On friday I did a mailing to all Mobile Viking customers. All 36000 of them, in three languages. I did that to announce the new tariff plan and data roaming, all good news.

At the end of the mailing, I mentioned and linked to our facebook and twitter account. That led to an almost immediate surge in members. Facebook was at about 8980, now it is at 9230. Twitter was at about 6200. We now have 6464 followers there.

All this by just mentioning it in a mailing. There were no contests, no promises, no “information you won’t get anywhere else”. There was one line that said: “hey, if you want to know more and be kept in the know, check out facebook and twitter”.

These are people who want to be informed, who want to interact. What Seth Godin so nicely described as “permission marketing”.

Of course these numbers are not the goal of the whole game. Social media is not a marketingtool, it’s several systems meant for communication that can also be used (or abused) for marketing and customer service. The line between use and abuse is sometimes rather vague. However, the knowledge that a significant part of our users wants to engage with us this way is very good news.

Another little thing I did with that mailing is the sender address. I put my own personal address at mobilevikings there. It’s chris at mobilevikings dot com btw. Mail me.

The result was hundreds of replies. A lot of compliments and cheers. Some questions by people confused about our offer. Several interesting suggestions and tips. (I specifically asked for that in the mail) A few interesting leads. And, several people who were experiencing problems but who hadn’t found the time or the way to our helpdesk. Of course, responding to an e-mail requires a far lower “investment”. You are not the one initiating the conversation, you use an existing one as an opener for something else.

Some people would think it silly of me to invite a total swamping of my inbox. But I have read every mail, replied to many and have added a few interesting ideas to the mental list. I have helped several people who had issues and who hadn’t (yet) contacted our helpdesk.

And let’s not forget the original purpose of the mailing. 36000 people were informed about our new products and changes.

Was what I did all that special? I don’t think so. But our customers seem to be rather happy with it.

By now you may understand that my vision on social media is somewhat different than is to be expected from someone who makes a decent living with it.

I see it as a tool, a method that makes the actual job easier and more efficient. During the golden years of television, there was advertising. It was usually a way for one way communication towards the masses. It treated everyone the same.

As many of you know, demand creates supply, but often supply creates demand as well. Advertising played both these fields quite successfully. It was about giving you what you wanted and making you want certain things. No wonder there were accusations of manipulation and consumerism.

The economic importance of advertising and the debate about its morality lead to some very valuable research.

Meanwhile there were those people who rebelled against the idea of mass-consumption and unquestioned advertising. It was the beginning of consumer activism. Child labor, environmental destruction, unethical advertising… It was no longer tolerated.

The digital generation grew up in this world. They have access to a world of mass consumption and are bombarded with advertising. This has lead to skepticism and a certain degree of immunity for marketing BS. Those who are naive are quickly educated, either by experience, the government or pressure groups. The new consumer has arrived and he won’t be manipulated all that easily.

Members of that generation founded new companies, developed new marketing strategies and have shifted the way companies view consumers. At least, those companies a bit ahead of the curve.

That new approach is not new at all. It is the same approach advocated in small businesses for hundreds or even thousands of year. Care about your customers.

That is my job. And I’m damn proud of it.

Do you know what a hype is? Of course you do. We’ve had quite a few recently. Some were about products, services or ideas that faded away. Others about things that were valuable in their own right, just not as much as the hype whipped it all up to be. So far there has never been a hype that actually delivered.

And there won’t be. Ever.

A hype is a fascinating thing. You can learn things about human psychology and sociology from it. The whole concept of the self-sustaining meme is fascinating. But it is based on a chain-reaction of overvaluation and attention. There is always an initial claim of value that receives an excessive amount of attention, leading to a chain reaction of value-assumption and attention. Sooner or later the hype will be confronted with the demand to actually deliver and will fail to fulfill the unreasonable expectations. They will then be either revalued and used based on rational arguments, or will fade away completely.

Ladies and gentlemen, <strong>social media marketing is a hype</strong>.

The expectations are unreasonable, the potential is seen as unlimited. That alone should tip you off. The tendency to make all things “social” is another clear giveaway. Social is used as a magic formula. There are no magic formula’s. The truth is that human psychology has not changed, and it is very unlikely that it will. (Quite pleased about that, myself)

Successful use of social media is based on insight into the human psyche. That insight is just common sense with some refinements. Social media is a neat tool but without those insights you are flailing in the dark. And the current habit to overvalue the importance of that neat tool is not helping.

Once you realize that social media is nothing more than a nifty new tool, the real work can begin. You need to master it <em>as part of </em>your strategy, not see it as a replacement for it.