You’d be lying if you said you didn’t notice that the internet has turned a large number of people into gurus, experts, ninjas, and endless other buzzwords that attempt to express how much of a professional a person is within a field that can be very hard to define parameters.
When working with certain mediums that are lead generation focused, it can be difficult to gauge your level of success and manage expectations when dealing with factors that may not be easily characterized with metrics. At other points, even with metrics, you are at the mercy of a lack of experience. In the event that you are looking for something to be a “viral” success you may not be acquiring conversions or even leading people to a call to action to make a sale. You may just be looking to get your name out there or get people interested while you ramp up.
Campaigns, such as this, help lead to the world of gurus, ninjas, and other ineffectual rule creation aiming to reign in industries that are entirely new or aim to create bounds for “success.” I have read countless lists explaining how successful you can become with “golden rules of social media” or top ten requirements for a successful account. It’s important for you to always keep in mind that these rules worked for the campaigns they worked with and these rules might not apply to everything.
For example a pharmaceutical company would know the best way to promote their products but may not find the same success if their marketing team decided that they would take a crack at promoting candy. Lists of this nature and bad advice can give the impression of failing from the start. After all, you know your product the best and for all you know—the success found through the published guru may have been a fluke.
Utilizing advice sparingly and with a certain level of prudence is your best bet. Remember that advertising and brand messaging follows a realistic and reliable formula. People are more likely to return to your product if you are offering them something for their attention. Even if it is just a laugh. Think about some of the most popular ads you remember from the last year, I bet you were entertained by the presentation but never thought “what a fantastic call to action that was.” You may even remember the concept but no longer the brand.
While marketing advice can be extremely beneficial and staying on the cutting edge is key, always be able to step back and review the information provided to you and research the success. You may be saving yourself some serious headaches in the long run.