Do you have to cheat to be successful on the social web?
Mar 6th
I spent a great part of my career in B2B marketing positions and the part I loved most was traipsing around the factory floor. I loved watching things work and being with people who were actually “making stuff.”
There was one manufacturing manager I knew who seemed to be a wizard. The guy always led the pack and found a way to hit his production numbers no matter what was thrown at him. He seemed too good to be true.
That’s because he was. He was a cheat.
Turns out, he would invest to improve his plant’s productivity and then purposely understate the manufacturing capacity of his equipment. So he was always holding back — in essence, lying and cheating the company so he could “make his numbers” and get that big bonus check. Of course he was fired.
He moved on to another Fortune 100 company, did the same thing, and was fired again.
You see, it’s not just about making your numbers. HOW you make the numbers matters too.
It’s all about cheating
This has been one of those weeks when I get really disgusted about the questionable games people play in business. For example, there has been a significant debate about the number of well-known authors who allegedly hire specialized companies to buy bulk copies of their books to nudge them on to the New York Times bestseller list.
I understand why people do this. They cheat, bump themselves on to The New York Times list for a day, and then claim that badge of social proof for their career forever. But it’s kind of like calling yourself an “award-winning author” for that third-place trophy you received in high school for the Kiwanis Club essay contest. What did you really accomplish?
The publishing companies apparently approve of this because it moves books. Even the New York Times seems to condone cheating. This blows my mind. I mean, it’s the New York freaking Times, the most respected newspaper in America. And they’re allowing the editorial section of their paper to be gamed? The fact is, it is possible — maybe necessary — to buy your way on to this prestigious list.
An addiction to social proof
I’ve written extensively about this idea of “social proof.” An indicator like “New York Times bestseller” is a short-cut indicator of quality when we are overwhelmed in a decision process. But this is a two-edged sword. It is undoubtedly a powerful indicator of influence, but it is also increasingly meaningless because nearly every “badge” can be faked.
Today, anyone can manufacture their own image of personal power. In Return On Influence, I wrote about a colleague who admitted to me that his entire social media presence had been faked. He bought his massive Twitter audience. He had somebody ghost-writing his blogs. He made up his client list. And people bought into it.
Another person I know created their own social media award and presented it to themselves so they had something to display on their blog. Nearly every day I get requests from people to vote for them for some crazy, made-up award. What the heck does winning a “Shorty Award” mean? Are you really the “best” of something?
The sad reality is, what you do may be less important than how you appear on the Internet. In a social media world that barks “Authenticity! Authenticity!” … there is precious little of that, in reality.
There was a time I was too concerned with social proof. I didn’t cheat, but I spent too much time comparing my “numbers” with other people. It was driving the wrong behavior for me and my business because instead of just doing good work, I was thinking about doing work that increased these meaningless metrics. The social proof on my blog included badges about the awards I had won, Ad Age Power 150, etc. I took them all down about a year ago (which means I am not even following my own advice about the importance of social proof!), but it was the right decision for me because today I am concentrating on business metrics that make a difference.
Leaving success on the table?
I do wonder if the world will pass me by if I don’t cheat. Will I ever have a bestseller? Will my publishers even support me any more if I’m not willing to pay a third party to buy my own books? Is it more important to write a great book or have the financial resources to make it look like a great book?
Will my blog readers eventually be more attracted to bloggers who display their awards and badges like a a five-star general?
Will clients hire speakers for conferences and workshops based on the number of Twitter followers or Facebook Likes they manufacture?
Does it matter that I don’t make “best of” lists or win social media awards because I don’t lobby my friends for votes?
Despite the business realities of social proof, life is too short to compromise myself to make a book list or fake my way to stardom. I feel like I am in a shrinking minority, but I still believe the lesson I learned on the factory floor so many years ago — How you make the numbers is important too. Even if other people can’t tell what is real, I know what is real.
Thanks for reading my post today. I would love to hear your thoughts on cheating and social proof in the comment section!
Christopher S. Penn talks social proof and marketing basics
Jun 22nd
Click here if you are unable to see this video interview with Christopher S. Penn.
I had the great honor of recently meeting Christopher S. Penn, one of my great intellectual heros on the social web. We were getting into a fascinating conversation about online influence and I said ”Wait! I need to record this!” So here it is!
In this interview, Chris talks about some new perspectives of how stacking “social proof” on the web snaps together in people’s minds. Social badges might even be showing up in offline office situations, as people begin to collect them like merit badges. He also discusses some interesting perspective of how analytics are like martial arts.
Klout scores feed a social media sickness
Jun 12th
A couple of weeks ago, I was the keynote speaker before a jammed conference room of 300 people and here is how I was introduced:
“I’d like you to welcome our special guest Mark Schaefer, who has over 40,000 followers on Twitter and a Klout score of 71!”
He made no mention that I have written two books, teach at a university, have 30 years of international marketing experience or that I have two masters degrees. He probably doesn’t even know or care that I have raised two great children, am a devoted husband and contribute time to charities and mentoring.
Is Klout more important than life?
It drives home a critical point though. “Social proof” like Twitter followers, Facebook Likes and Klout scores are exceedingly important on the Internet. In fact, as I explain in Return On Influence
Little wonder that a subculture has arisen on the web determined to achieve this social proof by any means necessary.
This group is dedicated to gaming their influence scores because they see this as a true reflection of their personal worth. There is even an online commodity market that buys and sells +K’s on Klout in some quixotic quest for self-worth.
