But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It

Posted by Matt Singley on October 19, 2009 under Technology | 17 Comments to Read

I always get a lot of interesting looks from people when I wear a particular t-shirt. It was made years ago by my friend Brad Abare who runs Church Marketing Sucks, a site dedicated to helping churches suck less in their messaging. Brilliant stuff. Brad’s take over the years is that The Church has a good message to share, but generally falls on their face when they try to deliver it. They are overbearing and off mark, and tend to alienate those that they are trying to talk to. Does that sound like any company you know? I’m sure it does, just that statement “overbearing and off mark” makes me think of a half dozen organizations; I’ll let your imagination fill in the names, I won’t do so here.

As it relates to social media, I think a very common mistake that many companies make is doing things the same old way. Especially with large brands, once PR, HR and a few corporate attorneys get their hands on the social media marketing plan it starts to look like…well, what they’ve always done. Carefully crafted letters and press releases are posted in new mediums and are then called “social media”. Let me make something perfectly clear: the use of a social media channel does not mean that you are in fact engaged in social media.

For social media to be effective, old ways must be shed. No longer can you preach (pardon the pun, given the opening paragraph) to your audience about your product from a podium. Filling your Twitter stream with an RSS feed that is only pushing content out isn’t enough, because the podium doesn’t exist anymore. Instead you are in a social circle, with people all around, talking, questioning and interacting with your brand. If you don’t engage in a personal and likable way, your brand is doomed to fade into obscurity on that channel.

“But that’s the way we’ve always done it”. I know, I understand. It’s hard to move into a new arena without HR, PR and William from legal looking over everything that goes out…but it’s going to be okay. In fact, it’s going to be more than okay, it’s going to be liberating. You will find that once you break the bonds of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” you will find new freedom with your brand and your messaging, and ultimately that will turn into a nice bump in revenue.

Of course there are guidelines for everything that is done publicly, but that is another post for another time.

Send to Facebook

14 Tweets

Bill Petro said,

New wine requires new wine skins.
Crystal said,

Thank you, thank you for writing this. It’s so important for brands to get this drilled in their heads in order to succeed.
C
Julio Ricardo Varela said,

Matt, this is an awesome post. I don’t have much to add, just to say Amen to what you say about how the rules have changed and social media is not the old way. It is the next way, and the train has already left station. Am thinking of other corny metaphors to add! Great post, as always.

Julio
mattsingley said,

“But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
frankrebecca said,

RT @mattsingley “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” http://bit.ly/3UPmJU // If only #pharma were even that flexible…

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
johnflurry said,

Reading: “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” http://bit.ly/3UPmJU @mattsingley

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
ksmithsiewert said,

RT @mattsingley “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” http://bit.ly/3UPmJU [This is a kick in the head for a lot of companies!]

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
MarketingDom said,

RT @mattsingley But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It » Matt Singley | Social Media Optimization http://bit.ly/1Lx4Xh

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
DBMC said,

RT @tweetmeme But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It » Matt Singley | Social Media Optimization http://retwt.me/19JNn

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
michelles615 said,

Amen! RT @mattsingley But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It » Matt Singley http://retwt.me/19JNn

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
mattsingley said,

“But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” When companies stall in social media http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
gariphic said,

RT @mattsingley: “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” When companies stall in social media http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
AtkinsonPR said,

RT @mattsingley “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” When companies stall in social media http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
sunshinemug said,

RRT @billpetro @mattsingley But thats the way we’ve always done it… When cos stall in social media http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Cooler_Guy said,

RT @mattsingley: “But that’s the way we’ve always done it…” When companies stall in social media http://bit.ly/3UPmJU

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
julito77 said,

RT @tweetmeme But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It » Matt Singley | Social Media Optimization http://retwt.me/19JNn @mattsingley

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
dhutson said,

But That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It http://bit.ly/5M6os

This comment was originally posted on Twitter