News Flash: There’s more than one social media promotion idea!

From barely a ripple just a few months ago, Social Media, and its cousin, Social Media Marketing, have become the rage in the marketing world.

Just about every major brand is all over social media, and Facebook pages and Twitter accounts are being launched for just about every brand and product imaginable. Actually, this has been good for a good many social media market practitioners (and, apparently, some interns, as you are about to see), as it’s turned what was a cottage industry into a nice niche marketing opportunity. It’s become obvious that MBA-schooled brand managers can’t figure out how to open a Twitter account, but the intern can, but I digress…

Just about everybody who blogs, speaks or writes about social media (including me, on several occasions) has espoused the basic mantra about Twitter (an axiom that applies to all social media) that it’s not about jumping into a conversation and shouting about your product, it’s understanding the “social” in “social media.”

When I speak to groups about social media as a marketing tool, I use this example of what social media marketing isn’t: “It’s not the insurance salesperson who walks into a social event, and goes from group-to-group of people, interrupting the conversation that’s already taking place and saying ‘Hi! I’m Bill (or Stephanie) from All Farm, and I can save you 20% on your car insurance. Here’s my card, call me!’” Sure, a few people might call him/her (just enough to make him/her think that this tactic works) but most people will be turned off by this approach.

Earlier today, I read Caroline McCarthy’s post on the CNET blog entitled “Social media won’t get me to eat your gross pizza.” She talks about both Domino’s and Pizza Hut launching social media strategies (as well as the fact that an intern is running Pizza Hut’s social media strategy. That alone tells me that they don’t understand it!)

Pizza Hut is giving away stuffed pizza rolls on July 4 to its Facebook fans and Twitter followers. As the old adage goes, isn’t that preaching to the choir? It seems logical that the people who select Pizza Hut as a Facebook fan or to follow them on Twitter are the hard core Pizza Hut fans (i.e. customers).  Sure, there will be some buzz, and they’ll gain both fans and followers to get the promo code to get the free eats, but those additional promotional participants are most likely Pizza Hut customers who don’t “fan” or “follow,” or, the “freebie” promotion player who is only responding because something is free, and who will never be back as a regular customer.

Other than the excellent points that Caroline makes about the social media promotion doing nothing to improve the product quality, let me offer a few of my own.

When you have a mediocre product (again, I agree with Caroline) and you open your “social world” to the masses, how do you deal with the “Your product really sucks!” conversation?

The “free food today” stunt is overworked. In the last 90 days, KFC, Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kream have done the same stunt, albeit for different reasons. So now (insert yawn here) Pizza Hut is going to do it.

Domino’s has really broken new ground. Now, you can order a Domino‘s Pizza and track the delivery guy on Facebook and Twitter, and even both at the same time, if you want. Which begs the question: Why would I need to do this?”

Isn’t there a better, more intelligent way to use social media? Isn’t there something above the intern level? C’mon, these are major brands!

Caroline also, correctly, points out that Burger King at least managed to carry the irreverence of the creepy “King” campaign over to their social media effort by offering a free burger to people who could prove that they had deleted at least 10 people on Facebook. Burger King at least showed that they got the essence of social media and understood that the new “adding friends” is really “deleting friends.” It didn’t make Facebook happy (they deleted the campaign) but it was clever, buzzworthy and, oh, here’s a word: “different.”

So, somewhere, some marketing gurus of two major food retailers will be able to enjoy the 4^th of July holiday knowing that they have a social media plan in place.

I’m just wondering what they will do when the intern goes back to school in the fall?

Addendum:

After giving Burger King kudos, above, I’m now gonna have to send them to “time-out.”  Does anyone besides me think that their creative team must consist of a bunch of college sophomores?  Does this latest print ad , courtesy of Hot Air, cross the line? Or, maybe a better question is: Is there even a line anymore?

What do you think?