So what is all this hoopla about Social Media – and specifically, Social Media Marketing? You’ve either heard of social media from various sources or, if you work online – as I do – you could be inundated with information from a plethora of social media experts, all poised to lead you through the SMM labyrinth.
It would probably be more beneficial to begin with what social media is not.
This is significant, particularly if you are a voice over artist or actor and you hope to gain notoriety in the social media universe. Ready? Here we go…
If you join Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and/or any other number of social media networks, it will not necessarily follow that productivity will increase, sales will skyrocket, and that hundreds of clients will come breaking down your door. I use Facebook to stay in contact with my friends – many of whom are actors, playwrights and directors – to see what they are up to. I use it primarily as a social medium for fun and enjoyment. However, professional social media marketers don’t see social media networking the same way. They have figured out a way to make everyone believe that it is necessary to monetize all online activity. As a matter of fact, you aren’t successful unless what you do online, generates an income. After all, isn’t that what the Web is all about? Frankly, no. You have to manage your expectations.
The real value of social media networks lay in creating successful online communities and developing relationships where people are actively engaged with you or what you have to offer. Unfortunately – or fortunately for all those who brand themselves SMM evangelist gurus – there is a conversation going on that involves reducing humans to a demographic and squeezing out the largest common denominator. Intense commercial marketing is conducted toward this juicy demographic by the hippest hucksters on the planet.
Just as television ushered in the age of excess and we all believed we had to have two cars in the two-car garage, so to, do we need everything that is advertised on the Web. That’s the bad part. Here’s the good part… The Web can be an incredible place to connect to others and give voice to ideas that would otherwise be lost in the Monday morning cubicle meetings. It is a rebellion against our managed lives where we are told to shut up, conform, and accept the narrowest range of ideas imaginable. The Web has the power to decimate this spin cycle, creating a gateway for dialogues that could never have existed before.
I’m not saying that there is no benefit to getting out there and tweeting your head off – there may very well be – but success depends largely on the type of business you own and how much time you are willing to invest cultivating clients in an online environment. Why? The answer is twofold. Many businesses lend themselves very nicely to SMM and others falter. Secondly, many businesses demand an area of expertise that precludes marketing to a vast online community.
Successful online social media marketing demands a huge investment of time and varying degrees of expertise. After all criteria is met and online strategies are completed, there is still no guarantee that people will find you, relate to you, and/or use your product.
Some succeed – some, not so much
It is a cold hard fact of the Twitter enclave if you are already a known commodity you will get more people following/tweeting you. Fox newscasters, the CEO of Zappos, and President Obama, all have lots and lots of people who follow their every tweet. However, if for instance, you are an acupuncturist – your energies split between treating clients, teaching, and learning new techniques – you don’t have the time to manage an online social media campaign. You already manage a business that demands constant education, intense scrutiny, and innate intelligence. The acupuncturist I am referring to has built up her business over the past 20 years via word of mouth only. Will she move all her marketing efforts online? I doubt it. She can create blogs and join other health-oriented networks that are aligned with her expertise, but she will never depend solely on social media to cultivate new clients. The resources, time, and expense, required to cultivate the type of return she needs, would mitigate any benefit.
I see voice over artists [and actors] traversing the same path. So much of what we do happens in a face-to-face meeting or via a voice over booth. Of course we can take advantage of sites like voices.com or even YouTube to post our demos, and reels, but very few VO casting directors are online, actively engaged in a networking community soliciting VO artists for work. I know of a few – and I mean literally, three, who have blogs or a newsletter. Our efforts in this area are still best served by meeting people, cold calling, sending postcards, and getting out there and doing it. [a website like VoiceOverXtra headed up by the terrific John Florian, has great resources for the VO industry]
Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I’m not in favor of technology or taking advantage of new media. Indeed, I spend a great deal of time guiding people through the mechanics of setting up a blog, a social media network, or developing Search Engine Optimization [SEO].
To be clear, the real value of social media lay in its capacity to build and sustain relationships.
The flip site of this dialogue is dedicated to building income. If you keep up with any of the online Web sites committed to SMM, you will quickly see that building community alone, does not a business make. That community must want what you have to offer, become active in pursuing it, and finally, bring home the bacon. Yes, you eventually need to monetize your efforts if you are a business and you are paying someone to devise SMM strategies. That’s the business end of the Web. Step back and take a look at what is possible with electronic media, other than generating income and you will discover valuable insights that do not involve the cash cow.
Cheers,
dj
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