The challenge of social media: You can lead a horse to your marketing, but you can't make him retweet it

At New Think Creative, we recently had a prospective client who decided he didn’t, in fact, need any help with his social media marketing. The reason? His nephew knew how to tweet, so he could handle the business’s social media campaign. (We don’t know the name of the nephew, but we’ve affectionately dubbed him Sheldon. He’s simply adorable.)

You could say this makes us feel the same way a contractor would feel if a home owner told him, “I don’t need to hire you after all, since I just found out I can borrow a backhoe.”

Acquiring the right tools doesn’t always require professional help. Using them is a different story. That is, if you don’t want your nephew Sheldon to accidentally put a hydraulic metal arm through the roof of your car.

Alicia Keys doesn’t get paid because she can sing, and Justin Verlander doesn’t get paid because he can throw a baseball. Almost anyone can do those things. They are valuable because they can sing, or throw a ball, effectively.

Social media is so mainstream, we almost take it for granted that everyone is savvy by now. But as it turns out, many smart, successful businesspeople have yet to fully understand what’s going on. So you have a Twitter account for your business? In 2013? I guess you’re cutting edge now. No further effort required.

Having social media is no longer an edge. It’s a basic requirement. The edge comes when you can use it effectively. It can be just background noise. Or it can be an immediate, intimate way to connect with your customers.

For example, the Oreo cookie brand had a recent social media breakthrough during this year’s infamous Super Bowl blackout. For 34 minutes, the nation was frozen in front of the television, wondering when the Super Dome lights would come back on. Someone decided to act fast. Within those 34 minutes, they gave the Twittersphere something to react to:

Simple. Immediately relevant. Most importantly, it makes people want to tell their friends, “Hey, have you seen this?” And so it was retweeted 16,000 times.

This is the “social” element of social media. You can’t just talk. It has to provoke a reaction. Your customer base needs to enjoy it, seek it out, share it. That doesn’t happen when you just talk at people… but then, I’m sure Sheldon has it all under control. Doesn’t he?

Here are New Think Creative’s 4 golden rules for social media marketing:

1. Be creative. Be out there, outrageous, and buzz-worthy. Just like everyday life, you have to be interesting, enticing, and thought-provoking to get and hold people's attention, and to make them want to pass your content along! Talk their talk. Walk their walk. 

2. Be creative and know that media successes are often the result of well-coordinated effort.  Make sure all your social media messages are creatively conceived, well-orchestrated, and stay on point every time, in every media.

3. Be creative and patient.  Social media is a slow game. Know that every tweet or post won't be perfect.  You are building a community that will come together with varying opinions or points of view. Manage it, but let it breath. Don’t just screw the negatives… learn from them. It’s a great way to make your next tweet or email (or whatever) work better.

4. Be creative. Fire Sheldon. Hire New Think Creative.