As the phenomenon known as social media, (aka social networking) heats up, providers of this unique brand of interactive-based marketing are seeking succinct ways to explain its intricacies. Business professionals and community leaders alike, who would otherwise be considered experts in their fields; find themselves in a position akin to a deer in headlights when it comes to this new medium. And it is just that, a new communication medium that helps define new media for business.
When social networking originally stepped into the lives of people, it was simply that, a new way to socially interact via the computer. Only a select portion of the population viewed it as an alternative to an actual website. Some tabloids even referred to MySpace as a place for teenagers to be able to talk without phones and bad bands (the garage types) to promote their music. And to quote a song’s lyrics: “What a difference a day makes”!
Today, it is incumbent upon every business regardless of size, to at least investigate what all the buzz is about. And . . . it is necessary to have an open mind. Even when you believe you understand what it is all about, the likelihood is, you haven’t grasped the entire picture.
Let’s use tennis as a metaphor. You want to have a game of tennis. First you to have to determine the court you want to play on. Is it grass or clay or are other factors more important that suit your needs, such as location or the type of people who use the court. It’s the same with social media, you have to determine which platforms or sites are best suited for your business. Then you have to look at the equipment and the caliber of the player. Much like you need to know the skill level of your tennis opponent you also need to evaluate the particular qualities of each specific social media platform and the type of player that they attract. Twitter is infinitely different from Facebook and LinkedIn has unique capabilities from Socialtext. Each has its strengths.
Now here’s where it begins to get interesting. Many traditional marketeers, i.e.. marketing companies, PR agencies, advertising firms and web developers, are all adding social media to their cache of skills. They have been experts at being able to make superior serves over the net to extremely large groups of potential players and view social media as just another vehicle to broadcast or deliver a well defined and executed message. Unfortunately, they are playing the game with different rules. Social media is not just delivering a plethora of serves across the net to as many people as possible in a wide spray, in hopes of hitting as many successful serves as possible. But that’s just one factor.
The real experts in this lightening-fast changing industry, understand that hopefully, a huge number of players will send some volleys back over the net. But that’s only a small part of the formula. Then they have to asK: Are these players who are volleying back, the players with whom you actually want to be interacting? Do these players understand your game and want to play at your level? Are you willing to wait for 5-6 volleys before you find that out? And within your organization, is your champion the best and most appropriate player you have? Do they have the time to dedicate to volleying back and forth? Do they have the suitable equipment and skill to know when to hang back in the game and merely keep the ball in play, until such time as they see the right opening and create a slam dunk? All these factors are critical and then some.
If you are an advanced player, some people would think that the ONLY players you should be interested in playing with are competitors with a similar skill level. However, if you are an advanced player whose objective is to generate income from teaching, and your goal is to create long relationships. . . Then the only individuals you would be interested in, might be golfers! This all may sound a bit silly or dramatic but this scenario is closer to the truth than most marketeers are willing to admit or willing to handle.
Social media has very complex nuances. They are not difficult to master but they do take dedicated time, skill and a willingness to view things from different perspectives on an on-going basis. You must also be willing to attend to your profile on a minimum of three times a week in order to be effective. After all, social media is traveling at the same speed as the internet! 43% of all internet users are actively utilizing social media. And we all know what that has done for business! So get out there and play a great game of tennis!
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