It’s in the name. Social Media. Social is 50% of what it’s called… and yet a lot of companies today in every field are not being very social on it.
I interviewed at a web company a couple weeks back, their mission is something along the lines of helping businesses to network with each other. The CEO said that “Being on Facebook and Twitter don’t get these people clients, networking does.” He was quite right. Facebook and Twitter are just tools, having a tool doesn’t do the job for you, you have to use to tool to do the job.
Trouble is they’re not advocating use of these tools. They created their own tool so their clients can network with each other. If it works for all parties involved, cool.
I prefer to help people network with tools are already freely available to them like Facebook and Twitter. No need for the middle man. Last time I checked, a gazillion people are already using the aforementioned social platforms. Yeah, it’s new and scary, but what an opportunity! Word of mouth is suddenly digital. And global.
There’s an audience out there for the talking to. TALKING TO. Not spamming. When the majority of a company’s facebook page or twitter feed consists of “This product is out now,” “See this show that’s playing now,” or “Give us money,” I don’t like or follow them. If I want blind advertising I can look in my spam folder.
I like accounts that talk to people. Sharing content, creating conversation, offering customer service… CONNECTING. That’s what it’s about.
The next step is to get those people to meet in person. I love tweetups! So much. #LAthtr meetups, #LAactorstweetup, and The Hollywood Fringe are a few successes on Twitter. Once the connection is made online and solidified in person, anything is possible.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably online enough and know you’re doing something right. But if you know of organizations that need help, let them know. Help them serve their customers. Or let me know, I’d be happy to help whoever wants to connect.
Make a connection. That’s what social means it me. That’s what social media can do.