Lately I’ve noticed an awkward trend in marketing, one that simply does not make any sense to me at all. That is, bad content being boosted in Facebook.
“This post isn’t being liked by anyone. Maybe it’s just not reaching the right audience. Let’s boost it, so more people can see it!”
Whoa, now. I want you to slow down for a second and think about the psychology behind that strategy.
What feels like a billion years ago, when I was in automotive sales, there was a saying that we’d use when describing a tough car to sell: “There’s a butt for every seat.” We’d actively bring customers around to this car, that no one wanted to buy, and try to cram people into it. The hope was that we’d eventually find the right buyer for that car, and if we had to hold onto it for 90-120 days, sooner or later (most likely later), we’d find the poor sucker–*ahem* perfect customer–to take it home.
This process is also referred to as “Hunting Unicorns.” Here’s the problem: As adults, we are supposed to know that unicorns don’t exist, so we’re NOT supposed to make business decisions based on a figment of imagination.
It seems, however, that recently I’ve been seeing this same philosophy being applied to bad social media content. The post did not take off organically, so the social media buyer throws some money behind it in hopes that just the right audience sees it and it goes viral.
Alas, this just isn’t going to happen. Think about it:
We’ve all been in the situation when you’re walking down a city street and some promoter tries to hand you a flyer. When you don’t take it, the person handing out the flyer typically tries to hand it to the next person. They don’t chase after you, pleading for you to take it. They don’t grab a stapler and try to pin it to your shirt. They don’t follow you home, and wallpaper over your windows with the flyer, in hopes that you’ll read it. They move on.
As a social media marketer, you should take a page from their book. Please, just let your content move on.
No one creates viral content every time, just like no one gets a hole in one every time at the tee or hits a homerun every time they’re up to bat. So during those times when your content has fallen flat, learn from it. Don’t try to prop it up with some money and hope that just the right unicorn will come and nestle it back to life. The experience has taught you what DIDN’T work, so generate something new and hope for the best next time around.
Chris Gregoire,
Digital Strategy
