Reading Adrant’s take on the recent tweet from PETA sent to Mommy Bloggers about baby elephants has some important points for all marketing professionals who want to use social media channels to market their product, service, brand or cause.

What PETA did wasn’t necessarily a horrific blunder but it did use an old model (broadcast) in a new medium (social). That was the big mistake here. Broadcast tactics, still an entirely viable strategy in the right media, don’t work well in social media.

It is important to know that social media is a conversation, not an advertising platform. Until Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other social sites have been around a little longer, there will be lots of mistakes. Hopefully we marketers can all learn from them.

But will it happen? I still get email blasts about things I could care less about, recorded telephone messages from candidates I won’t support, and junk mail in my driveway mail box. It’s only after government intervention with do not call lists, anti fax spam laws and opt out rules will we be free from the shouting. Not that I’m eager for gov’t control (shudder!)

My point is, don’t look at social media and say, “Free! Wow, let’s blast this out!” and then think you have an effective marketing program.

Actually, I think that rule goes no matter what the media. Consumers and business buyers alike are sick of being shouted at with one way communication.

Creative Commons Flickr photo courtesy: Dave77456 self portrait day 56 of the 365days project.

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