People finally realise that connecting or following or being followed (as a numbers game) is meaningless unless there is some purpose and some result. (See Twitter is For Losers)
I think the lightbulb moment is when you employ people and they appear to be playing on social media (while you are paying them to do so).
Now, I don't deny the benefits of being open, pursuing random connections and so on. I love it. BUT we must not confuse activity (= wheel spin?) with business.
I am not the social media guru but we have noticed that many of our clients have become fixated with activity and almost irrelevant metrics when they need to get back to basics...
So, reflecting about the state of play... On the one hand, we have the social media zealots grabbing at the next, new best thing, universal antidote (and yes I do feel myself falling for Google Plus!!!). On the other hand, we have the incredibly lazy marketing habits of the old school agencies simply spending more in a naive attempt to interrupt and buy people's attention.
What I do know is that there is:
- just too much noise and it is turning off a lot of people
- just too much "me-too" follower behaviour (buyers and sellers)
- not enough common sense engagement and connection
- a brilliant system (fast, quick, vast, cheap) to reach out and find and explore and share with others.
- tons of opportunity if you can just navigate your way through it all
- not enough time to do it all so a need for clear guidelines, prioritisation and time management!!!
To be honest, I am starting to feel that the problem is actually about THE MESSAGE. Your message. (The channel may be a red herring.):
- What exactly are you saying that is interesting?
- Is it compelling?
- Worthy of attention?
- Clear and helping others to understand what you do?
- And how can you help?
All the talk is about how you communicate and what works. (Maybe that's simpler than dealing with the basic "Why should people bother to buy from you?” question!)
But if the message is broken (and let's be honest, most are) then you are simply wasting your time.
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Solution is to use these tools for the reason they are there, to service customers better. Twitter is a great customer service tool.
Personal view, quality not quantity is essential, stop following things that don't interest you and let the customer decide on the quality of your content.
Overall social media is not about to be exhausted though - you can do too many things with it, it'll be a lot more fun yet!
I agree with your latest comment
RC
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
A big part of the issue is about how people manage their SM accounts
People will find ways to manage it all, of that I am sutte.
G+ still needs to get its act together if it is going to be really credible...
RC
The reason for this? Social media is not going away. Consumers are king and if they've embraced it, businesses can't ignore it.
This is not to say that everything should bow to social media, but my own observation is that the impact it's having in companies is beyond its direct benefit in terms of money saved or revenue earned.
Social media gives companies great insights into what people think and experience. This in turn drives companies to adjust what they do their engagement with buyers/users. Social media gives people a voice they never had before and they're using it!
Thanks for taking the time to reply. This article wss very popular!
RC
Looks like you are more on the ball than we are!
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