Social Media Marketing is all the buzz these days. Your boss may think it’s amazing (because it’s allegegly free), and it’s a little like high school. Come on, give it a try – everyone’s doing it. Or in this case, smoking it. But does it really work? Can you really ignite a social media marketing movement behind your product? Brains on Fire claims you can. Let’s investigate.

By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor – JM Internet Group
Posted: May 6, 2011

Where there is Social Media Marketing smoke, is there fire?

Contents:

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Or is there?

Brains on Fire - ReviewSocial Media Marketing is the buzz phenomenon of our time; the goal of every major company is to have its own customer so dearly love the company and its products or services, that they market the company “for free” because they do love it so dearly. Brains on Fire is a book in that genre, the genre of here-is-this-amazing-thing-called-social-media and everyone needs to jump on the bandwagon, or in this case, stand around the campfire, with a burning brand movement of bodacious blistering bluss of brand brashiness.

As someone who teaches Social Media Marketing, I enjoyed the book – and I actually bought it to read because someone who read one of my own reviews on Amazon.com asked me about it. So here was old style word-of-mouth intersecting with new school social media marketing (my own reviews on Amazon, to promote my Social Media Marketing training classes…), what could be better?

But I digress.. Is the basic premise of Brands on Fire believable? Can companies truly create movements of their customers, and have those customers be so on fire about the brand, that they nearly market themselves? Are we living in a new era of marketing in which only the foolish advertise, while the smart use Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to get customers to market for free? And does social media marketing cost money?

Brains on Fire waffles (to mix a metaphor) on both counts. On the one hand, the authors imply again and again that we are living in a new age of permission marketing… An age in which customers can become fans, and products movements… But on the other hand, a deeper read of this book reveals that the old is very much behind the new, and that in some instances (namely Fiskars) a good deal of money was expended on ‘free’ social media marketing.

So on the first point, if you are looking at social media marketing as a free way to market, the deeper meaning of this book is it won’t work. It will take a) some money and b) a product or service that lends itself towards a fan base. Not every company will have a, or b, or both.

Social Media Sparks, Sneezers, and Influentials

At various points in the book, the authors refence what I think is the best book on the subject that is also fun to read: Seth Godins, “Unleashing The IdeaVirus.” In that book, Godin points out that for a ‘movement’ to ignite it usually takes the ‘sneezers’ – either the powerful or the promiscuous to spark the movement or ideavirus. The authors of the Brains on Fire in no way state the concept as clearly, but it is clearly there. Most of their book is built around the example of Fiskars, which are those annoyingly bright yellow scissors used by the crafters. Crafters are not your normal folk, and so this example is not your normal example.

First of all, the Fiskars ‘movement’ was very much encouraged and catalyzed by the company, beginning with the first meet-up, at which people were paid to attend, and paid for their air fare, etc. The company and the Brains on Fire team strategically sought out the Seth Godin sneezers and paid them to start sneezing. Is that a bad thing? No, but the book would have done better to more clearly point out that it took money to start the Fiskars movement, and (moreover) it takes money to sustain it.

The revolution may not be televised, but it will cost money and your company may need to pony up to pay.

The point about money is made in the book, though not nearly as clearly as Seth Godin points out in his earlier work. But what is much, much worse in the book is an absence of analysis as to which types of companies, products, or services are conducive to ‘viral’ social media marketing and which are not. Craftsy fun products like Fiskar scissors are a great fit for Facebook, Twitter and the like. Industrial ruggedized computers, not so much. Even businesses like Best Buy (mentioned often in the book) really struggle to build a 24/7 conversation about their businesses; Best Buy has been most successful with Tweeting and Facebooking coupons and discounts. But are coupons and discounts the stuff of social media movements?

Hardly. A social movement around Best Buy? Let’s get real. We just want cheap electronic crap, and then we are gone…

So if you are a small business marketer reading this book for ideas, do pay attention to the Fiskars’ movement, just be a bit more cynical and analytical than the others. The experience cost money, and was catalyzed by a great product that existed in an atmosphere very conducive to social media. Your situation may be quite different, indeed.

Social Media Marketing S’mores: Who Pays for that Party at the Campfire?

Social media marketing is getting a lot of attention from corporate America these days, not the least of which is that its ROI promises to be fantastic. What could be cooler than your customers promoting your stuff, for free? Clearly, an admirable goal for any marketer worth its salt.

Brains on Fire has some great food for thought, but the others don’t really hit you over the head when they should. Throwing a great social media marketing party will require someone to buy the chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers: you. And someone will have to light the fire: you. And someone will have to tend to that fire: you. So can it be a movement? Yes. Will it cost money and time, yes? Will your customers do it all? No…

So is Social Media Marketing worth it? Perhaps. For some companies, especially big ones like Best Buy, Coca Cola, or Ford, just having an active social media community is worth the brand awareness. Their goals are not the specific, get the sales number up goals that we see in small companies. But for small companies, the ROI has to ultimately translate into sales and the expenses incurred at promoting the social media marketing campfire need to be less than the profits made through better branding and attention.

Will it cost money? Yes. Will it cost time? Yes. Will it be worth it? That depends. The book has some good food for thought, but don’t be deceived by the smoke of it all. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Where there is a brain on fire someone lit a match, and that someone who bought the match, and struck it, will ultimately probably be: you.