However the show was amazing, very entertaining for all, in fact you could not believe how good it was. Everyone who saw the show could not stop talking about it.

The group that put the show on, came back a month later for another performance. They advertised about the same way they did before (leaflets). But this time the show was packed with standing room only as people came from all over to see this performance. Why was this show packed and the first one not?  The answer is “Word of mouth”, all the “buzz” created from the fabulous first show generated the interest in the second show.

Social media has been characterized as “word of mouth” on steroids. The principle is the same as the performance in the park example. People talk about and share things that they find very entertaining, interesting, informative or useful.   But on social media, the word of mouth spreads quicker to a much larger group of people. When something really takes off, they call it “going viral”.  One of my favorite examples is the “JK Wedding Entrance Dance”. Rather than explain what it is, I have posted it at the end of this blog.    The last time I looked, there were 51 million views of this video!!   When this video was posted, it was never intended to be a viral hit, they just wanted to share the video with a few friends on You Tube.

Many Internet Marketers today are trying to help their clients use social media to take advantage of the “word of mouth” potential,  there is a lot of emphasis on getting hooked up and connected on all the right social media. Web pages are beings submitted to hundreds of social media and book marking sites, and promoted through a variety of channels. But if engaging content is missing, then the results are going to be pretty disappointing.   Most of the stuff being “pushed” out in social media channels is not interesting or useful – so nothing happens. Note that the JK Wedding video went viral despite very little promotion. 

If you want to get a lot of engaged visitors, you need to have something that is worth seeing. If what you are trying to “promote” is not very interesting, useful or entertaining, then all the social media promotion available isn’t really going to help. Conversely, if you have something that is worthwhile, you might be getting thousands of visits with just the push of a button. Personally I encourage my clients to spend their time on creating engaging content rather than “going through the motions” of pushing their mediocre content through social media.

For those who have not seen the “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” I have posted it below.