Mele’s Musings

Social Media Myths - Exposed!

Some of the comments in the article are really “no -duhs,” but this is a good primer for just thinking through some of the key issues that come up when someone says “we need to do social.”

livingstonbuzz

An Excerpt: For companies, resistance to social media is futile. Millions of people are creating content for the social Web. Your competitors are already there. Your customers have been there for a long time. If your business isn’t putting itself out there, it ought to be. But before you take the plunge, bear in mind the many myths that surround social media.  The rest here

The challenges around social media are really quite varied depending on the client. Some are very advanced, others are afraid to jump in, or just confused.

Just the other day a colleague of mine was asking some questions about how a client could get something up on Facebook.  My question was “what do they have to say?”  It’s great that they want to put up a page on Facebook, but why is anyone going to go there?  There are plenty of brand sites out there with a few friends, and odds are good many of them are employees.

We can often make the mistake that just because we love our brands we think everyone else does, too.  We can also often make the mistake to think that a Facebook page or social media outreach is just another place to put our ads.  And, we can get caught up in thinking that it is cheap and easy, that anyone can do it, and that we don’t have to have traffic or awareness driving strategies.

All of these are paths to trouble.

It all starts out with a strategy.  Why do you want to be in social, what do you have to say, and why, etc?  And it needs to be backed up with investment.  Who is going to take care of the social pieces, who is going to create content, how are you going to get people there, etc?

Social is a difference maker, but it takes just as much care, attention, investment, and effort as anything else the business decides to focus on.

Tweet This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post