Social Media and Truth
Okay, I’ll admit it. I am a huge fan of the show House M.D. Yes, I love House’s snark and repartee with his team. But what intrigues me the most about this show is that he cannot solve any of the mysterious illnesses that are presented to him and his team unless they find that one kernel of truth. How they find that truth is by digging through symptoms, testing out different theories and, finally, by forcing the unfortunate patient to fess up to a secret (no matter how minor) that they’ve been hiding.
Now, what does this have to do with social media you might be asking? Well, as marketers we hire often agencies and consultants to help us solve our marketing challenges…whether it be launching a new product or trying to figure out that one lucky campaign that will generate tons of buzz and leads. And in hiring agencies and consultants we pour out our marketing symptoms…this is the target audience, the target audience isn’t responding, this is the message, this is the approved message but it isn’t working, this is what has worked, this is what hasn’t worked, this is the problem from our view, etc. The agency/consultant goes off on their merry way to diagnose all the marketing symptoms and to try and solve the mystery.
But there’s one little issue…we haven’t told them our secret.
Typically, not telling our secret either ends up in a failed campaign, wasted budget and/or a fired agency/consultant (in extreme cases). But today, in our socially connected world, customers, employees, investors, analysts, bloggers, etc. will help uncover that little secret and it’s only a matter of time. And then…your secret will become public.
What’s the moral of this little House M.D. and social media metaphor?
Tell the truth. If you are considering utilizing social media as a marketing communications channel for your company, non-profit, agency (creative or government), the truth is your friend. Be sure to tell your agency/consultant the truth about all your symptoms (internally and externally). Otherwise, you aren’t giving them all the facts they need to understand to properly help. (And this is simple & good advice for traditional marketing as well.)
If your marketing campaigns are failing because your content doesn’t provide value to your customers, admit it. If they don’t work because the VP of Marketing or CMO doesn’t get interactive marketing, fess up. I could go on, but I am sure we all carry different marketing secrets around with us.
Secrets can sabotage and lead to…
- Brand management crises
- Community challenges & confusion
- Public relations nightmares
- Failed campaigns
- Wasted budgets
- and…
All of which are unhealthy for a company and the agencies/consultants that serve them.
Your thoughts? What’s your secret? What advice would you offer to marketers burdened with a secret?
[Image: Monsters and Critics]
Tags: 22 Responses to “Social Media and Truth”
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Love the House metaphor, Beth. You’re spot on about truth in social media, because social media is about engagement.
In the olden days of marketing, traditional advertising was about presenting the best possible truth. That meant keeping secrets and hiding things. That’s a model that’s not sustainable in social media. If you engage people long enough they will discover your truth. Eventually there are no secrets.
Jay Ehret’s last blog post..Hit the Ground Running: Jason Jennings’ Rules for New Entrepreneurs
Nicely put. Two things: (1) I would argue allegiance to truth is applicable to not just only social media but to every facet of marketing and also to building and maintaining an efficient and optimized business. And (2) To paraphrase Jack Nicholson, sometimes companies and their employees can’t handle the truth because they’re not honest and self-aware with themselves, their departments, or their companies. Without this self-awareness, these secrets either aren’t admitted or even known.
Gerard Babitts’s last blog post..KEEP THE TWEETS PURE
The truth shall set you free, indeed.
Thanks for raising these points, Beth. There is a certain game that is being played in any business situation that filters productivity and effectiveness.
As an agency/consultant type it is always interesting to try to guess the secret that isn’t being discussed when you are interviewing with a new client (or even working with a new product team). There is a delicate dance that both parties are performing and until the relationship is deep and trusting, it takes some coaxing to bring it out. Marketers are proud and even the most capable professional is hesitant to admit to past problems. It’s human nature.
I’ve wondered recently whether or not an agency should set up a confession booth in the conference room with the promise to absolve sins so everyone can start with a clean slate. (Perhaps the agency team could trade places with the marketers for a 360-degree absolution).
However, Jay is right. Social media has become the confessional. The great equalizer. And if a marketer’s communication partner is surprised by the truth, it puts everyone on shaky ground.
P.S. I’m sorry I’m not going to be in town for your PRSA presentation May 13th. I really wanted an opportunity to meet offline. I’ll be sure my colleagues say hello.
