A few days ago I received an e-mail from a very well-known internet marketing "guru". The subject line mentioned social media so naturally I was curious. It said something along the lines of "You too, can make $14.00 - $35.00 an hour as a social media manager!" WHAT? Even the top number of $35.00 an hour sounded VERY unexciting. But I continued to read.
The e-mail then led to a video which described how a particular person made $10,000 a month in this same type of work. Really? $35.00 per hour X (JUST HOW MANY HOURS) = $10,000.00 a month?
But the more I read, the more confused I became. Suddenly the text switched to "you can make $22.00 - $77.00 an hour". Alright... so which is it?
I then watched the video which cited statistics from 2010 and early 2011! It mentioned Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn -- not a word about Google+, nothing about Pinterest (THE fastest growing social media site on the web), and no hint of Stumble Upon (which has been said to bring in more website traffic than ever).
The video also stated that this particular business owner making more than 10K per month had NO website (not true), and worked "a couple of hours a day" (again, not true). It also stated that "nobody has any real experience in this area". Really?
On the plus side, the salaries for social media managers EMPLOYED by OTHER companies were fairly accurate for the time period of March 2011 but here we are almost in April of 2012. According to Payscale.com, the average per hour salary for social media managers employed by other companies is now $17.93.
Of course, the video was a sales pitch to enroll in a program that trains social media managers which is fine. I know of the training and I know that it's good.
But what really ticked me off was when, at the end of the video, the announcer stated that time was of the essence when signing up for this course because these "bonuses are going away!" AHEM... I saw this video LAST YEAR!! And it had the same bonuses! (Oh, and did I mention that the announcer stated that social media REQUIRES AUTHENTICITY?!)
Much of the information presented in this e-mail and video campaign may have been accurate when it was first released, but it is not now.
If you're going to launch or RE-launch a campaign, at the very least, ascertain that your materials are accurate and up-to-date. Integrity is important. If you announce that bonuses will be disappearing, make them disappear! Your audience will begin to mistrust your words and will STOP taking quick action because they assume that the bonuses will always be available.
Additionally, if you're going to be an affiliate promoter of such a program (I received 3 more e-mails with the same information), make sure you that what you are promoting is up to your standards. Your reputation is on the line too.
Shelley Webb is a social media consultant, coach and speaker dedicated to helping businesses navigate the oft-time confusing world of social media. Check out http://www.OnTheWebbSocialMedia.com for more information.
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