A hit to the ego
After another recent Klout algorithmic change, many people’s numbers slipped again over the past two weeks. Instead of looking at this as simply a tweak in a business model, many people took this as a personal affront, a blast to their very being. Here is a post from a friend after his Klout slipped day by day for 26 days:
26 CYBER ATTACKS ON MY SELF ESTEEM AND WELL BEING WITH ONLY ONE BACKSLAP IN THE MIDDLE TO ALLEVIATE THE PAIN AND SHAME. ITS A SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS…
Another guy chimed in complaining that his Klout score slipped when he had to actually pay attention to client work for a couple of weeks.
A young man who works night and day to game his numbers asked me how he can turn his growing social capital into a career. I told him that he can’t … and encouraged him to learn a skill that will actually help people.
Let’s keep focused on business benefits
Social scoring is an important new business trend and it’s important to understand what companies like Klout and Appinions are up to. We have always known that there are certain powerful word-of-mouth influencers out there but finding them has been out of reach for all but the biggest and richest companies. We are on the brink of a truly revolutionary ability to accurately identify, connect with, and reward authentic brand advocates throughout the world we never knew existed. We’ll even be able to place a dollar value (yes — a return on investment!) on powerful individual word of mouth influencers, and in fact that is already happening. If you’re in marketing, you undoubtedly need to understand this trend!
But I am disturbed by this parallel consequence of people obsessing with a number as a legitimacy of their human worth. I know there is nothing I can do about that, but I’m not going to contribute to it either. I’ve been asked by my publisher to write a short book on how to increase your Klout score. It would be an easy financial windfall that would build on my previous work. But it simply flies in the face of my principles and encourages behaviors that will hurt people in the end in my opinion.
Checking out Klout, Kred, Peer Index and Empire Avenue values can be entertaining but anybody truly enslaved to these numbers for their self-esteem needs a reality check. And here is the irony. All these folks eventually will be sniffed out as fakes, which will really crush their self-esteem. In the end, true authority, expertise, and kindness will win out.
Want to REALLY increase your social influence? Here’s how.
Surround yourself with people who care about you.
Do good work.
Be kind and helpful.
Just do those three things and the influence — the influence that matters — will take care of itself. OK?
Social proof and your battle for credibility
Mar 8th
While researching my new book Return On Influence
Social proof is a critical concept behind influence in both the offline and the online worlds. In the absence of enough information to make our own decision, we turn to signals from others to help us find a way forward.
Here’s a simple example — Let’s say you are at the site of a terrible car wreck and two people are shouting orders. One is wearing a doctor’s lab coat and one is wearing a pizza delivery uniform. Which directions are you likely to follow?
A social proof “badge” can bestow authority whether it is deserved or not. Somebody who wears a doctor’s lab coat, has an office decorated with diplomas, or drives an exotic car is communicating “power” — even if they are a fake. It’s a type of herd mentality, and it can be both dangerous and useful, depending on the situation.
Social proof is even more important in the online world
A badge like number of Twitter followers or a Klout score may be the ONLY mechanism we have to determine influence in the online world. Offline, we may have the chance to meet people, or ask a mutual friend to help us determine credibility. But this type of validation is often not possible online, so we seek a shortcut, and on the social web, there are plenty of them!
We are all suffering from information overload in this data-dense online world. We simply don’t have the energy to do any more digging and will gladly accept a “badge” as proof of authority.
When establishing online influence, social proof matters … even more than real achievement. I’m sure more people know how many Twitter followers I have than any aspect of my career, education, or charitable work.
Driving the wrong behaviors
So it probably doesn’t make sense to you when I tell you that I have eliminated many typical elements of social proof from my blog. Look around at other social media blogs and they are decorated with more badges than a five-star general. It makes good business sense to do this. And while {grow} has been on its fair share of “Top 10″ lists (I was recently named on of the “Top 50 Power Influencers” by Forbes), I have decided to take down the badges.
The reason is simple. Like any good business person, I’m competitive. And these often meaningless numbers were driving the wrong behaviors for me and my business.
Here’s an example of how social proof can be important and meaningless at the same time.
The AdAge blog ranking has been rendered virtually useless after the changes they made last summer but it remains the most popular “badge” you see on social media blogs. But the ranking has nothing to do with the quality of your content or the vibrancy of your community. You can climb the list by buying backlinks and gaming StumbleUpon. 20 percent of the ranking is an arbitrary rating given by a guy named Todd. One blog in the top 100 has not even been updated since 2009.
So this numerical ranking is just plain dumb. Social proof like this is fool’s gold — sparkly but meaningless. It can’t buy you a cup of coffee. And yet, due to my competitive nature, every time I dropped a few spots, I started to scheme about getting more “Stumble votes” or whatever. This is absolutely the wrong thing for me to be focusing on! This is gaming a number to establish social proof, not engaging in an activity that is directly serving my customers and driving income.
I need to focus on three priorities in my business: Clients, Content, and College Classes. Anything beyond that is a distraction. I don’t have the resources to game social proof badges like the silly AdAge system every week.
A personal decision
Social proof is important, but it was driving the wrong behaviors in me personally. So I have simply decided to ignore the numbers … for the most part. I literally have no idea how many Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube followers/friends I have. I have a rough idea of the Twitter followers because it is so prominent on my profile. I only check the number of blog readers I have once a month or so. I have not looked at my AdAge ranking in three months. And the blog? All the “buzz badges” are gone. The one number I do pay attention to is the social shares for each blog post because I think that is a good sign of feedback — those are your “votes” on what content is working for the community.
So I’m not following my own advice around social proof — but it is the best advice for me at this point in time of my life. I’m hoping that if I put that “social proof energy” toward delivering consistently great content that the results will follow.
At least that is the theory. Maybe someday I will eventually re-join the crowd and focus all my attention on “likes,” followers and popularity contests! After all, isn’t that what really matters these days?
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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