I seem to have sat in a few too many meetings over the last couple of months helping people get their heads around ‘social media’. More importantly, how to go about helping them get involved.
The thing that has struck me the most is that the concept of what ‘social media’ actually is seems to be getting in the way and making firms who have a firm understanding of who they are and what they do, suddenly very nervous. I sit there and wait for the nervous ticks to start, knowing that any minute the phrase ‘so, what’s this social media thing then?’ is about to be asked.
It strikes me the hurdle to understanding what it is, is the phrase itself: Social Media. It sounds so big, so serious that people panic. For me social media is just a delivery method, a set of tools like any other to be used as and when appropriate. After all, you wouldn’t swat a fly with a bar-bell, so why get involved with social media just because everyone else seems to be doing so
Ben made a very valid point last week, that most social media tools will align together in the coming years, which will make things easier to get a grip on. However, even the best social media doesn’t work without content, which still boils down to words and pictures. It’s just that the words are online and free to roam (so tricky to control) and the pictures can be photos or videos.
For many companies, the idea of not controlling the information, or conversation, is the main fear. The question you need to ask yourself is ‘what do I want to get out of it?’ For most companies, what they want is a new way of getting in touch with existing customers and addressing their concerns quicker. In many cases, this doesn’t need a social media strategy, it just needs the company to be a little more open, a little freer with information.
Then there is the problem that social media isn’t like a tap you can turn on and off at will – social media is more a spring, constantly bubbling away giving up information and ideas. One of the beauties of working on NokNok is that Nokia is open to the idea of what social media means – being open to people prodding, probing and asking awkward questions. Sure, it’s about talking about one company, it’s products and its services but by openly discussing it, those ideas are pushed around to other people, other sites and other influencers.
In the end, social media is a means of delivery, it’s not a solution in and of itself. As long as you’ve got your part right, starting the conversation, leaving the well-spring to bubble away with conversations is a job done well!