Shocking News: Social Media Isn’t the Be All End All. Who Knew?
There is perhaps nothing so irritating as the habit of the media to over-hype a new trend, tool or phenomenon in the beginning, only to set themselves up to do a story a few months later about how whatever the “it” thing was has not lived up to “expectations.”
Business Week has a piece up entitled, Beware Social Media Snake Oil, which follows a similar path.
Perhaps it would be better to simply keep in mind that social media is a set of tools. Used well, it can help achieve some pretty remarkable results. However, it requires a thoughtful strategy and the resources necessary to implement that strategy.
Viewed as an end in itself, social media, like so many other things will likely yield only disappointment.
I really, REALLY don’t understand why this has become rocket science…social media is not a strategy in and of itself it is a TACTIC. The strategy has not changed in 200 years: 1) Create a desireable product; 2) Promote that product to an appropriate audience; 3) Sell the product and make money.
So why do businesses that have no audience in the social media network rush to embrace it? If and when the network becomes better defined, go for it. Until that time, work the tried-and-true channels. Otherwise, it’s throwing money away — and passing along the bill to the rest of us.
Comment by Clemo — December 8, 2009 @ 4:22 pm