Jake Yarbrough (jakeybro)’s last blog post..Slo-Mo Jello: Breathtaking
Jake, I think you have created a new concept for agencies. Who would visit the confessional booth most often, clients, AE’s or creative directors?
Jay Ehret’s last blog post..Hit the Ground Running: Jason Jennings’ Rules for New Entrepreneurs
The one big thing about secrets in communications (pretty much life, too) is that they eventually get uncovered. We saw this with situations like Enron and the Madoff scandal. These folks got found out.
NOW I’M NOT SAYING that if they had worked with a good communications professional, these crises would have been avoided. However, I do believe that if all of their cards were on the table, the right kind of communications professional/team would have
* advised them accordingly to help them see the light before they got too out of control;
* attempted to help steer them in the ‘right’ direction;
* help them understand the REAL CRISIS and DILEMMA that their actions would have surely brought on; OR
* walked out of the relationship.
Any way you slice it, the game of ‘communications’ has changed with the growing usage of social media…and for the better, I think. Businesses are so much more available and/or vulnerable to the customer – how truthful, ethical and customer-service oriented you are will determine how your audience(s) will hear you out when things go bad.
Great post, Beth. Any other time you want to use HOUSE as a reference, ROCK ON with it!
Narciso Tovar, Big Noise Communications’s last blog post..If 6 Was 9: Channeling Jimi Hendrix in Social Media
Beth,
I was excited to see this post, I also have to admit that I am a House M.D. fanatic. You draw some great parallels here. One thing I would like to add is that I think, as marketers, especially when we are brought in as an agency/consultant, we overlook the fact that our client already has the answer (even if they don’t know it yet). Granted that honesty and openness is key in any partnership, I think the best agencies/consultants are the ones that can ask the questions that invoke thought. Even further, if we are truly good at what we do, we have an ability to listen like no other. Listening, I believe it is the real secret. Listening means taking a step back, holding back when we feel it is the ultimate time to jump in an advise them and giving them a real opportunity to lay it all out.
I think as marketers, we will be surprised how much our client is willing to share. The best part about all of this – you can’t put a dollar value on empowering your client to think for themselves. I am sure they will agree.
Thanks for a great post!
Nicole Hamilton’s last blog post..There’s No Such Thing as Private Practice
Great post, Beth! As a PR consultant, I see the same thing. Years ago I was hired on by a client that wasn’t honest with me about what the company’s REAL challenges were.
After spending quite a bit of time researching and hearing responses from media and customers, I had to create a new plan of action. Would have bee much easier [and less expensive] or the client if I’d known it in the beginning.
When I reported my findings, the response was, “yeah, we know, but those people don’t know what they’re talking about.” Aaiiii.
I think your point is spot-on here, Beth, as are the above comments. I think that’s one of my worst nightmares as a PR practitioner – spending time and effort on something designed to benefit my client, and having it fail because I’m operating on incomplete/incorrect information.
If a company can’t admit that problems exist, how can they ever hope to find solutions?
@Lex_D
Alexis’s last blog post..The Changing Front Page
Bulls-eye Beth. Talk + Trust = Transaction.
If trust is jeopardized by un-truths, or outright deception (or what is commonly called in black hat agencies the “they didn’t ask, so we didn’t tell” policy), the want ads are in their immediate future. These are called scammers, not true consultants. True consultants are like attorneys, full disclosure to the client, always looking out for their best interest by being totally honest with them and giving them all their options.
@TimMoore
Beth,
Great post. I think the analogy of wading through symptoms to find the source of the issue is a good one. It is my experience that open and honest communication only leads to better relationships in social media, marketing, and in personal relationships, as well.
Being honest can only benefit everyone involved.
SaraKate’s last blog post..006. The Question of Attention: To Multitask or Not To Multitask
Love the analogy. How true it is? We have a saying that refers to situations where our clients and prospects only tell us parts of the story, “Garbage in, garbage out”
Stan Phelps’s last blog post..‘System Failure’ . . . Is Advertising Dead?
I have long been a huge fan of telling it like it is and sharing the long line of failed attempts at doing things the “accepted way” with spewing every new “must have” product promotion at my pidddly little “list” that gets the same crap form everyone.
It didn’t always help me gain any popularity contests and I’ve made quite a few enemies while simply trying to understand what so-called experts were telling me was effective while they did something else.
Well, it all paid off.
