Over the past several months I’ve been trying to crystalize my thoughts over the current rage of social media. It all came together when I saw the following quote (via Lifehacker):
Don’t Mistake Activity for Achievement
– John Wooden, legendary basketball coach
Lately, I’ve noticed many people asking me if I’ve joined their Facebook Page or followed them on Twitter. Social media is another marketing medium for a product/service. With no upfront cost people are creating Facebook Pages and using Twitter, for the first month they are posting and updating on a daily basis…then most likely it dies.
First, you have to decide if social media is really going to help you. If you are selling industrial products probably not. Just like I would not advise someone to blow money on a print/tv campaign if they are trying to sell an email marketing service such as Constant Contact or MailChimp…know your target audience.
Actually, it goes further back is your product/service awesome. If you believe it’s awesome that’s the first step…you have to be fully engaged and eat, sleep and breath it. Without a great product or need, social media will just help you publicize what a pathetic product/service you have.
Sahil sums it up – Content is still king. (his blog)
If you were to ask me 6 months ago about social media consultants (SMC), I would have said pour yourself a tall glass of STFU and go sit quietly in the corner. But, SMC’s are like an advertising firm who can help you generate ideas and implement them…but can’t commit to success. I’m sure Porsche does not go to their advertising agency and say we want to implement the new Porsche Panamera campaign and you have to guarantee 1,000 units are sold…not going to happen.
It brings me back to the original point of the quote, people that are spending time tweaking their social media strategy should really be focusing on how they the can improve their existing product/serice. Just because you are updating your fan page or tweeting about some article on TechCrunch ain’t gonna cut it.
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