We Can’t All Speak the Same Can We?

We see blogs every day with five ways to do this and ten ways to do that—this is how you need to do social media. If we all operated our social media the way the gurus say, then what would separate social media from everything else? One of the things I enjoy about social media is its uniqueness in how it is used by individuals as well as businesses. If people hadn’t done things wrong, would we know of a better way of doing things? If people hadn’t disregarded the rules, would we have some of the great inventions and toys we have today? Have you ever walked into a business and wondered how it’s still in business, and five years later, it’s celebrating its 20th-anniversary sale? It happens. We’re all different, and what appeals to me may not appeal to you. Not everybody loved Seinfeld. I can’t believe it, but it’s true. Do we want every post or tweet to sound the same? If businesses didn’t do things wrong, would we know and appreciate those who do it right? In traditional advertising, we all have our opinions about what works best: create a likable image, brand yourself, and don’t advertise yourself. Create value. Please don’t make it about price. Yet, time and time again, in retail, the big voice is telling us this is the best weekend ever to save. It works, but they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t. Now, we can argue that broadcast advertising costs more, but in some industries, it works well. It’s the fact that many times, we overestimate the consumer’s intelligence. Social Media is not just filled with the uber-intelligent; many people would like to think and hope, but it’s not the case. Social Media is filled with individuals who will buy into the fact that they can save over 50% off items just marked up so they can be sold at 50% off. The point is we’re all different and respond differently; it doesn’t always have to be engaging to be good.