NEW YORK (January 16, 2013) – The 7th Chamber, one of the world’s leading video seeding agencies, today announced its top 10 “Don’t” recommendations for marketing executives in 2013.  Last year was monumental for brands experimenting in social advertising.  The company notes the marketplace is still within the realm of a “will it blend” mentality, which reflects a progressive view and demonstrates the market is moving in the right direction.  That said, there are too many brands out there making wrong decisions and not seeing the value of social media due to poor execution of their social media campaigns.

“Whether it’s too many barriers to entry or a matter of using old types of digital media to drive engagement, today’s audience has so many more touch points to interact with brands, more creative thinking is required,” said Richard Spalding, CEO of The 7th Chamber.  “In too many instances, these audiences seem to have the ability to win something or download something offered by brands. We make it a point to ask our clients, ‘Would you do this?’ and if they hesitate before answering, we know it’s not the right thing for them to do with their campaign.”

“The businesses that followed a well thought-out strategy for their social advertising campaigns had an incredibly successful year,” said Fer Wang, group director of Social Media for PHD.  “There is a growing gap between the companies that  ‘get it’ and those that don’t, and the quest to effectively monetize social is never-ending.  It’s important to keep looking for ways to enhance consumer engagement, and to remember that regardless of what new platform or apps are out there, good content remains the key to generating engagement.”

1. Don’t use hashtag campaigns if you’re a brand that has caused any kind of controversy in the past 10 years.  Twitter really is still the “Wild West” and a very unforgiving place to allow your audience free range. McDonalds recently fell prey to this.

2. Don’t think that just because you have 5 million Facebook “Likes” and 1 million Twitter followers the world loves you. Don’t be fooled into believing you have an open slate to do what you want in social media just because you’re popular on it.  The amount of your “registered” fans is still incredibly low relative to the size of your audience.

3. Don’t ask people to “Like” you on Facebook without giving them something special in return. We see too many brands putting up barriers to entry to get engagement without rewarding that action.  Give fans a reason to “Like” you.

4. Don’t build a Facebook app that requires more than three steps to activate it. There are some great apps out there that people would download, but given too many steps, they just switch out before completion. Ask them for the basics, and then later on, ask them for more data if you REALLY need it. Not just because you THINK you might need it.

5. Don’t just buy YouTube advertising to support a video campaign. The site only counts for 30 percent of video streams. Too many clients who focus solely on YouTube lose out on efficiency and reach; spread the love to other networks.

6. Don’t use incentivized media to buy Facebook “Likes” or Twitter followers. You’ll just push your engagement score down and your spam up. Most people will unlike you once they get what they want. Through smart tactics and good content, you can achieve both quality AND quantity.

7. Don’t rely on one influence measurement tool to measure your well-paid influencer. Most of the tools out there are just indicative, try using three; you’ll get more information and better targeting.

8. Don’t expect your well-paid Twitter influencer not to bury your “sponsored tweet” with at least 5 other tweets within 5 minutes of posting yours. There’s a lot of guns for hire who have huge followings, but they don’t like to be seen as “selling out” so they will bury your tweet quickly; make sure they don’t tweet for at least 8 hours after they post your tweet.

9. Don’t expect web banners to drive your audience to a Facebook page AND get them to like it AND upload a picture or make a film. People are lazy; they need to be led down the garden path to interact with your brand and take time out of their day to take an action. Use a company that facilitates/guarantees this type of promotion; don’t rely on chance.

10. Don’t pull a campaign if it gets negative press – ride it out. Brands who think they can control social media by shutting down only fuel the flames.  Allow your campaigns to trail off. People will respect you more for getting it wrong than trying to hide your mistakes.

For more information please visit our website at www.the7thchamber.com.

About The 7th Chamber, Inc.

The 7th Chamber is an award winning global agency specializing in video and content seeding. By combining new media with technology and old world savvy, the company has helped brands like P&G, MTV, Nestle, Aston Martin, Disney, Gucci, and Samsung effectively reach their online audience.  It has achieved this success by working within the mainstream sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the big blogs, organically seeding clients’ content with care, using its own hand-built social tools and video optimization. Founded in 2003, The 7th Chamber has offices across the U.S., and in London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. For more information, please visit our website atwww.the7thchamber.com.

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