I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the family who created a giant hoax by pretending that their 6 year old son took off in a homemade air balloon. In the end the boy wasn’t in the balloon but actually hiding in a barn and the entire thing was one big publicity stunt the family had created.
As I happen to read the article on this family I couldn’t help but think about how many businesses I see make the same mistakes when it comes to their online marketing strategy.
The Biggest Publicity Stunt is Social Media
In the end it turns out the family just wanted to create a giant publicity stunt to raise awareness for a reality TV show they were pitching to the networks. I see so many businesses approach social media the same way. They try to get as many Twitter followers as possible, the whole time shouting their message out. Twitter should be used to converse, share, contribute – not just blast your message to as many people as possible.
Everyone Has a Voice So Pay Attention
The major tip to the authorities that the whole thing was a hoax was a comment, inadvertently, made by the 6 year old boy when he said “We did it for the TV show” . As a Business you never know who is going to make comments, post a video, say something on facebook, that may be damaging to your company. You need to be paying attention. Set up Google Alerts or monitor your brand on Technorati. Companies like Untied Airlines, Dominos Pizza, Kryptonite Locks and Bank of America have all been blindsided by a someone posting disparaging things on the Internet. Don’t get caught off guard, be prepared.
The Internet Never Forgets
Several videos from the past were found of the family making ridiculous claims that Hillary Clinton is a shape shifting alien (ok maybe that’s not so ridiculous) . However these old videos pointed to the lack of credibility and unstable thinking of this family. What is out there on the Interent about your company? You personally or professionally may have been associated with something less than favorable. Don’t hide from it, address it head on. Had a product failure in the past? Tell about how you resolved it. Angry customers posting on various websites? Address them at those points or post the resolutions on your blog.
Shiny Object Syndrome
The balloon they built was shiny, silver and shaped like a UFO. The whole idea was to launch something that would catch peoples attention, but that’s it. Don’t let your online marketing strategy fall into this trap. Don’t just jump on Twitter to be there, don’t just start a blog because others do, don’t just get a facebook fanpage because it’s in the news. You need to have a complete strategy to how all of these things fit into your overall goals. If capturing leads is you goal, use those tools to feed your customers to the place where that happens.
You Online Marketing needs to have a well thought out strategy in total. Don’t get caught using all the available tools just to make one giant plubicity stunt that screams “look at me”.
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