Why Social Media isn’t BS
Superman (minus the birds) by Vectorilla.com
Social media is Superman and Wonder Woman combined. It’s here to set us free. It’s here to change the world. Resurrection, redemption, business people and customers ring-a-ring a roseying amid a sun shower of cash.
Or not.
Yes, there’s hype surrounding social media. Let’s face it – if there’s marketers involved there often is. But the assertion that social media is BS, well….I’d like to respectfully disagree.
(Note: The points I’m discussing are from an article by Mike Volpe over at HubSpot. His points are in bold. Mine aren’t.)
Social media won’t make your products better
- Using social media can make your products better. It’s called listening. Engage with your customers directly through social media and ask them how you can improve, then listen to what they have to say. Be willing to adapt based on this direct interaction, and you’ll be able to make your products better through the use of social media.
Using social media won’t make your customers happier
- If you use it properly, it most certainly will make your customers happier. That’s the key – use it properly. Offer your customers information they can use. Throw out the sales push. Offer it up. Run a competition. Give things away. Listen. Engage. Then tell me, why won’t your customers be happy about being listened to and being given stuff?
Social media won’t make you or your company more interesting
- Social media itself won’t make you or your company more interesting, but the creative use of it most certainly will. I used to think of Old Spice as musty, stuffy. I no longer think that. The use of social media is what facilitated that change. I’m not the only person who thinks of a scantily clad Isaiah Mustafa when I think of Old Spice.
Hiring an intern to do social media won’t transform your company
- NEVER underestimate the intern! Hiring an intern to “do social media” who you don’t think can actually offer anything up will almost certainly lead to a lack of results. Hiring a creative intern who knows the social web and knows what they would respond to could well transform your company.
There is a lot of hype around social media, and too little realism.
- There is a lot of hype. That much is true. But too much hype doesn’t remove the real value – it just makes it harder to navigate.
Social media is not a strategy or a technique, it is a technology or a tool.
- It’s a set of mediums. Yes. You still need people for strategy – that’s true. But those people now have a whole new way of doing things. New challenges. New opportunities.
Social media isn’t BS – sure, in the wrong hands it’s another avenue for BS, but it’s also an avenue for creative, engaging and game-changing interaction between customers and business.
Do you think social media is BS?
