Social Media Requires New Thinking

With technology rapidly evolving history shows us that as new technology emerges old techniques and practices are applied.  Why?  Because this is all we know.  And although technology changes rapidly, people change slowly.

This is the case with social media.  Believing it is a marketing tool, business misinterprets the expectation of social media.  If “social media can’t be used for marketing purposes then what’s the reason for business to use it” is the most common question cited by many of my clients who are business owners.

Here we need to shift our thinking about how to use social media for business.  The traditional media mindset requires adjustment.

Why? Because social media is:

• centred on the user, not around the product/service so the established method of pushing a message in a one-way direction, just doesn’t work.
• about engagement – being part of a community, having connection and taking part in the conversation.

Traditional approaches although they have served us well are unlikely to work effectively in future.  A two way conversation is what people desire not a one way message.

How to move forward?  Try the following to get the best from social media:

Social Media is About People:  marketers and advertisers want to instantly sell and if they don’t succeed they blame the medium.  However, social media is about the building of relationships.  As you build relationships, first trust is gained and then marketing comes later.

Integrate Social Media with Other Marketing Forms: very few brands do marketing in isolation.  Marketing activities need to be unified across all channels so social media needs to be included in the overall strategy not regarded as a separate entity.

Experiment & Innovate: social media is a switch from monologue to dialogue.  Consumers expect to be listened to and answered.  Businesses that best understand this by listening to their users and interacting with them will find the right balance between engagement and marketing.

Investing in social media is important, yet it requires new skills and approaches.  Those that don’t think outside the box will have difficultly gaining traction.  Those who want to maintain control of the message will not succeed in getting any message across.  Experiment until you find what suits your business requirements.

Thanks for reading!

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Tags: Online Media • SMEs • Social Collaboration • Social Engagement • social Media • Social Media Marketing • social media tips • Technology shifts