Courtesy of mercer machine
In the age of social media, one particular trend seem to stand out more so than others. And that is our penchant for perversity.
Just look at the leading blog posts and stories in technorati, digg, ping.sg and other blog aggregators. What hits you first and foremost? Most of the leading ones are either about controversy, coitus or corruption. If you have a feel good story, chances are that your efforts will be relegated to the backwaters of the blogosphere.
As marketers and publicists, is there a way for us to escape this conundrum? How does one take advantage of the “hot headline” phenomena without being seen to be deceptive?
Well, I believe there is a way out. It involves being creative and imaginative, being relevant to your target audiences, and being trusted as a point of reference. This also means that you have to establish credibility and thought leadership in your preferred domain, while being entertaining and fun.
You also need to be tuned in to what’s hot and what’s not in the social media circuit. Don’t be an ostrich with your head in the sand. Find out what people are concerned with and talking about? Is there an opportunity for you to share your product and service in a way that is relevant without being intrusive? Can you do it in a clever way and make people sit up and notice?
A tall order? Certainly. Achieving cult status in the ever evolving blogosphere requires one to be both cunning and opportunistic as well as believable and likable. Not for the faint hearted!
