Like countless others, about four years ago I started using social media. To use it effectively, I did what I always do: I educated myself. I read a bunch of blog posts and a few books. (Trust Agents was helpful.) I attended conferences and spoke to smart cookies.
It didn’t take long for me to get the hang out it. Understand that less is more. Don’t tweet every 8 seconds. Hashtags were useful. Avoid link bait. Not exactly rocket science.
Change the behavior and you’ll probably change the outcome.
Yet I didn’t like calling myself a social media expert. The term just seemed pretentious, and there were plenty of poseurs claiming to be experts because they knew how to set up a Facebook fan page. Plus, I didn’t spend all of my time on social media. I fancied myself a business and technology guy, not a Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn specialist.
These days, though, I’m reevaluating things. I see far too many companies fail to abide by generally accepted social media practices. I’m talking about using Twitter and Facebook in downright spammy ways. Some will tweet but fail to include the Twitter handles of the people who wrote the very article about which they’re tweeting. And then there are the questionable calls to action.
Maybe I really am a social media expert?
It seems so basic to me. If you want to use a tool effectively, learn how. In my experience, people and companies who fail to see the benefits from social media are probably making some fundamental mistakes. Change the behavior and you’ll probably change the outcome.
What say you?
 Enjoy this post? Click here to subscribe to this feed. |
Recent Comments