Socially Insulted

by Matt Marschinke

My primary role within this creative agency is spent surfing the social channels, carried by the tide of what’s currently trending, elegantly trying to contribute to conversations in a relevant and informed way.

Though this task is often assumed simplistic and even mundane, there’s more strategy beneath the social waves than what’s commonly inferred. It’s for this reason I take pride in divulging and exposing social “strategies” that lack the patience and relevance that I work so hard for.

“Social media is for hippies, social media marketing is for business.” – Jason Falls

More often than not, branded presences on social media prioritize engagement so much they’ll literally ask for it. Shamelessly and blatantly these brands publish content updates with messages so elementary it’s condescending to their audience. To be frank, it baffles me how some users on Facebook feel compelled to contribute to a conversation so trivial.

The following screen shots have been sampled from actual brand pages on Facebook.  The brands responsible have been removed for anonymity.

Enjoy.

Hardest test I've taken in awhile.

Certainly the hardest test I’ve taken in awhile. Seriously, who has time for stuff like this?

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And they didn’t even proof read the grammar. This is wrong on so many levels.

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Don’t get me wrong, this is one tough little guy. But exploiting private photos for Facebook likes? Shameless.

In the end, please consider this an informal PSA to all social marketers out there. Talk to your audience like the intelligent and informed people they are. Call me a social media marketing fundamentalist, but social marketing is not only a numbers game. Creating valuable and relevant content will reward your brand with the loyal customers it deserves.