The problem with most social media “strategies,” and even most public relations approaches, is that they are platform activities being executed before the message has been perfected. Good marketing is saying the right things from the right places. Most companies are saying the wrong things from questionable places. (GM was smart to pull its $10 million Facebook advertising budget back last week. When is the last time you clicked on a Facebook ad?)

Most companies’ messaging and language is not simple, emotional, or lifestyle-oriented. Your messaging likely doesn’t come from your market, but rather, from a conference room. Or worse, from engineers and product developers. The most relevant and resonant messaging you can create comes from your market. 

And so, if the social media (or PR) platform is the delivery vehicle, it must be loaded up with attractive, interesting, and simple packages. As it stands, the delivery vehicle is driving around filled to the brim with the wrong stuff.

Bonus: My analysis of Microsoft’s recent strategy, acquisitions and partnerships ran on Mashable recently. Microsoft certainly has its share of evangelists, as witnessed by the spirited defense in the comments. The problem is that Microsoft evangelists are developers, techies, and early adopters. Meanwhile, Apple’s evangelists (and Amazon’s, and many of Google’s) are mainstream consumers. This shines a rather precise light on Microsoft’s current problems.

The Evangelist Marketing Minute is a weekly thinking launch point that is always short enough to read in about 60 seconds. It covers marketing, branding, positioning, language, and public relations. Your email address is never shared, with anybody, for any reason.

I help clients increase revenue and create customer evangelists and influencers through powerful marketing. My clients include Logitech, TiVo, Sony, and Pandigital. See my Web site for details about my work.

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