I can’t go a day on Twitter without seeing something about Pinterest. There are plenty of blogs about how amazing it is and how to use it for marketing gains, and most of them speculate it’s going to be the next big thing.
But there’s a mantra worth following, if you’re seriously considering using Pinterest for business aims:
I’ve seen some statements along the lines of: ‘if you’re a digital marketer and not on Pinterest, then you’re not a digital marketer,’ by people with big followings. This is most unhelpful. It’s another addition to a long list of social media properties that marketers ‘should’ (apparently) care about. Let’s consider four from the last year:
- Google +
- Tumblr
And of course our stalwarts, which people have varying opinions on, but are largely past the hype (although boy they went through it):
- YouTube
I leave out Linkedin, because I don’t really feel it’s a social network for much but recruitment.
So we now have seven networks to care about, added to this is the delightfully ridiculous in scope ‘inbound marketing’ mix:
Er – say what? Aren’t we getting a little overloaded now?
I find it incredible, and naïve, to suggest that people should get into the latest thing just because it exists. How many inhouse departments are there were the digital marketing department is a solitary individual? I haven’t done a survey, but needless to say there are plenty. I’m in one myself (with support from other teams).
The problem with this love of the latest fad is that it fragments and distracts from proper strategy. Often, rather than presenting new and better opportunities, you start from scratch speculating that this is going to be big, when your time would be far better spent nurturing your current social media connections into something meaningful, rather than largely meaningless numbers of Likes and Followers.
WTF Should I Focus On?
What about all this other guff that has fallen into a digital marketers remit? Not to mention using any evil paid ‘outbound’ methods (which work by the way, despite what the book says). We’re slipping towards unfocused doom, where everybody’s theorising about the latest fad and few people are actually doing things.
If I was a boss at a business that focussed on all seven of the social networks above, and had the social media execs to do it all well, then I’d fire some of the execs – because most of it is unnecessary. Let’s start with the top four networks I mentioned. Let’s be honest and say you can largely forget about taking them seriously for business.
- Tumblr can be good sometimes (fashion brands), but it detracts from and fragments your destination site.
- Instagram is about as relevant as Flickr (photographers, fair enough)
- Pinterest – okay if you do gifts and great photos.
- Google + is only really useful if you are involved in technology.
Also, consider that these networks simply don’t have the numbers to make them particularly viable in the UK – US perhaps – but there just aren’t enough people living on Blighty that care!
Think About the Big Three:
- Make Facebook a priority unless you are a B2B.
- Make Twitter a news and distribution channel, a way to hustle and network, and potentially give it a customer service focus.
- Use YouTube if you produce video. If you don’t, think hard about how your content strategy can use video, because it’s already vital in my opinion, and it’s going to get more so.
You’ve got three networks to focus on. If you’re not working them to their potential before jumping on the ‘next big thing’ stop what you’re doing and have a good think. Ask yourself if the potential offered really is bigger than any of the big three. Ask yourself again. Ask again. Now consider the golden rule:
What is Inbound Marketing Really?
If we’re going to be serious about Inbound Marketing (and this blog is) then we should follow a simple structure that doesn’t include ludicrously long lists of media that you ‘should’ be fulfilling. The below structure is easy to follow and helps to shape strategy:
Sideward Arrows = spend on a particular discipline. This is adjustable according to requirements.
Upward Arrow = a relationship between departments. Web Analytics effects all departments, but Web Development only really affects Content Placement above it, which correspondingly affects Inbound Marketing above it. For instance, Inbound Marketing requires strong Content Placement to build links, and Content Placement relies on strong Web Development.
It is damaging to consider the marketing mix in the fragmented way of the previously used Inbound Marketing image as if being able to do it all makes you ‘awesome’. Consider the following:
- Social media, email and link building go together – they are part of outreach.
- Graphics and video production go with writing. Content producers should largely be able to produce all of these; it’s not very difficult.
- Web development in this structure should be focused towards UX and SEO goals.
- Analytics tells you what’s happened and what to do next.
Follow these Five ‘Rules’
- Fulfil the four ‘departments’ well and you will grow. Grow more and develop these departments further.
- Attempt as much as possible to unify your data.
- Do not fragment your thinking into email, social media, SEO as inherently different things.
- Do not sub-fragment bases even further (such as social into Facebook, Twitter, Google + etc as if they are adversaries).
- Do not flit to the latest fad unless you are fulfilling your bases in the best way possible.
The Alternative Fad Driven Doom
If you can’t focus on simple structure and fulfilling the basics, you will be like a chef who bases his menus on Marco Pierre White’s most advanced dishes yet can’t cook an omelette. It is a recipe for disaster. You will flit from one apparent focus to the next, being mediocre in most in remarkable in none.
Distance yourself from this hype. Think what’s big – think of what you can coax out of the big. The latest fad is always small, particularly in the UK. Thinking big there is difficult.
