Two Biggest Mistakes in Social Media
by Mike Brown
What are the two biggest mistakes in social media marketing?
1. Believing everyone sees your content
2. Believing no one sees your content
In the first instance, thinking you can simply dabble in social media and get lots of people to see what you're saying doesn't work. For nearly any traditional brand (and @shitmydadsays isn't a typical brand) wanting to talk about itself, audiences don't spontaneously emerge. It takes time to create an effective fan/follower base. Simply picking a fast-approaching date and saying "implement Twitter (or Facebook) by such-and-such date to get our message out" is asking for disappointing results.
The second mistake rests on the assumption you can ease your way in, make some mistakes, and find your social media footing. Maaaaaaaaaaaybe. But there are too many counter examples of brands that screwed up and got burned because of not knowing, understanding, or working within the evolving conventions of social media. If you've got a brand worth anything, you need to be ready for prime time the instant you step on the social media stage.
How do you avoid these terrible two?
Focus first on developing a solid social media strategy and ignore the ridiculous peer pressure you may feel to create a social media presence ASAP. This is a game made for deliberate, smart followers - not fast, unprepared, first-movers - to win.
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Mike Brown is an award-winning innovator in strategy, communications, and experience marketing. He authors the Brainzooming TM blog, and serves as the company's chief Catalyst. He wrote the ebook "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" and is a frequent keynote presenter.
What are the two biggest mistakes in social media marketing?
1. Believing everyone sees your content
2. Believing no one sees your content
In the first instance, thinking you can simply dabble in social media and get lots of people to see what you're saying doesn't work. For nearly any traditional brand (and @shitmydadsays isn't a typical brand) wanting to talk about itself, audiences don't spontaneously emerge. It takes time to create an effective fan/follower base. Simply picking a fast-approaching date and saying "implement Twitter (or Facebook) by such-and-such date to get our message out" is asking for disappointing results.
The second mistake rests on the assumption you can ease your way in, make some mistakes, and find your social media footing. Maaaaaaaaaaaybe. But there are too many counter examples of brands that screwed up and got burned because of not knowing, understanding, or working within the evolving conventions of social media. If you've got a brand worth anything, you need to be ready for prime time the instant you step on the social media stage.
How do you avoid these terrible two?
Focus first on developing a solid social media strategy and ignore the ridiculous peer pressure you may feel to create a social media presence ASAP. This is a game made for deliberate, smart followers - not fast, unprepared, first-movers - to win.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Continuous Innovation group!
Mike Brown is an award-winning innovator in strategy, communications, and experience marketing. He authors the Brainzooming TM blog, and serves as the company's chief Catalyst. He wrote the ebook "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" and is a frequent keynote presenter.Labels: marketing, Mike Brown, Social Media, Strategy
posted by Blogging Innovation at 12:01 AM
2 Comments:
Mike - I totally agree. I'm reminded of a time when my boss absolutely "had to have Java on the new Web site," but when asked what he wanted to do with it or what was the purpose of it, went totally blank...and then pounded on the desk saying he had to have it. But I digress...strategy and practicality are still pretty good friends of good decision making.
It's funny (or sad) Dana that people who get this post aren't the ones making the mistakes.
Someone recently said he wanted a Facebook page because some other businesses in his category have them. After talking to him about strategy as the underpinning of social media, he admitted he'd never been on Facebook, didn't really understand what it did, and agreed it wasn't the most important thing he needed to do to promote a major brand change in his business. Yea! One for strategic thinking!
Mike
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