Social media should have a split personality.

Whatever the industry, it seems like everybody is hot to use social media as a major part of their marketing communications.

That’s cool. It's an affordable channel for sure. But it’s important to recognize that social media — like any other marketing tool — works best when it’s a blend of art and science.
"Art" being "creativity."

Thing is, the medium may have changed, but creativity is just as important in a social media campaign as it ever was in a print or television campaign. Maybe, given the size and limitations on the executions, even more so.

Which is to say your posts should do more than just be there and highlight your employee of the month or your latest offer or promotion.

That’s because people pay attention to things that interest them, things that pique their interest and hold it. Sometimes, it happens to be an ad or a social media post. And if your post isn’t interesting, they’re going to blow right on by.

So it’s critical that your social media campaign is built on as much creative thinking as any Super Bowl commercial.

That means you’d better have some bona-fide creative professionals involved somewhere along the line. In other words, your social media campaign should have an idea behind it. A strategy. A string of posts won't get the job done.

We’ve said it before and we’ll no doubt say it again: creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.

Actually, we didn’t say that first. Ad legend Bill Bernbach did. But you get the idea.

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