Comments on: Social Media Marketing Snake Oil

By: Johann

Johann — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:48:37 +0000

Really enjoyed that video =) i do agree that many leading social networking websites should be use to promote a business but the right approach should be customize for each target market, not every facebook or twitter user will be after the same topic, find your niche target and then approach them through social media channels. We’ve done this for clients and it just gave great results!! Thanks for the article

By: bill

bill — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:16:35 +0000

Most of the argument from the original article could be applied to any sort of marketing. Your rebuttal was thoughtful and effective.

I like the quantitative/qualitative lists you provided. Helpful with the client education process.

It will be interesting to see how the language and definitions change in the coming months. “social media” is such a broad term as to be almost meaningless. The phrase facilitates the “lumping together” of too many different channels.

By: Jim oil jobs

Jim oil jobs — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:00:18 +0000

Jordan: Thank you for the excellent product! I love this sentence: Jordan, a brilliant rebuttal with fantastic points for small businesses, large enterprises and the new in this industry

By: Hamlet Batista

Hamlet Batista — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Fantastic piece!

By: alex

alex — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:50:53 +0000

Social media is indeed a tool! Check out this interesting marketing campaign where social media actually backfires http://fansofbrands.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/social-media-free-chair-ground-score/
social media needs to be thoroughly thought through in order to work properly for the marketer.

By: Deb J. Jones

Deb J. Jones — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:08:54 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to articulate what so many of us were thinking. This article is a lot like the FoxNews report about Twitter’s uselessness; filled with conjecture and unencumbered by reality. It’s easy to kvetch about it to fellow professionals and much harder to take the time to break it down and analyze the fallacies one-by-one. It’s hard enough to make the benefits of social media in an overall marketing plan tangible without having to combat half-truths in articles that pander to the mistrust of the masses and bandy about sensational terms like “snake oil.”

By: Sikat ang Pinoy

Sikat ang Pinoy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:44:39 +0000

I was very pleased to find this site.I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I
definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.

By: Todd Wallace

Todd Wallace — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:29:59 +0000

It’s funny that companies think that letting their employees use social media regarding their company is a bad thing. If you can’t trust your employee to behave in public, do you keep them in a closet?

By: Briana Bragg

Briana Bragg — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:17:46 +0000

First of all let me say, that video is quite hilarious! A little direct but funny, for those of us who understand it.
Secondly, thank you for this rebuttal. Social media is a “tool” that can and should be used to promote a business. There are different uses for different companies and the return on investment is huge! I have gained not only traffic but business also from the use of Facebook and LinkedIn. Look at companies who use direct mail that costs thousands of dollars for how many telephone responses? 3-5% on a good campaign.
Social media has many different measurements. Not to mention everything can be tracked. You can see who is viewing what through internet resources, unlike with a TV campaign. Who is to say that just because a TV is on, the person you are marketing to is in the room?
Social media is a great place to interact with prospects and current and past clients. It’s a place where people don’t feel intimidated to speak out and respond. Why wouldn’t you want to use it? Agreed, it does need to be monitored, but even a little negativity isn’t bad, that can open the door to really communicate with your audience.
I think this was a great post and rebuttal. Just because there isn’t a case study for 20 years on the effects of social media, doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful!
There are scummy salesmen to watch out for in any business and all these so called social media experts who can’t even define a standard of measurement should have their right taken away to claim they are an expert, but that is for another topic.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment, keep up the good posts!

By: @steveplunkett

@steveplunkett — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:52:09 +0000

“The conversation will happen whether you are there or not to try to control it.”

for SEOs or Social Media pratitioners (could be Digital PR reps)

Talked to someone “doing social media” the other day as a contractor.. they were being taught that link wheels and blog commenting is the way to do social media… just like SEO, we have a long way to go to inform the public and business professionals what is snake oil and what is not in the SEO/SEM and Social Media space. (also known as Internet Marketing) Keep up the good work, Search Engine Journal and Jordan!