Shiny Object Syndrome (S.O.S.): the need for shiny accessories.
Well, not exactly, but it’s a term used to describe the growing tendency of companies nowadays to brush into new (or shiny) technology without thinking about the objectives of the technology, especially prominent ones like a Facebook fan page or an iPhone app. Companies can easily get so excited about new tools or latest fads, and so distracted by them that they spend a significant amount of time, effort and money trying to take advantage of them, not knowing why they are doing it in the first place. Many end up going off in a million directions, losing focus of what is most important or effective and barely completing anything.
Why, you ask them? Because they are shiny (i.e. popular)… and everyone is doing it!
I found this trend very interesting because I see it happen in real life not only with many businesses, big or small, but also with many student organizations on campus. Being this year’s Co-President of the UBC Marketing Association and having made much effort in coming up with ways to promote the club, this SOS trend has especially caught my attention.
“Every club is using Facebook events to promote their events. Let’s do that, too!”
“Every club has created a Facebook profile. We should do it, too!”
“Every club has a Twitter account. I think it’s time we have ours, too!”
The end result: many clubs end up using the same online tools, although it’s likely very few of them actually know the objectives or have set the metrics to measure the success of those tools. When they do realize they probably should have figured those out, it’s often too late — either the return on investment is poor, or they realize they have wasted unnecessary time and resources on what was never in line or effective with their goals. This goes the same for businesses.
Therefore, before jumping in with those shiny things, it’s important for businesses to set proper objectives and appropriate metrics that link to their overall online marketing plan. Otherwise, it’s easy to get lost in many different directions and end up accomplishing very little, if not nothing, for a lot of work.
Thanks to PassionforBusiness.com, here are a few good questions to ask:
- Is this right for your business?
- Do your customers want this and are they willing to pay for it?
- Do you have the time, resources, energy, and money to put into this to make it successful?
- Do you have too many open projects sitting on your desk that need to be finished before you begin something new?
- Do you have the ability to finish this new project, plus implement and maintain it?
- What has to drop off your radar in order for you to start something new?
Just because it looks good (…or shiny) on the menu, it doesn’t mean you should try it. Or, in this case, everything.
Like Rihanna sings, “S.O.S. please someone help me, it’s not healthy”… well, S.O.S. certainly isn’t healthy for everyone.