How Digital Marketing Agencies Misrepresent their Famous Clients
There is little doubt that social media has changed the landscape when it comes to celebrities keeping in touch with their fans. From those who are just starting out in the industry to the current occupant of the White House, celebrities, artists, and those who have achieved considerable fame either use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn themselves or have marketing agencies handle that aspect of their promotion for them.
Although social media has been around for about a decade, there are many marketing agencies that are not handling their celebrity and artist clients properly. There are several reasons why so many marketing agencies are not using social media the way it is intended, but perhaps the primary one is that they view social websites the same as promoting any blog or website.
How Marketing Agencies are Failing their Clients on Social Media
Social media is designed primarily for promotion which means using good, interesting content combined with video or images if practical to elevate the status of celebrities, artists, and similar clients. Unfortunately, too many marketing agencies are using social media sites to spam and defame rather than promote. By applying a negative approach designed to bring others down, they are doing their clients more harm than good.
Keep in mind that the negative posts are not being done directly on the celebrity sites, but rather indirectly by creating fake accounts with pictures and images that post spam on other celebrities and include thank you notes that are insincere and sometimes offensive simply to drive down interest in a specific person. This is a “black hat” tactic that has been used commonly by social media marketing businesses who are hired by celebrities publicists and agents that create websites, articles, and posts designed to drive down the competition.
However, the repercussions of negative posts on social media stretch beyond the impact they have on the stars, celebrities, and artists they attack. It extends beyond that to bring down the industry itself.
The Unintended Consequences of Negative Social Media Attacks
Fame is a fickle thing as many celebrities understand. One day you are on top of the world and the next totally forgotten for reasons that are often beyond their control.
Broad Impact: When one celebrity is presented in a negative light thanks to the false impressions left by fake social media sites, it brings down everyone in the industry. The impression left by one fake site that portrays a famous person as being aloof, mean-spirited, or just plain rude can be translated to everyone else even if that was not the intention.
Role Models: Social media works best when adding to the positive image of those who do charity work, speak out on important issues, or demonstrate their kindness to the fans. Over time, this can help a celebrity maintain their status even when going through rough times.
Measuring the Impact: Because the impact of a positive approach may be difficult to measure at first, many marketing agencies do not do enough to emphasize their clients and instead rely on negative means which are more measurable at least in the short term.
In the end, marketing agencies that rely on negative methods to bring down other celebrities are not doing their clients any favors.
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