Why I deeply distrust most of the claims made for Social Media

Marketing for Sheep, with an illuminating example.

Now you, dear reader, may think I am just a miserable, negative Old Toad who does nothing but moan about how good things were in my day.

But I’m not.

For year after bitterly disappointing year I try to believe that dreams do come true, that there really is a God, and that I can, one day, make money in my sleep.

But then reality smites me.

Today it did so – as it does regularly – when I opened my regular email from Michael Stelzner’s Social Media Examiner.

Because I try to keep abreast of the latest fads, fancies and, not often enough, things that work. I’ve subscribed to get Michael’s missives practically since he began.

He was among the first, I think, to realise that here was yet another Silver Bullet that marketers would pray might remove the need for thinking for themselves. And to capitalise on the fact that once a trend starts it seems to accelerate. Where one goes, many follow.

And I salute him for it.

But I would salute much more snappily if I didn’t keep on getting a pop-up that reads:

Get original Social Media Examiner content sent straight to your email inbox for free, and we promise never to share, trade, sell, deliver, reveal, publicize, or market your email address in any way, shape, or form.

If he can’t get the basics right, why should I believe he’s really going to tell me how to succeed in Social Media any more than I do now?

Having said that, I know I often fail myself in these matters.

However, I’m no expert. Just a copywriter – and surviving the journey from upright 1930’s Underwood Typewriter to whatever this thing I am typing on is called has been effort enough.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

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