The magic of social media
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 |
posted by Sue Heuman |
So here we are, firmly entrenched in a new age of social media and instant communication. Write a blog, get immediate feedback. Post a tweet and watch it get retweeted far and wide. Tweet using LinkedIn or Facebook. It seems like the possibilities are endless.
The ‘instantness’ of social media connections is very appealing. But because social media is still really in its developmental phase, we can only include its use as part of an overall communications or marketing program. Yes, there are more people tweeting and blogging every day. But are they the right demographic for your topic? Are people using social media for personal reasons, in which case they may not be in the right ‘space’ to deal with your organization’s information.
In many ways, social media is still a shotgun approach. Despite having 300, 3000 or 30000 fans or followers, we are not selecting our audience so much as accepting it. It’s difficult to recruit followers, especially on a scale that would make a difference. Social media is very much a ‘pull’ technology in that people have to find you and your topics interesting in order to want to follow along.
Once you have an audience, it’s tough to imagine that the same group of followers will be interested in the diverse topics you may wish to communicate. Will they be equally enamoured with information about laundry soap, power tools, art galleries, and football? It’s possible, but not probable.
The reality, of course, is that we need to remember social media is just another tool; just another way to reach people and engage them in a dialogue about topics or organizations that matter to them.
Despite all the emerging best practices, worksheets and templates, effective communication still comes down to the same basic questions:
• Who are you trying to reach?
• What do you want them to know or do?
• What is the best way to make this happen?
Yes, social media can play a role. But it isn’t the magic answer to all communications and marketing needs.
Comments
There are no comments for this posting.
Post a Comment
Note: Your email address is never displayed on the site. If you would like to be annonymous, leave the name and email boxes blank.
