How to Brand, Hit, and Target Your Social Media Herd

Posted by Laura Bergells

December 12, 2008

So many marketing terms are dehumanizing or rooted in violence. Think of the origins of each of these words:

Branding – a violent act committed upon cattle.
Hits – a violent act committed with fists.
Targets – the victims of a hit.
Campaigns – a series of military battles.

For years, the mass marketing approach uses violent or dehumanizing jargon.

Will social media help us change the language we use about our customers? After all, there’s that word “social.”

Is hitting, targeting, branding, and waging a campaign something you do to people you like? Is this something you do when you want to get to know someone better?

Lately, I’m hearing more “social marketing speak” — “grow the relationship” and “continue the conversation”. These seem more new-age, lovey-dovey, hippy-trippy social media marketing terms.

But are they more effective?

“Killer marketing campaigns that help you target customers with laser precision” — that tired headline approach seems more psychotic than social!

What other marketing terms are dehumanizing or violent? I suspect you can come up with a much longer list — feel free to add them to the comments, please! (On FaceBook, copy writing expert David Fideler offered the “Killer marketing” headline that you see above. On Twitter, PR pro and pacifist Andy McGinnis wants a better term for the ad agency “war room”. Excellent examples — thanks for your thoughts!)

And what do you think — will we see violent, dehumanizing marketing language diminish with the growth of social media? Or will mass marketing jargon continue to flourish?

Let the commenting begin — or continue the discussion by following me at Twitter.

(You’re not just a number to me! You’re part of the conversation!)

Social Media