Jay Leonard
2012 has been a huge learning year for me with respect to the way I use social media and how I intend to use it in the future.
Here is a summary of some of my key thoughts from the first seven months.
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of thoughts on the subject. Here is what I am currently thinking about.
I still think that Social Media needs a new name. We need to look at social media as another channel for marketing and communicating.
I have also come to the conclusion that social media isn’t a good fit for every company. If you are not finding your clients or advocates for your company online, then please stop spending time and resources and find a marketing channel that works.
I think CEO’s and Top Executives need to be the driving force for companies and their use of social media to be most effective. See article on Social Media and the CEO. It is all about transparency and trust. People want to connect with people they can trust and learn more about.
I also believe strongly that social media only works if you connect with the right people. Would we really measure how many homes a direct mail campaign was sent to. Isn’t that what is going on when people buy software to go out and find people to follow or like. Is any connection really made? By connecting with the right people and learning more about the people who might have an interest in our products or services, will we really understand the value of connecting on social media platforms.
Now with all of this being said, which most of you probably already knew, I wanted to leave you with some more thoughts for the remainder of 2012.
Less is more. I think I need to focus more and more conversations on 1-3 social media platforms and really limit our conversations on platforms that are not performing.
Facebook – Facebook as a company has not embraced mobile. This concerns me. Facebook company pages only connect with the people who like your products and services. How many of these people actually use your products or services. For some companies it works well for others it does not work well.
Google+ – GooglePlus cannot be ignored. There is some inherent SEO Value. However, connecting with the right people needs to happen, and for me it’s just not happening. I treat Google+ as a glorified directory that needs to be updated with current entries to maintain my current search rank position and continue to improve on it. I am hoping there is a big breakthrough or announcement from Google soon.
Pinterest, Instagram, FourSquare – These social media platforms are really for fun and are what Facebook aspires to be if it could really get a better mobile presence.
YouTube – I really need to be more on board here and see if this platform could make a difference. I have really never given it the attention it deserves. I will be spending more of my time here rather than Facebook or Google+.
Linkedin and Twitter are the places for me. Both platforms have quitely made changes to improve their design and each platform has its own inherent strengths.
Better Content
I need to listen more and write to an audience that is hungry for new information and new learning.
The market is saturated with repeats. Do you watch episodes the second time around on television? Our society wants new information and innovative content that they can use right away.
Keep blogging alive. Blogs are the “new” newspaper articles. Check out Google, you can search content by the “blog” category. Last time I looked, there wasn’t a “newspaper” category. There is a “news” category, but that can be anything from television media to magazines to newspapers. There is a reason Google thinks “blogs” should have their own category.
Engaging one to one
I need to become more passionate and compassionate and connect with people to help meet their needs and to also learn ideas from people. This process never ends and I need to get better at it by connecting more with people and especially the right people. Trust is huge today and we better make sure that we have a believable message that is proven and resonates in the hearts and minds of our clients. (This area is the difference maker for me and finding the right channels to communicate this message is where I will be spending most of my time and resources)
Where are you with respect to social media in 2012? Are you working on new initiaitives or are you rolling the dice hoping for some winning numbers?
If you have some thoughts on this subject, please share.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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Really great article, Brent! I especially love your point about engaging with customers one-to-one, because I really believe that’s essential in building brand advocates who will remain loyal to you and talk you up to others who might become brand advocates themselves. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Nicki – Getting closer to the customer needs to be the focus. Too many people are forgetting this crucial topic.