“Social media creates communities, not markets.” – Don Schultz
The main message I got out of a Social Media (SM) Strategy Course I attended last week at Lok jack GSB was that SM is about branding not sales. So when your boss asks you to use Facebook “to help drive sales this month”, tell her “wrong tool.”
We are given a hint from the first word in social media. The word “Social” derives from the Latin word socii meaning”allies”. We won’t be allies for long if everytime you show up, you are trying to get me to buy something from you. So put yourselves in my shoes and think about what’s good for me and not only what’s good for you.
We know what it’s like when we are having a conversation with someone and the other person is not listening. They are just waiting to talk regardless of what you said. You don’t enjoy people like that offline and the same applies online.
So what is your brand story? And who is interested in it? Find those people and have a conversation with them not a monologue. Then and only then you will find allies.
