Ditching Social Media
I may read about, blog about, research, and generally spend lots of time on what many call social media, but personally I try my hardest to avoid the term.
Why don’t I like it? Mainly because it’s been used to describe just about everything that’s happening on the web to the point that it’s almost useless. I understand that easy to use, widespread publishing tools like blogging platforms and Twitter have disrupted traditional media – and in regards to this upheaval, a term like social media makes a lot of sense.
But for companies that want to listen to and and start a dialogue with their customers, the term social media is less relevant.
For me, a more interesting way to reference what’s happening on the web in terms of customer-company interaction is to focus on the relationships and the community.
People now have infinite numbers of tools at their disposal to share, communicate, and discover. Companies do too. And both are taking advantage of the spirit of openness online to build relationships. People with their families, friends, and networks. Companies with their customers. People are nurturing personal and professional communities. Companies are nurturing communities around their products/services. Brilliant.
If I had a company, I’d ditch the social media strategy, and focus on how to build relationships with and community among my customers. For me, the terms are: customer strategy, customer engagement, and something like community management, community marketing, or community development. If you’ve got a suggestion, I’d love to hear it.