Social media is too revealing so get used to coming as you are and not trying to put on a front. There’s much to be learned when people get together and share individual pieces to a puzzle and create a big picture that works.
@Web20Empire
Sheree Motiska’s last blog post..The Only Must Have Social Media Element, A Blog.
The reason, I think that we don’t tend to tell the truth in business situations is that we aren’t rewarded for doing so. In “House,” the secret leads to the “cure”. I’d like to think IRL if was that simple, but I’m not so sure. I’ve seen meetings where someone was singled out by upper management who said, “So and so made a mistake, but how great it was that they fixed it and let’s all learn from this.” But I have to tell you, it always feels condescending and awkward, and I never feel as that person is going to get a raise or a promotion * because * of that mistake.
That said, I am still a big advocate of truth-telling. I’m just fascinated to see the implications of the proliferation of public conversations, and along with it the growing realization you will always be “found out”. Will be interesting to see if this will create a new level of tolerance for mistakes, forgiveness, openness and truth-telling, and how that will affect business and interactions in general.
Lisa Hickey’s last blog post..Brand Predictions in Advertising & Marketing Technologies for Our Lives
Telling the truth builds trust. Certainly in our business ( providing psychology services) trust is integral to a successful outcome! Great post Beth… I love the House analogy.
Kathy’s last blog post..Teens who chew gum get better grades
@Jay Ehret, “possible truth.” I hadn’t thought about that, but you are right. I have a feeling that companies will start to fall into two camps: Those who air out their secrets in order to overcome and be successful and those who will not even attempt social media (or will and will get burnt) because they like the status quo.
@GerardBabitts, you are quite right. But think about those in your company or marketing friends who tell the truth…they are known as not being team players, right? From the largest to the smallest companies there are always marketers who want to do what’s right by the customer but don’t for fear of retribution.
@JakeYarbrough, interesting…I guess agencies/consultants have known all along that there are always pieces of the puzzle missing. I like the idea of the confessional booth.
Here’s my confession: I knew an agency would get fired for pitching a new concept and didn’t tell them (they felt the current campaign was “tired”). I danced around a warning for about a week (“you might want to reconsider not pitching a new campaign”), but never came right out and said anything. They pitched it, they ticked off my boss, and I fired them three days later.
@NarcisoTovar, great points! Companies engaged in social media will need to have much stronger ‘crisis’ communications plans (crisis might be a bit strong here, but not sure what else to call it).
@NicoleHamilton, that’s a great point…the client, usually, does have the answer. The obstacle though is that they think that the agency/consultant should have a ‘better’ answer. Unfortunately, sometimes everyone is off-balance because not all the cards are on the table. Listening is definitely key too. I remember sharing ‘secrets’ with agencies/consultants and when they came back to the table I thought to myself “did they even listen to what I said and considered it?”
@JenWilbur, @Alexis, @ShereeMotiska, thanks for sharing a real world experiences…I think we’ve all walked in those shoes once or five times!
@LisaHickey, yep, you’re right about that. I can’t deny that I’ve witnessed someone telling the ‘truth’ only to have it lead to repercussions.
Great post once again.
At times the absence of truth in a campaign can be just as much the fault of the agency. The tendency towards prescriptive promises detracts from the simple basics.
Who best understands a business other than the people within that business? Each organization has its own unique business rules and objectives.
Who knows more about what an organizations audiences want other than the audiences? To understand how they are influenced, their decision making process and their learning styles you need to talk to them.
An organization will, at times feel they are paying an agency for answers. Agencies can fall into the trap of providing these before they have found those kernels of truth.
Alasdair Munn’s last blog post..What can Africa teach the World about Technology?
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Is that a royalty free picture of House and the gang?
@MarkMeredino, I think you might want to brush up on your blogging guidelines.
I gave credit where credit is due for the image and that is totally acceptable in the blogosphere.
“Well, as marketers we hire often agencies and consultants to help us solve our marketing challenges…”
Well, my first question about this statement is why do we have to hire agencies and consultants? We are marketers… Shouldn’t we be qualified to think for ourselves and solve our marketing needs on our own. We know our products and companies faults and successes, can’t we explain the “truth” to the public better than a third party? Spending money we may or may not have only to take the chance of our message being lost in translation doesn’t make sense to me. Anyone else?
@MarkMerendino, that’s an interesting question coming from a software programmer/developer.
@BethHarte, what do you find interesting about my question?