Social Media Marketing - How to Avoid the Snake Oil Salesmen

2 Comment(s) | Posted Dec 7, 2009 by Peter Wylie

Peter Wylie

BusinessWeek ran an article last week entitled “Beware Social Media Snake Oil,” which highlighted some of the problems that have popped up as social media has become increasingly popular.  The article warns about consultants who position themselves as experts in social media, but who might not be able to achieve actionable results for the clients that hire them.

With the astounding rise in audience size for social media utilities—Facebook just hit 350 million users, for instance—the industry inevitably was going to attract people who were solely interested in cashing in on a trend, rather than providing useful client service.  The Business Week article did a good job addressing some of the potential downsides of social media business outreach, and pointed out some problems.

But the article also clearly came from an outsider point of view; author Stephen Baker, though an excellent writer, doesn’t have complete familiarity with the industry, so his piece at times displays his neophyte status.

I thought Ignite founder Jim Tobin’s blog response to the article summed up the general situation with greater nuance.  Tobin agreed with the thrust of the article, but also added a few caveats to Baker’s argument, including an oft-repeated social media adage that focusing solely on sales is a flawed approach.

Ultimately, since Tobin is actively involved in the industry, his post was more level and accurate, in my opinion.  BusinessWeek offers a generalized account of a serious issue in the social media marketing space, and in doing so blurs some of the true lines of difference between professionals and wannabes. I think all of Tobin’s eight points are valid, and I’m glad he wrote such a measured, well-reasoned response.

The clearest message from both of these posts is that there certainly are poseurs in social media marketing, just as there are experts who achieve measureable business results.  Having clear goals and charting performance to meet them is crucial to attain value with social media outreach.

I’ve written about what I feel is the best way to handle this situation, and Clay Schossow of New Media Campaigns also has written eloquently about this subject.

Which article do you think comes closest to describing the social media marketing industry today?

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