Jeff Jarvis cuts through the nonsense on the "social advertising" trend:

But think about it: You’re on one of those social sites, already being social with your friends, and so why are you going to follow a link and click to a cookie site to tell you how to be social? You’re not. And so the cookie company is, I predict, going to flop at its cookie site (once today’s rush of Times traffic subsides) and then it will declare that social doesn’t work and isn’t worth anything and it will return to buying upfront TV.

People need a reason to form a community - you can't really invent one based on some kind of advertsing "feel". This is where advertisers and PR people really fall off the cliff - they think the right mix of clever words, images, and "sticky" content will lead to something. It might, but it usually won't.

We are being inundated with ads, across all media. If the message isn't something we really want, chances are we'll ignore it. This is something Doc Searls gets really, really right: we don't want sticky sites and pushy ads, we want information when we are looking to buy. When I look for a camera, for instance, I want reviews and product specs - not images of the kind of "social scene" the PR flaks want me to think will spontaneously arise because I have the camera.

This is why most CRM "solutions" are crap. When I'm looking for white papers, don't shove a required form in my face. When I'm looking for a demo, don't force me to register. The "lead" you think you have is nothing of the sort - a follow up email at that point is going to be trashed, and a phone call will just be irritating. If you want me to come back, make it easy to get information, and make it easy for me to try things out. Why do you think I buy so many things through Amazon? They mostly stay out of my way.

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