Many brands have entire rooms filled with staffers trying to come up with ways to engage an audience. Some have warrooms. Some have copywriters. Many have legal eagles peering over their every move. Almost all have EVP’s hosting meeting after meeting to come up with ideas and something called “content calendars.”
But try as most might, unless they spend MAJOR dollars, they can’t generate much interest on social media. I’ve seen some brands actually go bonkers over a few hundred retweets or maybe a thousand likes on a Facebook update.
Lately I’ve been asked quite a bit as to why I’ve changed directions and why I’m solely focusing on sports and entertainment activations.
The answer is very simple. People don’t care about brands. I know that makes some brand managers, CMOs and agency folk cringe. But it’s true. Try as most might, they’ll never get the kind of response on social media that is enjoyed by those in the sports and entertainment industries.
Unless of course, they dump their crazy notion that someone cares about their product on social and aligns closely with sports and entertainment properties.
I’ve been writing about it a lot lately, but every now and then something so compelling has to be shown to underscore my point.
I introduce to you Lil Jon.
For those of you who don’t know Lil Jon, he’s a rapper, producer and reality show star. For the last decade, Lil Jon has been one of the most prominent figures in music.
Known best for his role in creating and popularizing the southern movement and lifestyle known as Crunk, Lil Jon has become one of the most sought after artists and producers in hip-hop.
Widely known for his platinum-selling production, Jon has crafted groundbreaking hits for a diverse array of artists, such as, Usher, Ciara, The Ying Yang Twins and E-40, to popular rock acts, Weezer and LMFAO.
As an artist, he has sold millions of records as the frontman of Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, whose smash hits “Get Low” and “What U Goin’ Do” have been among the biggest crossover hip-hop hits in recent times.
He can now add social media darling to his portfolio.
Hot 96.9 FM, a radio station in Spokane, Washington activated the most simple of contests on Facebook. The results were nothing short of amazing! You will be blown away by the simplicity of the promotion. Who knows, you may even be prompted to stop sending those big retainer checks to agencies that can’t come close to generating this type of MASSIVE exposure for your brand or business.
Judge for yourself. Make sure you lean forward in your chair and look closely at those numbers!
Don’t worry, you’re not seeing things. There’s nothing wrong with your eyes. yes, that says over 63,000 comments!! Quick…before you forget. Call your social media manager or agency and ask them to run some reports and have them send over to you any post that has received 63,000 comments. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Back already? That didn’t take long did it? Listen, you may have noble intentions and you may really be interested in pushing your brand message and adhering to your brand voice. But people on social media don’t care. You’re being led down a path of mediocrity.
I know some people ring the bell and say they can move the bar a few percentages in sales by posting your “content.” But let’s talk reality. Social media marketing is about giving people what THEY want. The sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be.
But then again there’s always commercial advertising.
