General - Friday, May 15, 2009 13:26 - 0 Comments

Slow Down…It doesn’t Happen Overnight.

I spoke to a small group on Social Media yesterday. As the meeting progressed I felt a sense of urgency building for how all this new technology should be used for their business right now. As I have mentioned before, Social Media marketing is something that has to evolve over time. You can’t just put up a Facebook page, start Twittering your brains out and then check that off your list and say “well, we’ve got that solved”.
Social media marketing has a wild card factor unlike any other media…the public. For social media to work you have to create conversation, foster community and allow the customer to interact with your brand. Social media will only work for you if the public embraces your strategy because they are now the media that will carry your message. Just shouting at them doesn’t work.
I am seeing a lot of do-it-yourselfers and even large agencies trying use social media the way they have used traditional marketing tactics and quickly saying “see this new shit doesn’t work”. Well, I have been involved in radio, TV, outdoor, mail and print for over 25 years and the one thing I know is that you can make all media work but content and strategy is still king! If social media is not working for you…it’s not the media, it’s the message.