and often reTweet their own information) but never engage. Go ahead, try to @ reply to one of them; you’ll get no response.

And they do the same thing on Facebook. Spit out info and not respond. They might even remove the ability to comment on their blogs.

Why? Because they’re talking, not listening. There might not even be a real human being on the other end.

There’s a term for what they are doing. It’s called traditional (outbound) marketing. They THINK they engaging in Social Media, but they’re not.

And while there is a place for traditional marketing, you need to use the tools of outbound marketing. If you’re trying to sell; buy print or broadcast. But don’t use the tools of inbound marketing for that purpose.

Social Media channels work best when you use them the way they were meant to be used. You wouldn’t use a newspaper ad or direct mail piece to start a conversation, would you?

In the long run, approaching the tools of inbound marketing with an outbound marketing mindset will do more harm than good.

There’s a reason we sign up for the Do Not Call list. There’s a reason we DVR programs or subscribe to satellite radio. We don’t want to be sold to, and if we do, we want it on our terms, not yours. Using Twitter, Facebook, and even your blog, in order to sell to me is a great way to get yourself flagged as spam in my mind. I’ll unfollow and unfriend you. I’ll tune you out and not only will you become irrelevant in my mind, you’ll become persona non grata.

Now look at your own Social Media presence. Are you using the tools properly?

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