The Difference Between Promoting and Inciting

DIGITAL MEDIA GHOST | PRIVACY CONCERNS

A rundown of what promotional writing is and isn’t, to help you avoid those social sabotage pitfalls.

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It’s been a few weeks now of us illustrating some disastrous examples and results of social sabotage across the Web, but wouldn’t it be helpful to have an outline of some sort to help you know just what kind of writing might get you into trouble so you can recognize it when you see it (or write it)?

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Last week we promised you a checklist to simplify things, and that’s exactly what we’re about to give you: a rundown of what promotional writing is and isn’t, to help you avoid those social sabotage pitfalls. 

It’s easy to fall into a trap of pushing the envelope past the edge of acceptable when you’re trying to stand out in the highly saturated social media marketing field. To keep that from happening, here are some objectives to strive for.

Promotional writing is:

• Clever 
• Creative 
• Sensational (to a degree)  
• Sassy

Good promotional writing gets attention, which is what you want. Unless it encourages the formation of a hate mob. That’s when you know you’ve taken it too far. Obviously it’s better to know before you’ve taken it too far. 

Promotional writing isn’t: 

• Offensive 
  
• Fake  
  
• Click-bait (often gross exaggerations where the piece doesn't pay off the headline) 
  
• Insensitive
  

If you’re about to post anything that hits on the points above, you’re bordering on sabotage and should reconsider. The idea that “there’s no such thing as bad PR” does not ring true in the digital age. People tend to associate the people behind the brand with the brand itself, thanks to social media. If your name and your brand are publicly connected, the damage you’re doing is to your own reputation as well as your company’s, so it’s best to take care. 

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