To bring awareness to a product or service, excitement and promise is created through marketing and advertising campaigns. This is nothing new, however, since the dawn of social media, marketing has taken several directions.

Hype marketing is defined as “unintentional, feverish, uncontrolled, community-driven, and often exaggerated.” Generating feelings and tapping into the emotion of the consumer, hype marketing creates the enthusiasm, urgency, and energy to help a campaign go viral.

Expectations of consumers are also raised during a hype marketing campaign, but, if you use hype marketing strategies, the products or services must provide exactly what’s promised or it will fail to deliver and the campaign will be perceived as sketchy as a snake oil sales pitch. If the expectation doesn’t meet the reality, hype marketing is doomed to failure.

Marketers can take advantage of the energy and the enthusiasm created by a hype marketing campaign by using social media correctly.

Employing facts, transparency, and actual results will allow the consumer a supportive experience and assist in a positive decision-making process as opposed to popular click-bait tactics.

Hype, in its positive context, can also be a result of a good marketing campaign if consumers are sharing testimonials and creating community driven word of mouth advertising. In its simplicity, by one person telling another and sharing the vision, the campaign travels well beyond the target audience which was originally chosen.

Marketers also must realize that in today’s world of social advertising, consumers are able to differentiate between over promised claims and reality. They have the ability to investigate quickly whether a product, service, or company can live up to what they are advertising. For hype marketing to be acceptable, it has to create a positive image of the product and those who stand behind it.

Will hype marketing work for everyone? No, it’s community driven while saturating the marketplace. Hype marketing is less controlled and aimed at a single motivation, to gain attention and engage the emotion of the potential customer.

Bear in mind that social media marketing is all about creating attention and brand awareness, and the line is thin between acceptable marketing practices and over-exaggerated hype.

Marketing and branding agencies use social media marketing for the potential to transform a business or individual’s endeavor. Combined with traditional advertising and marketing strategies, the bottom line is the targeted result.

Don’t forget, substance over sizzle wins……every time!

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Since 2008, ImaginePublicity specializes in developing promotions for individuals, organizations, books, businesses and websites with emphasis on social media marketing and taking full advantage of the internet. How can we help YOU?