How to Handle the Hydra That Is Social Media. Hire it

By Vincent R. Pozon

The fracas on Facebook and on other media channels

There are rumbles in the streets of social media, everyday, on every corner. Whatever the cause for quarrel, they are violent. Without blood, yes, but there is a cost. These catfights and shouting matches, be they about Carlos Yulo versus mother, Jude Bacalso versus the People of the Republic, the divorce bill, or even which school is better for your children, this is activity that commissions both heart and mind; it saps, angers, enfeebles, it affects health – ours and others’, and that of the country.

And it is useless.

Social media allows us to react to events, to rail against the gods, to vomit even, but, no — the threads of back-and-forth viciousness, those memes designed to injure reputations, those words writ to nettle and stab, they do not change minds.

And if you’re in marketing, in the business of changing minds, selling brands — of candidates or advocacies or products, then social media is a necessary arena. Know now and early: the roughhousing doesn’t work, the singular post doesn’t do anything, the meme has no effect on convictions.

Of course, I exaggerate, but it is to make a point: The quarrelsome are vexations to the spirit, and nothing more.

You will tussle with dictators mostly, meaning people who demand you see things only the way they do. They cannot imagine why anyone can have another point of view, why anyone has the temerity to disagree with them. Social media is an arena full of people whose minds are made up, and they will die for their beliefs.

You can enlighten, inform, delight with ease on social media, but to change minds, you need a campaign, and it has to be stealthy and subtle.

Identify your publics – consider a campaign for each

Your competitors are a public, your customers are another, and they must be distinguished between potential and your competitors’ loyal customers. For many brands, there is government to preen in front of or contend with. We address them because we need favor, sympathy, support, and approval. 

There are the trolls; they are commissioned to inject discord in your page, group, community, and to watch what you’re doing.

Marketing on social media has to be strategically planned while being subversive

The squawking, the vicious post and the insulting meme do not work by themselves. Think of it as evangelization. To win somebody over to your side, you must be subversive, consistent and continual; and you must have a story that grips the mind. 

Think propaganda. Well-designed propaganda can elicit that imperceptible nod, that 'hmm', and leave words and data in the mind of your prospect that cannot be unseen or unread.

A caveat must be made here. The official campaign comes from an official author or originator of all official messages and posts. Sometimes you may need other sources of messages. They are the unofficial, the friends, the fan clubs. If there are official Tweeter and Facebook accounts for a movie star, there are thousands similarly named, all unofficial.

They are channels for tones of voice the official author cannot assume. They are aptly called warriors and they will fight for you. 

The official site or voice should not be involved in catfights and rumbles. 

Propaganda is like yeast. It tiptoes into the bedroom as you watch television or thumb through your cell phone screen. It does not whack you on the head; it plants fungi and slowly affects your perspective.

When Jesus said, “be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” he acknowledged the insidiousness of information or teaching that is like yeast, the teaching of people who sought to control, referring to the priests of his time.

If you're campaigning on social media, be yeast

Let the message rise; let it infect, let it come from various sources, official and unofficial, commissioned and fan-sourced; talk to various publics, government and customers; let there be night watchmen, to defend against the troll and the troublemaker; let the message spread, allow it to be picked up by the more traditional media, like fungi aerially dispersed, let TV and radio talk about it. Let there be phases in the life of your message: launch, sustaining, refreshing, reminding, and a relaunch.

On social media, speak softly — “Be Yeast”; then you can hope to insinuate your ideas, your product or yourself into the heads of people whose minds you want to change.

Vincent R. Pozon

After a year of college, Koyang entered advertising, and there he stayed for half a century, in various agencies, multinational and local. He is known for aberrant strategic successes (e.g., Clusivol’s ‘Bawal Magkasakit’, Promil’s ‘The Gifted Child’, RiteMED’s ‘May RiteMED ba nito?', VP Binay's 'Ganito Kami sa Makati', JV Ejercito's 'The Good One'). He is chairman of Estima, an ad agency dedicated to helping local industrialists, causes and candidates. He is co-founder and counselor for advertising, public relations, and crisis management of Caucus, Inc., a multi-discipline consultancy firm. He can be reached through vpozon@me.com.