Monthly Archives: October 2009

What’s wrong with the medium du jour?

Today I attended a meeting of angels. No, not the kind with wings but the more earthly ones with money to invest. Presenting to them were a bevy of start-up companies looking to become the next big thing. As each presented his (I’m not sexist; they were all guys) story, I was surprised at how uniformly they said they intended to market using social media alone. OK, they were trying to prove to possible investors that they would be frugal with the marketing dollars – and sure, Twitter and Facebook are free, at least on the surface. They figured that it would require only minimal spend to influence their customers to Tweet or post their enthusiastic endorsements to their BFF’s on Facebook, and then the rest would fall into place.

First, I have to admit, these guys were mostly in their 30’s (and I’m just “slightly” older) so they are more comfortable adapting to every new gadget and app. But they are also focusing on the wrong thing. It’s not the medium du jour that’s important here. It’s the message. The horse always has to go ahead of the cart and not the other way around. It’s a mistake to be thinking about where to tell the message without having decided on exactly what the right message is, given the product and the buyer. Maybe social media is the right medium, maybe it’s not – but it should always be the message that drives where and how the story is to be told. And these guys have already settled on Twitter!

Frankly, I don’t believe the Internet pundits have it right when they tout Social Media as the new and only way to go and claim that “push” advertising (they call it Marketing 1.0) is dead. Sound marketing strategy requires a combination of both push and pull. Tell the consumer about the product and then help them tell each other.

My point is, don’t get so enamored of some “hot” new marketing technique as to forget the basics. The right message, strategically developed, skillfully crafted and inventively told will win out in any medium. It’s about message first and foremost. That’s when the angels sing.

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