Social Soliciting Prohibited?

I'm not that old, but old enough to remember when people used to hang signs outside the front door of their business or home that read "No Soliciting". Actually some still do, but many sales people have already gotten the message. Soliciting is not socially acceptable anymore. Well, maybe not in the physical world. In the digital world however, we see a far different standard, albeit for now. Yet if history is any indicator, we may need to be careful. So far though, marketers continue to use every available avenue online to increase their business or brand recognition efforts like never before. It's becoming blatantly obvious and social marketing is not only gaining ground, but threatening to completely overshadow traditional forms of marketing and advertising. In fact, some agencies have already abandoned traditional in favor of digital altogether.

This is because social or online media offers something that traditional media doesn't, and it's exactly what sales people need in order to survive, but have been desperately deprived of in years past. It's about interaction. Period. The internet allows businesses to interact with customers in ways they have not been able to in a long time. And like an alcoholic who hasn't had a drink in awhile, many are impulsively overdoing it in ways that are irresponsible and self-indulgent. I mean some have focused their entire advertising around the latest popular social media channel, offering to reward you or enter you into a contest if you like them on Facebook. As if Facebook or Twitter for that matter, was the end-all, be-all strategy for success.

Most people are wising up to it too, and research shows it. If you're not engaging customers in ways that are relevant to them, than you are nothing more than another distraction or uninvited intruder vying to break into their world.

Yeah, plenty of us tweet, blog, digg, facebook, or whatever. But for the most part, people have a life outside of their social networks, though more and more companies act like you don't sometimes, and therefore, put their credibility in jeopardy by just jumping on the bandwagon, because this is what's hot right now. Sure I get it. But these cookie cutter copycats are mere novices just muddying up the waters.

"Experts" know that social media is not a one-size fits all formula. Each company has different goals and objectives, and what works for one client might not for another. Just ask Burger King or Pepsi. Simply applying a process over-and-over, may in the long run, serve only to desensitize and annoy people, and like the days of pop-ups and pop-unders, force advertisers to once again reorganize and rethink how to best get your attention and support their bottom line: business performance and thus ROI. Great brands understand the pros and cons and make thoughtful approaches to connect with customers and partners in a credible and integrated way. Sometimes that means not doing any social media at all; (God forbid), or doing so under the radar so that at least in the digital world, they never overstay their welcome.