In Social Media, Looking Creative Isn’t Enough

I’ve recently seen a few local bloggers dismissing some of the concepts that we talk about a lot in social media such and arguing whether or not social media is really social, engaging and whether or not it get’s people’s attention.  I somewhat agree with these folks, but if you look at the advice handed down by marketers for decades, if all we’re doing is putting on a pretty facade and ‘trying to be social’, then we aren’t really marketing anyway.  I’m partial to this quote by the old-school New York adman, Jerry Della Femina.

Looking creative isn’t enough. When you tell the truth, when you’re straight and direct with the [consumer], there’s some shock involved… But that’s good, because you need to jolt people with your advertising… Most great advertising is direct. That’s how people talk. That’s the style they read. That’s what sells products or services or ideas.

Femina is right on, especially if you take his references to advertising in the spirit of the evolving world of social media.  Social media has been touted as a way to humanize the brand, bring transparency and authenticity and be honest with consumers in a world overrun with marketing hype and advertising noise.

Be honest, be direct and be engaging.  That’s what consumers want, it’s what they’ve always wanted, and it’s actually the easiest form of marketing to do.