With the changes in marketing and business in recent years, one would think that companies would have fundamentally changed how they communicate with their customers and markets. One would think that the old way of doing things would be behind us (for the most part) and we’d be looking to the future.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Many companies (too many) are still trying to cram the old ways of doing things into the new communication tools that are available. The problem with that is, the old days of being able to tell people what they should think about your company are long gone and are replaced with the markets telling your company what it should be. If you fail to listen and adapt, well, you’ll just fail.

Running ads on Facebook is not social media

Without fail, marketers will try to find the easiest, quickest way to reach the most people with their message. Setting aside the importance of having a message worth communicating, let’s focus on the concept of reaching the masses.

For years, reaching people meant putting an ad on tv, the radio, or in the newspaper. Tell people what to think about your company. Wait for the money to roll in.

Now, people communicate with each other online. They find their friends on Facebook, Twitter and (increasingly) Google Plus.

They talk.
They share.
They socialize.

Hence, social media.

Then, companies like Facebook want to monetize their service. No problem with that. So, they sell ads on the site. No problem with that. Companies come in droves to “communicate” with people where they are. Still no problem – that’s what marketing does.

The problem comes in when you run an ad on Facebook directing someone to your website and think you’re “doing social media.” You’re not. You’re doing advertising. Sure, it may be on a social media site, but it’s still just advertising.

If you want to do social media, then do it. Connect, share, talk, get involved. But, it takes time and effort – far more than just running an ad.

Let’s play dress up!

The other thing that seems to be happening is marketers trying to hide their ads under the guise of “content marketing.”

Content marketing is great. It’s the way all marketing is going and will be even more prevalent in coming years. The problem is, many companies are just dressing up their ads and calling them “content.”

Case in point. A local motorcycle dealership is running a “motorcycle minute” during local radio broadcasts as an ad or sponsorship deal. Now, done correctly, this is a great way to use traditional advertising. Make the ad something useful, something relevant, something that will get people interested to visit your website to learn more.

Unfortunately, this dealership isn’t doing that.

They’re creating a “motorcycle minute,” which one would think would be a useful motorcycle tip. Instead, they say, “Here’s your tip. You should store your motorcycle with us this winter.”

That’s not content, that’s an ad.