Lies, Lows and Faking it all: a Social Media Marketeer

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If a social media page has many ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ is it the bees knees?

Last night’s Dispatches ‘Celebs, Brands & Fake Fans’ unlocked a very pressing issue in the world of digital marketing. Companies are hiring out independent social media agencies, which in turn employ outer businesses whom create the fake profiles to enhance their social media presence. When you see the number of likes a Facebook page has, you cannot really be sure that this is an accurate figure. We live in a world where people have resorted to ‘buying’ their likes. Of course this naturally defeats the purpose of social media marketing, does it not?

Social media is a tool which marketers can use to gain feedback and interaction from their audiences. By faking each of the followers a company is denying itself from the reality of the marketing campaign. It also feels somewhat unethical?

There is this sort of stigma which is attached to the ‘Marketer’ label in society. One person once said to me that I force people to psychologically purchase products. I felt about as friendly as a parking warden in a pub.

-Do I do that?

Absolutely not.  

There is so much pressure in business these days, you have to decide between delivering numbers to people, and having some form of dignity in what you do. 
–And sometimes it’s easier to choose the first option. 

A social media campaign in my eyes goes beyond the number of likes. It’s about the people who care enough to take their time to connect and engage with you as a brand.

It is very easy for Marketers to get wrapped up in the solid number of followers and likes, because this – more than likely – is what they are getting paid by (pay per click). But campaigns are more than targets and figures.

This is just one mistake that people have made on the internet; dehumanising digital interaction. It is what I would call a grand façade. We need to keep true to our Brands routes, and deliver on line service as you would in person.