the importance of targeted social campaigns

"Once, I remember, we came upon a man-of-war anchored off the coast. There wasn't even a shed there, and she was shelling the bush. It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts. Her ensign (1) dropped limp like a rag; the muzzles of the long six-inch guns stuck out all over the low hull; the greasy, slimy swell swung her up lazily and let her down, swaying her thin masts. In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Pop, would go one of the six-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech--and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight; and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives--he called them enemies!--hidden out of sight somewhere."


-Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness


This quote, used to illustrate the approach of the British Empire to the colonization of Africa (blindly firing into the unknown, and missing their target) speaks volumes to a situation I see all too often in social media. This point was driven home today while talking with a coworker, who brought to light a conversation he recently overheard. The conversation was between a person of authority at an engineering company, and a social media marketer making his sales pitch.

The marketer asserted that the engineering company needed to boost their social presence. This, in theory is a good approach. Social media is either low cost or in many cases, free, and has the potential for huge returns in terms of traffic, branding and visibility. However--how does this apply to an engineering firm? The marketer was throwing around terms like "Digg", "Facebook profile", "Twitter" and "Reddit". These are all incredibly popular forms of social media momentum, and for some buisinesses have proven to net more returns than traditional advertising. The potential exists--but not for every buisiness.

A common mistake I am seeing more and more frequently is that the idea of social presence equaling automatic returns. It rarely works like that. How is Digg going to benefit an engineering firm located in Grand Rapids, MI? Assuming they have a primarily local customer base, and they are not doing work of national importance or interest, it is unlikely Digg will benefit them in any way. Compare the return to the cost. Digg requires users to maintain a very active profile for any chance of success. It requires constant activity, reciprocation and mainentenance. The same can be said for Mixx, Reddit, Propeller and other social media sites, all to varying degrees. The point is, the paid hours spent on Digg are unlikely to provide any quantifiable return to the company.

The same can be said for the "Facebook profile". Given the customer base, who would most likely be older buisiness owners of some sort, its highly unlikely that the first place anyone would turn to find an engineering firm is Facebook. Facebook is only just beginning to gain professional acceptance or clout, and is still vastly dominated by the 13-25 demographic. If the firm was looking for an intern--the first place I would recommend placing an advertisement would be Facebook, but if they are trying to maintain a solid and professional image, a Facebook profile could potentially hurt them in the eyes of potential customers, given Facebook's and social networking's infancy at the present.

Everyone should ask themselves--is a social presence going to discredit my buisiness? Will it make me look less legitimate? Social networking still carries many negative connotations, as the internet is still known for its lack of accountability and annonimity. Does this engineering firm really want to open real-time public dialogue between the company and potentially disgruntled customers?

There are many benefits to social media, and for some buisinesses--it can pay huge divedends, but as many benefits as there are there are also huge time commitments, and the need for a targeted campaign. An effective social media campaign takes a deep, thorough knowledge of each resource, its audience, and how to most effectively use each resource. It also takes someone savvy and knowledgable enough to know when a particular resource is not worth the time, effort and expense.