New Media Tricks and Tips or I wish you would just tell me you think I’m stupid to my face….

I was recently watching a documentary on the history of Alaska.  In WWII when the Japanese invaded US soil (the  Aleutians Islands) a troop known unofficially as Castner’s Cutthroats or officially as the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon played a pivotal role in the determining the outcome of war but also provides some lessons for business owners in learning to survive in the newest “wilderness” – that of social media and the wilds of social media marketing.

When Army Generals saw the condition of the Alaskan terrain, they were horrified by not only the harsh climate but the lack of “modern” essentials.  Back in the 1940′s, Alaska was without paved roads and without effective means of communication – both of which made defense of the Aleutians Islands a seemingly impossible task at first.

Colonel Lawrence V. Castner was charged with organizing a unit that was effective yet required minimal outfitting. Castner chose men with background in survival and hunting, men who were skilled at flourishing in the tough conditions of the Alaskan wilderness rather than rely upon traditionally trained soldiers.  According to Wikipedia:

Hard and dangerous men, they often had names in keeping with their unit’s nickname, such as Bad Whiskey Red, Aleut Pete and Waterbucket Ben.^[1]

Appreciating their unique talents, Col. Castner did not enforce standard military procedures on his unit, who gave themselves the name “Cutthroats” in honor of their irregular status.They were given a great deal of freedom in order to get the job done.

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Alaska in the 1940′s and the state of marketing on the internet today!

The internet is definitely a sort of “wilderness” where advertising agencies and business owners alike are struggling to make sense of  exactly what the rules of engagement are and how to best make an impact online.

Which brings me to the “I wish you would just tell me that you think I’m stupid to my face” part of the blog post.

I’ve said it before – creating a successful marketing marketing strategies begins and ends with knowing your target audience.  However, sometimes businesses find it difficult to get outside their own heads and inside the heads of their target customers – something that is neccesary if you want to find small business marketing success with blogs.  Instead, some business owners (and agencies) are desperately seeking the “softer, easier way” and in today’s social media wilderness, the softer easier way is known as Viral Marketing.

Creating a viral marketing message is the holy grail of modern marketing.  When it works, the results can be amazing – but when it doesn’t work – well, then the buzz that is generated can be the polar opposite of the original intent.

Take for example, the case described by Adam Broitman.  In his tour of the most offensive media campaigns, he tells the story of the campaign orchestrated by Naked Communications on behalf of theAustralian fashion designer Witchery.

The foundation of the campaign is the “viral” video created as the “foundation” for the campaign.

I’m not embedding the video here and instead am providing a link to the video.   Why?  So you can have the opportunity to read the COMMENTS posted in reply to the video.  So you can see that Adam isn’t alone in his assertion that the video is “offensive”.  Adam writes:

But the bottom line is that it is a farce, and I am sure that those who were fooled by it did not enjoy finding out that:

1. Their dream girl with the coat is a corporate shill, or
2. This reverse-Cinderella storybook tale was nothing more than corporate America abusing our emotions.

When I started in advertising back in the 1980′s  – it seemed like the “terrain” was very primitive compared to the optiosn provided by today’s world.  However, while the terrain may have been primitive, it wasn’t nearly as harsh as today’s online environment is – especially for the company that is less than authentic in how they deal with communicating with their customers.

It’s said that there were three participants in the WWII battle for Alaska: the US, the Japanese and the weather.

Today, there are three participants in your marketing campaign: You, your customers and the social media bloggers, tweople and other residents of web 2.0.

Make no mistake – there are tens of millions of bloggers seeking a story and your social media misstep may become the focus of the next wave of viral communications.

You’ll never go wrong if you approach your next marketing campaign from a position of respecting your target audience.  Social media is really radically transparent – it’s just like showing up naked to a cocktail party.

Want to make CERTAIN you don’t make a misstep like this one?  Pick up a copy of my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results

Find out how to create messages that will break through the clutter without offending your target audience and potentially destroying your online reptuation!

If you need a step by step guide to creating truly effective marketing messages for your small business- pick up a copy of my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.