Debunking Six Social Media Myths
One of the savviest online marketers around, B.L. Ochman, takes aim in this article at six social media myths that you — and maybe your boss — ought to avoid …
1. Social media is cheap, if not free.
2. Anyone can do it.
3. You can make a big splash in a short time.
4. You can do it all in-house.
5. If you do something great, people will find it.
6. You can’t measure social media marketing results. [OK, maybe you don’t want to tell your boss about that one!]
She’s an experienced online marketer … worth a read.
Tom
P.S. There are some interesting comments on her article, once you get past her "spat" with one "Giovanni." Note the interview she plugs of internet pioneer Marc Andreesen by Charlie Rose.
3 responses to “Debunking Six Social Media Myths”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Thanks so much for raising this. Yes, capturing donor information can be helpful for stewardship like newsletters, thank-you letters, impact updates. But how you ask matters. Forcing full data capture introduces friction that can significantly depress conversion, many donors may simply abandon the process. Beyond the friction itself, required fields also shift the emotional experience […]
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Unlike holidays that everyone already knows, Giving Tuesday is a created event. Many donors recognize the name but not the exact timing, so referencing it becomes a helpful cue. It serves as a reminder and taps into social norm activation (“everyone’s giving today”), which boosts response. However, we still want it paired with the mission, […]
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When a subject line leads with the match (“Your gift matched!”), it risks triggering market-norm thinking: the sense that giving is a financial transaction rather than an act rooted in values, identity, and care. This shift reduces intrinsic motivation and, over time, can weaken donor satisfaction and long-term engagement. It also makes the email indistinguishable […]
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There’s no evidence that QR codes suppress mid-value giving; all available research suggests they either help or have no negative effect. In fact, behavioral and usability research consistently shows the opposite: reducing friction at any point in the donation process increases completion rates and total response. And that has nothing to do with capacity and […]
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What you’re experiencing is very common. Resistance often isn’t about capability, but about motivation quality. If board members feel pushed into fundraising, that triggers controlled motivation (low quality motivation) i.e. obligation, guilt, or fear of judgment, which often results in avoidance. Instead, we need to create conditions for volitional motivation (high quality motivation) by satisfying […]
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That’s a really thoughtful question, and you’re not the first to raise it. Many of our clients have been cautious about placing the ask at the very end. To address their concern, we’ve tested both approaches, and the results are clear: when the ask comes last, even if that means it appears on the second […]
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Obviously, the world I live in, where the $50,000 she says is a minimum investment in social media is practically half of our entire operating budget, is somewhere on an alien planet. This does cause me to doubt the real-worldliness of the rest of her article. So do small nonprofits just stand in the wings and watch the big guys cavort? I’m not impressed.
Social media marketing is super example of chaotic processes at work. Some things seem to work, sometimes for some people. Yet, the promise in the chaos is that you can be taken to strong patterns that work for you. Things may make sense later. And there are often unintended consequences. The best line I can think of with regards to social marketing -“you can’t win if you are not in the game.”
Trish – what i said in the piece is “I’m sure companies have spent less, and I know they’ve spent more.”
Don’t get hung up on the numbers. If you have knowledge, skill, elbow grease and lots of time, you can make a lot of great things happen. If you want a stellar track record, cutting edge tools, and big-time results – that’ll cost you.:>)