The wonderful world of Social Media seems to be getting more and more complex!
I regularly hear…
What should we be doing?
What tools do we use?
What platforms will work best?
How should we be doing it?
How often should I be doing it?
How do I know if its working?
How will I know if I’m doing something wrong….
If we don’t do something now will we be left behind?
I get the feeling its getting a lot of people a little nervous, should they be using social media or should they just continue business as normal?
Its true that some organisations have absolutely embraced social media and are charging forward, with a fully defined strategy, and I’m sure most are reaping the rewards, others are learning what works and what doesn’t through listening, adapting, changing etc…
However most organisations I speak to tend to fall into the following buckets…
- They have in some way tried using a little social media, created a twitter account or company Facebook page etc… but not received over night success and so those accounts are laying dormant until the next big push.
- Its on their radar – but given its complexity, keep putting it off or pushing it back as they don’t have any dedicated resource in place, and lets face it you’ve managed thus far in business without a social presence, you can manage another few months.
As discussed in my previous blog – the naysayers could or should have been listed above but this fad is blatantly here to stay http://bit.ly/Il55He
I’ve read comparisons between the dot.com and social “bubbles”, and from some angles I see the similarities… new technology, new ways of doing things, everyone wanting to act now so they don’t get left behind etc etc… sounds similar to the list at the top of this post right?
15 years ago, everyone wanted / needed a web presence…
Now everyone is saying they need social web presence…
I’ve read some crazy quotes…
“if you don’t have more than 1 million likes on facebook its simply not worth it!”
Which is a ridiculous statement and simply not true!
So the question… Is it complex? should we shouldn’t we?
The answer… Its as complex as you want to make it!?
Yes there are a lot of platforms out there, and new ones are emerging on what seems to be a monthly basis!
Some platforms have been an gone, not all platforms will be relevant to your market, or your goals anyway.
Always bring it back to “what is our over all goal with social media?”
Keep it as simple as you need it to be! Have a plan in place… listen to what people are saying and doing, engage in the conversations you can add value to.
A big bang approach very rarely works in any sector or industry! So start small, think big and long term, implement your plan and monitor, and be able to adapt when necessary - and most importantly BE SOCIAL… after all its not science!
