Page 132 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

» Engage openly with dissent. When the facts are contested, one way to find
what is the truth is to engage with those that disagree with you. Actively
engage with all parties involved in a particular disagreement. Try to get as
much of a 360-degree view of the issue as you can, before you form any
judgments.
» Appoint people to play the “devil’s advocate.” When tasked with making a
major decision, set up an alternative team whose responsibility it is to justify
the opposite conclusion. It leads you to better solutions.
» Be open to criticism. Find trusted people who can provide you with feedback
in a way where the message is heard without it feeling like an attack. It’s
important to have people surrounding you who don’t always agree with
everything you say.

Marketers have unique and important responsibilities in any company. Knowing
how to separate fact from fiction and truth from lies is supposed to be common
sense — something that you learn as a child. However, in the social media world,
it’s hard to separate the two. Bad actors twist the truth, play at your weaknesses,
and use psychology tricks to confuse you. As a marketer, you have to be extra
careful both as a potential victim and as an unintentional endorser of those lies.

It may be retweeting a news headline that validates a product and not realizing
that the headline isn’t true, or it could be taking a fake endorsement of a product
and putting it in a piece of advertisement, or anything in between. The point is,
that in a social media driven world where information spreads like wildfire across
the Internet, it’s extremely important to only be a purveyor of truth and not lazy
in what and how you communicate.

Accountability to Your Own Company

As a social media marketer, you’re in a unique position within your own company.
On the one hand, you’re plugged into the outside world, listening and engaging
with your customers in real-time. On the other, you’re tasked with guiding your
company on strategy and product roadmaps, based on what you’re learning about
your customers, any new developments, and what influencers are telling you.
It’s no wonder that social media marketing is an unenviable profession.

While the roles can be highly desirable, they do come with significant risks. As a
social media marketer, it’s key that you understand the risks that come with social
media marketing and do everything you can to alleviate them. We have already

116 PART 2 Practicing SMM on the Social Web