Social Media is a Means, Not an End
One of my favorite Social Media writers is Jason Falls. An avid social media enthusiast (his blog is called the Social Media Explorer), he still has a balanced approach to the medium.
With a strong background in traditional PR, he sees social media as a means to an end, but not the end itself. This perspective was very clear in a post he wrote earlier this week entitled Why Social Media Purists Won’t Last.
His argument: You have to do more than just talk, talk, talk. There has to be a business purpose tied to social media or companies will stop paying for it. There has to be action tied to the bottom line. His sound advice for professional or would be professional social media experts:
If you don’t stop selling the fluff and start driving the bottom line, you’re going to have to go back to whatever you were doing in 2005. It’s not about convincing the curmudgeon. It’s not about waiting it out until digital natives are calling the shots. It’s about making social media drive business for your clients or companies. If you don’t, you’ll soon hear, “You’re fired,” and it won’t be from Apprentice reruns.
For Roundpeg, and our small business clients, he has hit the nail on the head. It is not about spamming or losing the personal touch to your social media. It is about social media with purpose. For example:
- Write blog posts, but be sure to include key words.
- Share personal information on Twitter but, in between the coffee dates and the conversation, don’t forget to mention a promotion your company is running
- Drive traffic to your site with social media, but have something for people to do when they arrive.
- Track the results from different social media and invest time where you get results, not where the cool people go.
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Event – Social Media Lunch and Learn – December 2.
Join me, Colin Clark, Michael Reynolds and Dave Anderson as we discuss these and other emerging social media trends at an informal session from 11:30 – 1 at the Fox and Hound on 82nd. The event is hosted by Pinpoint Multimedia. It is free to attend, but RSVP’s are requested.
As many have said, and I will repeat…repeatedly…social media is a tool NOT a strategy.